Perez takes maiden F3 win at Croft
Sergio Perez scored his and his T-Sport team's first outright British Formula 3 victory in a wet first race at Croft this afternoon
The Mexican started on the front row and assumed the lead straight away when polesitter Marcus Ericsson made a poor getaway.
The circuit was drying throughout the half-hour race and Perez managed his tyres, and the gap to second-placed Sebastian Hohenthal, perfectly to earn a historic victory, which was also the first for a Honda-powered car in the series since Christian Bakkerud's win at Mugello in September 2006.
The battle for third raged in the closing stages of the race when Michael Devaney, who had held the place from the start, began to be caught by his Ultimate Motorsport team-mate, Esteban Guerrieri. Atte Mustonen was also in close attendance in the lead Double R car.
Devaney was robbed of his first British F3 podium on the last lap when a misfire allowed Guerrieri to pull alongside him and execute a nail-biting pass on the slippery inside line at Tower.
Mustonen also dragged past Devaney on the run down to Sunny, and the Irishman lost drive altogether exiting the last corner, eventually coasting over the line in 16th place.
Ericsson ended up fifth in a frustrating race for the Swede. He struggled with horrendous understeer for the first half of the race and tumbled down to seventh, until his car suddenly came alive as the circuit began to dry. He was able to lap half a second faster than his rivals towards the end, but it was too late to recover any higher than fifth.
Pos Driver Team Car Gap
1. Sergio Perez T-Sport D/H 30:49.794
2. Sebastian Hohenthal Fortec D/M +4.294
3. Esteban Guerrieri Ultimate M/M +5.568
4. Atte Mustonen Double R D/M +7.267
5. Marcus Ericsson Fortec D/M +9.769
6. Jaime Alguersuari Carlin D/M +17.691
7. Alistair Jackson Double R D/M +18.840
8. Oliver Turvey Carlin D/M +19.456
9. John Martin Double R D/M +20.539
10. Sam Abay Carlin D/M +24.608
11. Henry Arundel Double R D/M +25.446
12. Oliver Oakes Eurotek D/M +28.292
13. Andy Meyrick Carlin (N) D/H +29.290
14. Walter Grubmuller Hitech D/M +29.754
15. Jay Bridger Fluid (N) D/H +45.174
16. Michael Devaney Ultimate M/M +51.717
17. Viktor Jensen Nexa D/H +1:00.280
18. Steven Guerrero T-Sport (N) D/H +1:14.216
19. Stefan Wilson Fluid (N) D/H +1:19.730
20. Kristjan Einar Carlin (N) D/H +1 lap
21. Niall Quinn Loctite (N) D/H +1 lap
22. Max Chilton Hitech D/M +1 lap
23. Craig Reiff Nexa (N) D/H +1 lap
24. Salman Al-Khalifa T-Sport (N) D/H +3 laps
Not classified
Driver Team Car Gap
Nick Tandy JTR M/M 3 laps
Brendon Hartley Carlin D/M 0 laps
Ricardo Teixeira Ultimate M/M 0 laps
Philip Major Fortec D/M 0 laps
Hywel Lloyd CF (N) D/H 0 laps
Fastest lap, Chilton 1:18.711 on lap 21
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