Magnussen wins race three as Nasr secures 2011 title

Poleman Fantin (Hitech) defended successfully from Carlin duo Magnussen and Nasr at the start, but was passed by both on the first run out of Deene and through Yentwood.

Magnussen closed out the rest of the race from the front, staying cool through two safety car periods to claim his fifth win of the season.

Nasr held second until after the second re-start, but allowed fellow Brazilian Fantin through to second by running wide at Deene.

The gap between Magnussen and the chasing Fantin fluctuated over the final nine laps, but the Dane held on to win by less than seven tenths of a second.

"It feels a bit strange to win and lose at the same time," said Magnussen. "We lost the championship but won a race. Felipe did a really good job this year. He was really consistent and he deserved to win the championship."

Behind new champion Nasr, Will Buller (Fortec) drove another strong race in difficult conditions to finish fourth.

The Northern Irishman rose to fifth from ninth on the grid on the opening lap, before taking fourth from Jack Harvey (Carlin) following the first re-start.

Jazeman Jaafar took advantage of a chance to follow Buller through into fifth, leaving Harvey to defend from race two winner Scott Pye (Double R), who jumped Fortec's Harry Tincknell at Deene following the second re-start.

T-Sport's Bart Hylkema claimed ninth when Carlin's Carlos Huertas went off at Deene shortly after the second re-start.

So many drivers fell off on the treacherous circuit that Fortec's Fahmi Ilyas was able to take the final point for 10th, despite having to pit for a new nose cone during the first safety car period.

Results - 24 laps:

Pos  Driver                Team/Car                      Time/Gap
 1.  Kevin Magnussen       Carlin Dallara-VW           40m10.018s
 2.  Pietro Fantin         Hitech Dallara-VW             + 0.691s
 3.  Felipe Nasr           Carlin Dallara-VW             + 4.579s
 4.  William Buller        Fortec Dallara-Merc           + 8.721s
 5.  Jazeman Jaafar        Carlin Dallara-VW             + 9.271s
 6.  Jack Harvey           Carlin Dallara-VW            + 15.077s
 7.  Scott Pye             Double R Dallara-Merc        + 17.325s
 8.  Harry Tincknell       Fortec Dallara-Merc          + 29.851s
 9.  Bart Hylkema          T-Sport Dallara-VW           + 31.270s
10.  Fahmi Ilyas           Fortec Dallara-Merc          + 33.123s
11.  Carlos Huertas        Carlin Dallara-VW            + 33.826s
12.  Lucas Foresti         Fortec Dallara-Merc          + 47.776s
13.  Kotaro Sakurai        Hitech Dallara-Mugen         + 55.400s
14.  Luca Orlandi          West-Tec Dallara-Mugen         + 1 lap

Retirements:

     Adderly Fong          Sino Vision Dallara-Merc       18 laps
     Yann Cunha            T-Sport Dallara-VW              8 laps
     Pipo Derani           Double R Dallara-Merc           5 laps
     Rupert Svendsen-Cook  Carlin Dallara-VW               5 laps
     Hywel Lloyd           Sino Vision Dallara-Merc        0 laps
     Menasheh Idafar       T-Sport Dallara-VW              0 laps