25 September 2011

Kevin Magnussen claimed his sixth win of the British Formula 3 season in a dramatic final encounter at Donington Park on Sunday afternoon. He is therefore just three points behind second position in the championship with only Silverstone remaining.

A downpour before the race left the field with the dilemma of having to fit Wet tyres or take a gamble and elect for Slicks on a drying circuit; the latter was attempted by GP3 Champion and Race 2 victor Valtteri Bottas, who duly fell back to 13th position.

At the front, Magnussen came into contact with Champion Felipe Nasr at the Fogarty Esses on the opening lap, but was able to recover from third position to celebrate another Carlin success, leading home Pipo Derani of Double R plus Carlin duo Rupert Svendsen-Cook (who will be testing a GP2 car in Jerez next week) and Carlos Huertas. Following the Magnussen contact, Nasr struggled home to ninth.

Late tyre changes before the start left a number of drivers coming from the pit lane, as Magnussen moved up to second when Svendsen-Cook struggled with the conditions; the lead came for the son of ex Grand Prix driver Jan as Jack Harvey made a mistake at the Esses on the ninth tour; Harvey then dropped to fourth before frustratingly retiring with a battery problem.

“It was very tricky and took a lot of concentration,” said Dane and race winner Magnussen. “It was all about not making any mistakes and I am very pleased to have brought the car home. Obviously I need to get the best out of the rest of the season to try to get second in the championship.”