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James Winslow has won the first race in round seven of the Kumho Tyres Australian Formula 3 Championship today after defeating Leanne Tander after 24 laps of hand-to-hand combat at Symmons Plains
The 24-lap race was a stunning lead in to this afternoons Inaugural Country Club Tasmania Formula 3 SuperPrix, to be held at 2:45pm over 30-laps.
Winslow and Tander swapped the lead three times in the race, with Team Opes Prime driver Winslow scoring his third win of the season with a late-race pass at the notorious Symmons Hairpin with less than six laps to go.
Tander – who had assumed the lead with a bold move on Winslow following a mid-race safety car period – settled for second but launched herself into second in the championship standings in the process.
The race featured outstandingly close racing between the pair, never split by more than a second for the entire race distance and often side-by-side as they disputed the lead.
Both hailed clean driving as one of the key things to producing the result.
”It was a great race but we gave each other racing room and because of that we were able to have a great fight,” Winslow said.
”For a couple of laps there had been Yellow flags before the hairpin. On the lap when
I got past I checked really early, saw that it was clear, and went for the move. Leanne gave me room.
”To her credit she didn’t push me wide when she passed me (at turn five) so it was kind of returning the favour.”
Tander mused a lost opportunity, but was pleased to have closed on the championship lead.
”We had the pace, I just didn’t hold onto the lead when I needed to,” she said.
”It was a great race though and the championship points were great given we finished ahead of Hollings and Macrow."
Charlie Hollings and Barton Mawer fought out third position for a majority of the race, Mawer coming home to give Team Opes Prime / BRM a 1 – 3 finish and score himself his first F3 podium since 2003.
Hollings’ finished fourth and in the process elevated himself into the points lead.
After race one, Hollings (165) now leads Tander (161) and Macrow (160) in the battle for the Australian Drivers Championship.
Macrow had a desperately disappointing race, running sixth early on before contact from behind at the hairpin saw him make contact with the wall.
With font-wing damage he limped his Cooltemp / Scud Racing car home in seventh place in an act of damage limitation.
Astuti Motorsport’s Daniel Schulz finished fifth, whilst Macro Mapelli recovered to sixth after running as high as fourth early on – only running off the track when he made contact with Mawer early in the race as they battled for the podium position.
The Safety car was called once, after Rod Anderson spun at the hairpin and was unable to move his car.
Anderson joined Stuart Kostera, Sofi and Samantha Reid as the retiree’s from the event.
The seventh round of the Kumho Tyres Australian Formula 3 Championship will be completed this afternoon with the 30-lap Country Club Tasmania Formula 3 SuperPrix, drivers racing for over $5000 in prizes and the all-new John Bowe Trophy.
For more information please visit www.formula3.com.au
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