After claiming pole position for Spa’s Race 1 this morning before duly taking the chequered flag, British Formula 3 championship leader Jean-Eric Vergne has climbed from seventh on the grid to the top step of the podium once again for Carlin in the second round this afternoon, with Felipe Nasr and leading Briton Daniel McKenzie joining him.
The shape of the race was established on the opening lap around the Belgian Grand Prix circuit, with Vergne – who said afterwards “For once I made a good start” – shooting through the field in pursuit of pole-sitter Nasr, who also made a good getaway in his Mercedes-powered Raikkonen Robertson racer. Jean-Eric took advantage of what he described as a “big mess of other cars” at Les Combes to take up second and start his pursuit of the Brazilian.
Vergne’s irresistible progress carried him into the lead next time around through Les Combes. “Then I pushed really hard and he was too far back to take advantage of the tow, and I was free to go…” Jean-Eric’s next target is a clean sweep of the Spa races: he starts tomorrow’s 40-minute round 18 from second on the grid. “Everything is possible tomorrow,” added the Parisian.
Nasr, who won his first race at Rockingham a fortnight ago, was pleased with second place, 0.6s behind Vergne. “The race in general was good for me,” said Felipe. “It was difficult to stay with him because he was very quick in the second sector of the lap. If I could have got a bit closer I could have maybe got past him.”
McKenzie, another Rockingham race victor, returned to the podium after slotting into third at the start and holding off first his Fortec team-mate Oli Webb and then James Calado, who overhauled Webb for fourth on the third lap. Calado made a lunge for third at the final corner, the Bus Stop chicane, on the final lap but succeeded only in spinning. He was lucky to get going again before Webb could repass.
Mücke Motorsport’s Carlos Munoz placed sixth overall and was the leading Invitation Class runner. The top 10 was completed by Rupert Svendsen-Cook, Hywel Lloyd, Daisuke Nakajima and Alexander Sims, the British F3 Euro Series driver enjoying a better second race for the ART team.
Among the dramas was a startline shunt which saw Jazeman Jaafar squeezed into the wall, and a tangle later on in the opening lap which led to the retirement of Prema team-mates Daniel Juncadella and Nicolas Marroc. A fourth-lap collision between Carlos Huertas and Adriano Buzaid accounted for both of the South Americans, while Lucas Foresti spun into retirement at the Bus Stop on the sixth lap.
There was a tense battle this time in the National class between T-Sport team-mates Idafar and Cole, with Idafar claiming the class win, by less than half a second, to increase slightly his points lead.
- Full Race 2 results coming up
Saturday’s Race 3 begins at 1:35pm local time (BST +1)
Series
British F3
Personalities
Jean-Eric Vergne
Teams
Carlin Motorsport
Other
Get your official Formula 1 tickets at Sportstadium.com
| Jean-Eric Vergne | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 |  |  |  |
| More Jean-Eric Vergne photos | |||
English
Nederlands
Español
Italiano
