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Jaime Alguersuari
dominated Round 13 at Brands Hatch from pole position but the race was red
flagged after 16 laps following a heavy accident involving Alistair Jackson
at the exit of Surtees. Oliver Turvey finished second after passing
Atte Mustonen at the start. Jay Bridger won the National Class from
pole but it was a great result for Jonathan Legris on his British F3 debut,
finishing a strong second in the LitespeedF3 SLC R1.
Jaime Alguersuari
got the best start off the line to lead the 27 car field into Paddock Hill
for the first time. Third placed Oliver Turvey got a better start than
Atte Mustonen to demote the Finn into the first corner by one place.
Further back 5th placed Sebastian Hohenthal and 8th placed Henry Arundel both
stalled their cars causing the drivers behind them to take avoiding action
off the line, luckily with no incidents.
Brendon Hartley
went down the inside of Max Chilton at Graham Hill Bend, gaining the New
Zealander three places before the end of lap one. Another driver making
a good start off the line was John Martin, the Australian making up six
places as he crossed the line for the first time to end the lap in 10th, the
place he would've started before his qualifying penalty for a yellow flag
infringement.
In the National
Class Jay Bridger led the class away but Jonathan Legris got a great start in
the Litespeed SLC, moving ahead of Salman Al Khalifa, Stefan Wilson and
Steven Guerraro to end lap one second in the National Class and challenging
Bridger for the lead.
Alguersuari
started to pull away at the front of the field as Mustonen put pressure on
Turvey, who on turn had Sergio Perez filling his mirrors, with Marcus
Ericsson and Walter Grubmuller not far behind. By lap six the leader
had opened a five second gap to the Turvey / Mustonen
battle and broke Marko Asmer's lap record as he
continued to pull away.
Max Chilton was
being challenged by John Martin for 9th place and on lap 8 the Australian
picked off the Hitech Dallara. Chilton's race then got worse as the
17-year-old spun off at Paddock Hill, clattering the barriers
hard.
Sam Abay was
making progress from the back of the field, moving past Ricardo Teixeira
to take 12th place from the Angolan. Alistair Jackson, who had started
at the back of the field with Abay, was also making swift progress
towards the front of the grid. The Northern Irish driver had to negotiate
the five car National Class battle and as Stefan Wilson moved over
to let Jackson through Salman Al Khalifa saw an opening to move ahead of
Wilson for 4th in class.
Then Jackson
pushed a little too hard and put two wheels on the outside kerb at Surtees,
losing control of the Mygale which spun across the track hitting
the barriers on the inside of the exit hard. The safety car was
deployed slowing the pace and bunching the field back up. With just a
few minutes remaining the red flag was shown and the race declared on lap 16. Alistair
Jackson was conscious the whole time and was taken to hospital as a
precaution after complaining of neck pains and pain in his knee.
Jaime Alguersuari
now holds a 10 point lead over Sergio Perez - 132 points to 122 - with
Oliver Turvey in third on 118 points. Jay Bridger moves into the
National Class lead for the first time, holding a 12 point advantage over the
absent Andy Meyrick.
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