Conway Takes his First F3 Win
Mike Conway took the first British Formula Three victory of his career on Sunday as he dominated the opening race of the day at Croft
The Briton, who started second on the grid, roared into the lead at the start as pole position man Alvaro Parente got away slowly and dropped to third, behind Marko Asmer.
The top three stayed in their order during the opening laps, running ahead of Championship leader Danilo Dirani, Christian Bakkerud and Dan Clarke, before a hail storm caused chaos out on the track by soaking just half the circuit.
Clarke saw the damp circuit as a chance to move up the order and he got past Bakkerud at Tower Corner to take fifth. His similar attempt to grab fourth from Dirani went badly wrong at the same place on lap eight, however, and the pair collided - putting both men out on the spot.
With conditions at Tower Corner getting treacherous, with several drivers including Bruno Senna spinning off there, race organisers decided to bring the Safety Car out for a few laps.
With the hail disappearing and the sunshine returning, the Safety Car came in and the order at the front remained unchanged to the chequered flag, with Conway taking the finish a comfortable 3.369 seconds clear of Asmer, with Parente just six tenths further behind.
Bakkerud took fourth, while Salvador Duran took fifth place ahead of Barton Mawer.
Pos Driver Make Time 1. Mike Conway Dallara Opel Spiess 26:30.701 17 Laps 2. Marko Asmer Dallara F305 Mugen-Honda + 3.369 3. Alvaro Parente Dallara F305 Mugen-Honda + 3.904 4. Christian Bakkerud Dallara F305 Mugen-Honda + 4.603 5. Salvador Duran Dallara F304 Mugen-Honda + 10.054 6. Barton Mawer Dallara F304 Mugen-Honda + 11.286 7. Ryan Lewis Dallara F305 Mugen-Honda + 11.822 8. Josh Fisher Dallara F304 Mugen-Honda + 13.351 9. Charlie Kimball Dallara F305 Mugen-Honda + 14.256 10. Jonathan Kennard Dallara F304 Mugen-Honda + 17.370 11. Juho Annala Fin Dallara F304 Mugen-Honda + 24.918 12. Ronayne O'mahony Dallara F305 Opel Spiess + 26.744 13. Keiko Ihara Dallara F305 Mugen-Honda +1:00.803 14. James Walker Dallara F305 Opel Spiess + 1 Lap 15. Nick Jones Dallara F304 Mugen-Honda + 1 Lap 16. Ricardo Teixeira Dallara F304 Mugen-Honda + 1 Lap 17. Cheong Lou Meng Dallara F304 Mugen-Honda + 1 Lap NOT CLASSIFIED/RETIREMENTS: Driver Make On Lap Danilo Dirani Lola B05/30 Mugen Honda 8 Dan Clarke Dallara F305 Mugen-Honda 8 Charlie Hollings Lola-Dome F106/4 Mugen Honda 6 Bruno Senna Dallara F305 Mugen-Honda 5 Steven Kane Lola B05/30 Mugen-Honda 1 Stephen Jelley Dallara F305 Opel Spiess 1 Tim Bridgman Dallara F305 Mugen-Honda 1 Fastest Laps:
Championship: Mike Conway, 1:15.153, lap 16 National: Salvador Duran, 1:16.287, lap 15
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