Jack Harvey fends off Jazeman Jaafar for Brands Hatch British Formula 3 race one victory

Harvey got a break on the first lap when Alex Lynn, from third on the grid, got a great start to beat Jaafar into the first corner. But the Malaysian braved it out around the outside of the Druids hairpin to reclaim second.

Although Harvey opened a gap of over a second on the opening lap, Jaafar started chipping away, keeping the Englishman on his toes throughout the race. Jaafar set fastest lap in his chase, but Harvey stayed composed to take victory and close up by four points in the championship.

"I had a good start," said Harvey, "and I dealt with the pressure well from Jaz, who was a bit quicker than me."

Jaafar added: "I never lifted my foot, but Jack drove really well and kept it really consistent."

While the two Carlin Dallara-Volkswagens raced away at the front, Lynn's Fortec Motorsport Dallara-Mercedes fell away and he spent most of the race trying to repel the Carlin machine of Carlos Sainz Jr. They were close at the finish, but Lynn held firm to continue his run of podium finishes.

Behind a lonely Harry Tincknell (Carlin), Nick McBride in the T-Sport Dallara-Nissan managed to defend from the Fortec car of Felix Serralles for most of the race until he spun at Westfield. Serralles slipped through to sixth, with McBride sufficiently far clear of Pietro Fantin (Carlin) to take seventh. Behind Fortec's Pipo Derani, Double R Racing's Geoff Uhrhane put in his best performance yet to claim 10th.

With the top 11 reversed on the grid for race two, that gives Double R a front-row lock-out with Fahmi Ilyas and Uhrhane.

Returnee Adderly Fong (CF Racing) put a cushion of three A-class cars between himself and his National Class rivals on the opening lap. Then, after they had slipped by, he was clear to take class honours on his F3 comeback.

Of the two retirements, Fortec's Hannes van Asseldonk, trying to climb the order after a crash in qualifying, went off while chasing Uhrhane, while Duvashen Padayachee (Double R) spun off into the Clearways gravel on the very last lap.

Results - 22 laps:

Pos  Driver                Team/Car                   Time/Gap
 1.  Jack Harvey           Carlin Dallara-VW        28m54.308s
 2.  Jazeman Jaafar        Carlin Dallara-VW          + 0.527s
 3.  Alex Lynn             Fortec Dallara-Merc       + 11.917s
 4.  Carlos Sainz Jr       Carlin Dallara-VW         + 12.175s
 5.  Harry Tincknell       Carlin Dallara-VW         + 23.108s
 6.  Felix Serralles       Fortec Dallara-Merc       + 24.584s
 7.  Nick McBride          T-Sport Dallara-Nissan    + 28.724s
 8.  Pietro Fantin         Carlin Dallara-VW         + 34.494s
 9.  Pipo Derani           Fortec Dallara-Merc       + 38.207s
10.  Geoff Uhrhane         Double R Dallara-Mugen    + 41.193s
11.  Fahmi Ilyas           Double R Dallara-Merc     + 49.427s
12.  Adderly Fong          CF Dallara-Mugen*       + 1m03.551s
13.  Spike Goddard         T-Sport Dallara-Mugen*  + 1m13.194s

Retirements:

     Duvashen Padayachee   Double R Dallara-Mugen*     21 laps
     Hannes van Asseldonk  Fortec Dallara-Merc         17 laps

* National Class