Jelley Scores Maiden Win in Thruxton Thriller
26
August
2007
Stephen Jelley (#1 Raikkonen Robertson Racing) finally got to climb
on to the top step of the British F3 podium with a convincing win at
Thruxton in Round 17 of the 2007 Lloyds TSB Insurance British F3 International
Series. The Leicestershire driver won from 5th on the grid, overtaking
Jonathan Kennard (#2 Raikkonen Robertson Racing) at the restart after
a short Safety Car period to recover the cars of Sam Bird and Atte
Mustonen. Maro Engel (#23 Carlin) drove through from 15th on the grid
to finish on the podium.
Sergio Perez (#31 TSport) took his 11th National Class win ahead of
Hamad Al Fardan (#38 Performance Racing) and Michael Meadows (#55 Newnet
Raikkonen Robertson Racing).
Round 17
Sebastian Hohenthal (#5 Fortec) lined up on pole position, ahead of
Atte Mustonen (#26 Raikkonen Robertson Racing but it was third placed
Niall Breen (#21 Carlin) who got the jump on the Finn at the start,
sweeping past the number 26 Dallara on the second corner. The Irish
driver then set off after the leading Fortec Dallara.
Further back Marko Asmer made a good start from his unaccustomed 9th
on the grid to end the opening lap in 6th, briefly holding 5th until
Jonathan Kennard regained the place at the Chicane.
Fourth placed Sam Bird (#3 Carlin) was challenging Mustonen for his
podium position but in turn he had Kennard and Stephen Jelley, who
had passed Asmer on lap 2, challenging his position.
Niall Breen was all over the back of Hohenthal’s Dallara as they
completed lap 2 but on the next lap disaster struck as the two cars
touched, spinning both off the track, Hohethal into retirement and
Breen down the order and out of contention.
This put Sam Bird into the lead after Mustonen had lost ground to end
the 3rd lap in fourth place. Bird had Kennard right behind him as Jelley
held of the recovering Mustonen. Bird held on until lap 6 when Kennard
had a look on the inside at Church Corner and the Spa winner moved
into the lead. However the Carlin driver wasn’t going to give
in easily and the two cars were side-by-side in the Chicane on lap
7 but Kennard held his nerve and his leading position.
Meanwhile the battle for 3rd was just as hot, with Mustonen looking
for a way past Jelley as almost every corner, but the Finn finally
got past on the 8th lap and was soon on terms with Sam Bird.
Further back Maro Engel (#23 Carlin) was on the move. The German had
qualified back in 15th place after a torrid time in qualifying but
found the race trim of his Mercedes powered Dallara more to his liking.
After a good start he made steady progress towards the front of the
grid and by lap 8 he was up to 7th and challenging Esteban Guerrieri’s
Mygale for track position. However both drivers were promoted two places
as another two front runners came to grief.
Sam Bird challenged Kennard for the lead into the Chicane at the end
of the 10th lap but once again Kennard was able to fend off the Carlin
driver and this allowed Mustonen to close up on Bird and overtake on
lap 11. Once again Bird fought back and challenged the Finn into the
Chicane but there was a coming together as the two cars entered the
Chicane, spinning both into the barriers and into retirement. The two
Dallaras were judged to be in a dangerous place and the Safety Car
was deployed to allow the recovery of the cars, bunching up the field
but not before Engel managed to pass Guerrieri and close up on Rodolfo
Gonzalez in the T Sport Dallara who was now in third.
As the Safety Car headed for the pits Jelley closed up behind Kennard
and as the race recommenced he pounced, taking the lead into the Complex.
Engel also made a move on Gonzalez at the same place, pushing the Venezuelan
onto the grass, which lost Gonzalez four more places before the end
of the lap.
Jelley started to pull away from Kennard as Engel now tried to wrest
second place away from the driver from Kent. Kennard once again defended
well to hold his position and allowing Engel to come under pressure
in turn from Guerrieri.
However as the chequered flag approached Jelley had opened up a big
enough breathing space to enjoy the feeling of taking his first ever
win in British F3 and he punched the air in delight as the Raikkonen
Robertson Racing team lined the pitwall to welcome him home for a Double
R 1-2. Engel came home in third, a brilliant performance from 15th.
However the drama wasn’t done yet. Michael Devaney (#15 Ultimate)
was fending off the recovering Rodolfo Gonzalez, with Greg Mansell
(#50 Fortec) also wanting to accumulate as many points as possible
from a very lowly 18th starting position. As the three cars entered
the chicane for the final time they were side-by-side and Gonzalez
had to cut across the Chicane and came across the line in front of
Mansell and Devaney. However Gonzalez was later demoted one place as
he was judged to have gained the place by cutting the Chicane.
In the National Class Sergio Perez took his 11th win with apparent
ease after an early battle with ‘Frankie’ Cheng. At the
end of the race the Chinese driver found himself battling with Hamad
Al Fardan and Mike Meadows and on the final lap Al Fardan and Meadows
managed to pass Cheng to claim the two other podium finishes at the
chequered flag.
SRO
See 2007 series calendar for British
F3 Championship
Related Story 13.08.2007 - Perfect F3 Weekend for Asmer
