Donington Park British F3: Martin Cao secures crown, Matt Rao wins
Matt Rao took his second win of the weekend at Donington Park but it was not enough to stop Martin Cao claiming the British Formula 3 crown
Cao finished fifth, enough for the Fortec driver to take the title ahead of his team-mate, in what could prove to be the championship's final ever race.
Cao elected to start from the pitlane and avoid any carnage at the first corner as a few spots of rain began to fall.
This left Rao free to streak into an early lead as Double R team-mates Camren Kaminsky and Max Marshall duelled behind.
Marshall made his move for second on the third lap, but Rao was already well clear and continued to pull away at a rate of a second per lap.
Rao completed an untroubled double as the rain never intensified, while Cao languished at the back of the five-car field.
Towards the end Carlin's Peter Li attempted to get ahead of Kaminsky but ran wide and missed his chance, leaving him to finish fourth.
With concerns over the future of the series given the small entry, Cao may well go down in history as British F3's final champion.
| Pos | Driver | Team | Car | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Matt Rao | Fortec Motorsports | Dallara/Mercedes | 29m57.863s |
| 2 | Max Marshall | Double R Racing | Dallara/Mercedes | 13.643s |
| 3 | Camren Kaminsky | Double R Racing | Dallara/Mercedes | 36.452s |
| 4 | Zhi Cong Li | Carlin | Dallara/Volkswagen | 36.964s |
| 5 | Martin Cao | Fortec Motorsports | Dallara/Mercedes | 38.543s |
CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS:
| Pos | Driver | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Martin Cao | 285 |
| 2 | Matt Rao | 283 |
| 3 | Camren Kaminsky | 161 |
| 4 | Sam MacLeod | 121 |
| 5 | Zhi Cong Li | 118 |
| 6 | Andy Chang | 103 |
| 7 | Max Marshall | 93 |
| 8 | Marvin Kirchhofer | 54 |
| 9 | John Bryant-Meisner | 53 |
| 10 | Dan Wells | 41 |
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