Conway Takes Lights to Flag British F3 Win
in Difficult Conditions
22 May 2006
Mike Conway scored his second ever win in British Formula 3 with a
lights-to-flag victory as the drivers struggled with difficult track
conditions at Donington Park. Carlin Motorsport's Maro Engel took 2nd,
with Fortec's Yelmer Buurman in 3rd. Bruno Senna, starting from a lowly
8th place on the grid finished 4th to extend his championship lead as
nearest rival Oliver Jarvis tangled with James Walker on lap 8 and failed
to score any points.
The drivers faced a wet and tricky race surface as the red lights
went out and the 24 F3 cars hurtled towards Redgate for the first time.
James Walker, starting on the outside of pole sitter Mike Conway, gets
the better start and as the two cars head towards the first corner they
are side-by-side in the spray. Conway, who has the inside line, holds
his nerve and the position as they exit Redgate and head down the Craner
Curves. Stephen Jelley, fresh from his podium finish earlier in the
day, tried too hard to make up positions on the first lap, his race
finishing in the gravel at Redgate. The Leicester driver keeps the engine
running and makes it back to the pits, but only into retirement.
Behind the leading pair, Christian Bakkerud is under pressure from
Carlin teammate Oliver Jarvis but is unable to hold on to the final
podium place as Jarvis sweeps past him on the second lap. However Bakkerud
slots in behind Jarvis and keeps him in his sights looking for an opening
to retake the place.
The tricky conditions start to catch drivers out, with Stuart Hall off
in the gravel at McLeans and Alex Khateeb spins as he exits the chicane
with a broken front wishbone in an unseen incident.
As the race entered the 7th lap Jarvis was closer to Walker. The Carlin
driver thought he saw an opening and made an ambitious move at Redgate,
diving down the inside but sliding into the side of the unfortunate
Walker, spinning them both into the gravel and collecting Christian
Bakkerud on the way. The cars lying in 2nd, 3rd and 4th all ended up
in the gravel trap with Jarvis and Bakkerud beached in a dangerous position.
The safety car was scrambled as Walker recovered his car to the pitlane.
On lap 11, as the cars continued to circulate behind the safety car,
Rodolfo Avila came into the pits for a new nosecone, putting the Macanese
driver a lap down.
On Lap 14 the green flags were waved and battle recommenced. Conway
still led the race but Maro Engel had worked his way up to 2nd place
and now set off after the lead car. Fortec's Yelmer Buurman was 3rd
with Bruno Senna holding station in 4th. These 4 drivers were nose to
tail as they headed across the line for the 15th time.
A dry line had started to form and the drivers had to fight to keep
their cars on the track as their wet tyres started to go off. The times
continued to tumble as the track dried, with Conway, Engel and then
Senna set fastest laps in quick succession. As the cars began the final
lap Salvador Duran and Jonathan Kennard had spins at Redgate but the
leaders held position to take the chequered flag.
Rodolfo Gonzalez made it four wins from four starts in the National
Class, despite driving for the majority of the race with bent steering
after an incident with Jonathan Kennard. Gonzalez finished 7th overall,
well ahead of Martin Kudzak and Cristiano Morgado.
Mike Conway took the 20 championship points for the win and was congratulated
by his manager Mark Blundell.
SRO
See 2006 series calendar for British
F3 Championship
Related Story 22.05.2006 - Senna
Makes it 3 out of 3 in Wet British F3 Race at Donington
