Calado takes first Arena circuit win

The Racing Steps Foundation-backed Carlin driver held off British rival Oli Webb throughout the race in a tense battle for honours.

Officials delayed the start and shortened the race from 15 to 14 laps after National Class runner Menasheh Idafar (starting on row eight) ploughed into the back of Felipe Nasr's stalled Raikkonen Robertson car (starting third) on the green flag lap - putting both out on the spot.

Calado led away from pole and pulled out six tenths of a second lead over Webb during the first two laps. The gap gradually edged out to 0.9s before Webb started coming back strongly at his rival.

Fortec's Dallara-Mercedes appeared to come on much stronger during the middle of the race, allowing Webb to close Calado down. Webb was particularly fast through the Village/Loop slow right-left section of the new circuit, allowing him to slingshot out of Aintree onto the Wellington straight (formerly the National straight).

Despite several good tows from Calado's Dallara-Volkswagen, Webb couldn't get close enough to pass into Brooklands. In any case, Calado made sure he always had the inside line covered.

The battle for the lead allowed Raikkonen Robertson's Daisuke Nakajima and championship leader Jean-Eric Vergne to close up, but neither looked to have the pace to challenge.

Carlos Huertas took fifth after spending most of the race with mirrors full of ART's Esteban Gutierrez. The Mexican made a stonking start from row seven and completed the first lap inside the top six, where he stayed to the end.

His fortunes contrasted sharply with those of Hitech's Gabriel Dias, who made a shocking start from row two and wound up a frustrated eighth behind Carlin's Jazeman Jaafar (Carlin).

Jaafar's team-mates Adriano Buzaid and Rupert Svendsen-Cook completed the top 10, ahead of ART's Alexander Sims, who came through from 14th on the grid to 11th on his British F3 debut.

Reigning British Formula Ford champion James Cole claimed National Class honours in 16th place overall.

Pos Driver                  Team           Car       Time/Gap
 1. James Calado            Carlin         D/V     27m01.234s
 2. Oli Webb                Fortec         D/M         +1.015
 3. Daisuke Nakajima        Raikkonen      D/M         +2.143
 4. Jean-Eric Vergne        Carlin         D/V         +3.308
 5. Carlos Huertas          Raikkonen      D/M         +6.180
 6. Esteban Gutierrez       ART            D/M         +6.921
 7. Jazeman Jaafar          Carlin         D/V         +8.613
 8. Gabriel Dias            Hitech         D/V         +9.448
 9. Adriano Buzaid          Carlin         D/V        +10.852
10. Rupert Svendsen-Cook    Carlin         D/V        +16.711
11. Alexander Sims          ART            D/M        +17.375
12. William Buller          Hitech         D/V        +18.336
13. Alex Brundle            T-Sport        D/V        +21.100
14. Lucas Foresti           Carlin         D/V        +21.587
15. Daniel McKenzie         Fortec         D/M        +24.205
16. Jim Pla                 ART            D/M        +32.698
17. James Cole              T-Sport        D/H        +44.234
18. Jay Bridger             Litespeed      D/M        +45.413
19. Maxim Snegirev          Fortec         D/M        +45.923
20. Luiz Razia              West-Tec       D/H        +49.808
21. Rio Haryanto            CF/Manor       D/M      +1:02.780
22. Hywel Lloyd             CF/Manor       D/M      +1:16.849
23. Adderly Fong            Sino Vision    D/M         +1 lap
24. Kevin Chen              Sino Vision    D/M         +1 lap

Fastest lap, Calado 1m54.731s