Mustonen Makes it a Weekend of Firsts for Double R
27
August
2007
Atte Mustonen (#26 Raikkonen Robertson Racing) scored his first win
in British F3 finishing in a lights-to-flag victory ahead of Niall
Breen (#21 Carlin) in Round 18 of the 2007 Lloyds TSB Insurance British
F3 International Series.
Rodolfo Gonzalez (#9 T Sport) took his podium of 2007 and the first
for Mugen Honda this season and it was all smiles in the T Sport garage
as Sergio Perez and Salman Al Khalifa finished 1st and 2nd in the National
Class.
Round 18
Atte Mustonen led the 28-car field away as the lights went out to begin
the race, with Double R teammate and Round 17 winner Stephen Jelley
tucking in behind him as they entered the Complex for the first time.
Jelley then was seen to slide sideways, either by contact with another
car or a mistake, but the result was the Leicester driver was on the
grass and trying desperately to rejoin the race but losing places all
the time.
Sixth placed Niall Breen made an excellent start to move up through
the field before the first corner and when the cars came back into
view the Irish driver was behind Atte Mustonen, with Maro Engel (#23
Carlin) in third and Marko Asmer (#7 Hitech) in 4th as the big losers
in the opening lap was 3rd placed Greg Mansell (#50 Fortec) and Jonathan
Kennard (#2 Raikkonen Robertson Racing).
However things were worse for Mike Meadows (#55 Newnet Raikkonen Robertson
Racing) and ‘Frankie’ Cheng (#39 Performance Racing) as
a collision put both cars into the barriers and out of the race. The
Safety Car was brought out for the second time that day to allow the
two wrecked Dallara’s to a safer position and the two drivers
were returned to the paddock, both OK after their experience.
This put Sergio Perez in a comfortable lead at the front of the National
Class, while his T Sport teammate Salman Al Khalifa was two places
further back with the Championship car of Leo Mansell splitting the
two National Class runners.
The race resumed on lap 6 with Mustonen getting a good start to pull
away from Breen and Engel, who were nose to tail around the circuit.
Engel in turn had Marko Asmer breathing down his neck, with Rodolfo
Gonzalez, Alberto Valerio (#22 Carlin) and Greg Mansell all waiting
for the front runners to make a mistake that would allow them to move
up.
Stephen Jelley was recovering well, picking his way back up the field
and passing Greg Mansell on lap 11 to move into 7th and challenging
Valerio for 6th. However at the Chicane both cars spun, dropping Jelley
behind Mansell and Valerio two places further down the order.
Salman Al Khalifa was trying to get past the Championship car of Leo
Mansell to allow him to get a clear run at Perez but it was difficult
for the Bahraini driver to get past the more powerful Dallara. However
on lap 13 Mansell made a mistake and spun at the Chicane, right in
front of Al Khalifa, who had to take hasty avoiding action.
Further backing in the National Class Hamad Al Fardan (#38 Performance
Racing) was clawing his way back up the field after a bad opening part
of the race and was soon into the third podium spot after getting the
best of the ADR Dallara of Viktor Jensen (#37 ADR), the young Icelandic
race winner struggling for pace on the sweeping Thruxton circuit.
At the front of the field Mustonen continued to pull away from Breen
as Gonzalez set up a determined challenge on Engel. The Venezuelan
dived on the inside of the German into the last corner and moved ahead
to take the final podium position.
As the race entered the final lap it Mustonen who was nearly five seconds
ahead of Breen and the 18-year-old Finn finally saw the chequered flag
to the delight of his Double R team. Niall Breenn secured his first
podium since his win at Snetterton in June and Rodolfo Gonzalez came
home in 3rd, the first podium of 2007 for the reigning British F3 National
Class Champion and the first for a Mugen Honda engined car this season.
Gonzalez underlined his pace by taking the fastest lap of the race
and the additional championship point.
Maro Engel was 4th, one place ahead of championship leader Marko Asmer.
Asmer now holds a 72-point lead with 84 points available. Engel becomes
the only challenger to the Estonians relentless march to the coveted
title after Sam Bird picked up no championship points and slipped to
4th in the table behind Stephen Jelley who recovered to finish 7th
in the race.
Sergio Perez had another perfect weekend with two wins, two poles and
two fastest laps and now holds a commanding 69 point lead over ‘Frankie’ Cheng.
Two podiums for Hamad Al Fardan has closed the gap to third placed
Mike Meadows to just 5 points.
Rounds 19 and 20 of the 22 race series will take place at Croft in
North Yorkshire on Sunday 9th September. Channel 4 and Motors TV will
be showing the highlights of the Thruxton races in the coming weeks
and a full TV schedule can be found on the championship website at
www.britishf3international.com
SRO
See 2007 series calendar for British
F3 Championship
Related Story 26.08.2007 - Jelley Scores Maiden Win in Thruxton Thriller
