James Cole drew level on points with T-Sport team-mate Menasheh Idafar in Belgium at the weekend by winning the third round of the British Formula 3 National Class, but only after a collision between the pair. With twelve races remaining in 2010, the Liverpool driver now heads to Thruxton with much confidence.
The Spa weekend began badly for Cole, sidelined by technical problems in practice on Thursday, although the Englishman then qualified three tenths of a second up on his closest-challenging team-mate.
After Idafar finished a stunning 12th overall with Cole 21st in Friday’s first race, the order remained the same in Race 2, with Idafar 12th again but Cole 14th.
For Saturday’s Race 3, though, the battle reached a point too far as the two cars came together on the first lap; following contact and a pit-stop, Idafar dropped just under 16 seconds behind Cole as the latter took the victory
“Menasheh made a very ambitious move on me into the Bus Stop chicane, cutting across me which took off my front wing,” James explained after the race. “He paid for that with a puncture, so although my pace was hampered I could continue and take the win.
“Winning that last race of the weekend was critical for me. I’d been hurt badly by missing a session at the start of the weekend, as this track isn’t easy to learn or master and with the changing weather conditions it was a constant learning curve throughout the weekend.
“I knew I had to take three strong finishes and keep as close as I could to Menasheh, so that I collected plenty of points. My strategy proved successful and I think take a win and be tied for the championship lead after this weekend isn’t as bad as it could have been.”
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