Senna Goes Fourth in British F3 with a Raikkonen
Robertson 1-2-3 Finish
25
June 2006
Bruno Senna took his 4th win of the 2006 Lloyds TSB Insurance British
F3 International Series season, taking a lights to flag victory on the
twists and turns at Mondello Park. Championship leader Mike Conway finished
a close second, challenging Senna in the closing stages of the race.
Stephen Jelley made it a full Raikkonen Robertson Racing podium, finishing
just ahead of Oliver Jarvis.
Bruno Senna starting from Pole Position, got a great start as the
red lights went out, with Mike Conway, who was starting behind the Brazilian
grabbed the opportunity to get alongside second placed Stephen Jelley
as the 22 Forumla 3 cars headed to the first corner. Conway had the
advantage and as the two Raikkonen Roberston Racing cars powered out
of turn 1 it was Conway in second, with Oliver Jarvis right behind the
demoted Jelley.
As the field came entered turn 2 at Stena Line, Hitech teammates Salvador
Duran and James Walker touched, launching Duran's Dallara into the air,
the car coming down on its rollhoop. Salvador Duran managed to free
himself and clamber behind the safety barriers, shaken but otherwise
unharmed. Walker's car returned to the pits but rejoined at the back
of the field as the Safety Car was deployed.
The race went back to green at the end of lap 4 with Senna and Conway
nose to tail and pulling a slight gap to Jelley and Jarvis. Further
down the order Fortec Motorsport's Yelmer Buurman got the run on Jonathan
Kennard at Dunlop, overtaking the ADR Dallara at the end of lap 5.
Conway was able to stay in touch with the leader, maintaining a gap
of 0.6 seconds but unable to find an opportunity to overtake Senna on
the challenging Mondello circuit unless the Brazilian made a mistake.
Jarvis was forcing Jelley to defend his 3rd place, but was unable to
force the 3rd placed driver into a mistake that would allow him to pass
for the final podium position.
The race settled into a pattern at the front with Conway shadowing
but unable to get on terms with his teammate and challenge for the lead
as his front wing lost downforce in the dirty air created by the lead
Dallara. Lower down the order James Jakes was moving up the order, overtaking
National Class leader Rodolfo Gonzalez on lap 10 to get on terms with
ADR's Karl Reindler who was in 10th place and currently holding the
final championship point winning position.
As the race entered the final few laps the top four cars had pulled
away from the rest of the field led by Maro Engel, with Christian Bakkerud
coming under pressure from Yelmer Buurman. As the cars came round to
complete the 16th lap Senna came up to lap Alex Khateeb. Khateeb tried
to get out of the way of the leaders but Senna had to pass on a dirty
part of the track and this allowed Conway to close up after neatly dispatching
the backmarker.
As they crossed the line the gap was 0.19 seconds and Conway moved
to the inside as the two cars sped towards the first corner for the
last time. Senna once again defended well and Conway was forced to hold
position, but he wasn't about to give up. The next turn he tried again
but this time Senna held on easily and Conway dropped back slightly
rather than chance throwing away a solid second place.
As they exited Dunlop for the last time it was Senna who punched the
air, taking the chequered flag 0.5 seconds ahead of Conway. Jelley came
over the line in third, 1.1 seconds in front of Carlin Motorsport’s
Oliver Jarvis. However the drama wasn't over as Yelmer Buurman attempted
to wrest 6th place from Christian Bakkerud at the last corner. The two
cars collided with Bakkerud in the gravel and Buurman limping over the
line with damage to the front of the car in 6th place.
Rodolfo Gonzalez took his sixth win out of seven starts in the National
Class, 3.9 seconds ahead of Juho Annala, with Cristiano Morgado in 3rd.
Bruno Senna: "It was pretty good, I was hoping that Steve would
hold up Mike, but he didn't get a good start. I had a decent start,
not my best start, I took to long to react really. I knew Mike wouldn't
be able to overtake me unless I made a big mistake, so I just kept on
going. I didn't push too hard but on the final laps I had to overtake
a backmarker and I went on the dirt , which didn't help my tyres which
were already worn out. I had a big slide on the last corner which allowed
Mike to really close. He was really looking for an opportunity, but
I just defended cleanly, no blocking or anything, I just kept my lines
and there was nothing he could do. It was really pleasing and for the
team as well, it was a 1-2-3 and that's not very easy to achieve."
Mike Conway: "We got very close at the end because of the backmarker,
but I wasn't going to do anyhting stupid, points are more important
today than wins. Made a good start, got behind Bruno and pushed all
the way to the end. The car is good, probably make a couple of changes
for the second race."
SRO
See 2006 series calendar for British
F3 Championship
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