Kevin Magnussen wins spectacular British Formula 3 race at Donington Park
Kevin Magnussen claimed his sixth victory of the season from a hectic final British Formula 3 race at Donington Park this afternoon
Rain arrived just before the start and caused the first six drivers on the grid to make a last-minute switch to wet tyres. The rain intensified on the formation lap, so only 10 cars took up their grid slots as most of the field dived into the pits for a tyre change.
Magnussen made an excellent start from the third row of the grid to jump to second behind champion elect Felipe Nasr on the opening lap. The Carlin pair made contact in race one yesterday and did so again as they swept through the Fogarty Esses for the first time.
Carlin team-mates Jack Harvey and Rupert Svendsen-Cook took over at the front as Magnussen dropped to third and Nasr spun back to 10th. Svendsen-Cook then ran off the road at Goddards in the worsening conditions a few laps later, freeing Magnussen to attack Harvey.
The Dane took a few laps to set up the move, but swept by through the Esses on lap nine of 24 and then pulled away.
Harvey defended resolutely from an impressive Pipo Derani (Double R), but retired with just four laps to run with a sick-sounding Volkswagen engine in the back of his Carlin Dallara.
Derani finished just 4.8 seconds adrift of Magnussen in taking a season-best second. The Brazilian was chased home by a recovering Svendsen-Cook, while Carlin's Carlos Huertas came home a solid but distant fourth.
Sino Vision's Adderly Fong revelled in the wet conditions and crossed the line fifth, which would have been his best of the year, but a 10-second penalty for his team not clearing the grid in time before the start dropped him to seventh.
Double R's Scott Pye recovered from an early trip through the gravel at Old Hairpin to inherit fifth and finish highest of the pre-race pit visitors.
Fortec's Harry Tincknell got as high as fifth at one stage, but slumped to eighth on the road behind Hitech's Pietro Fantin after a late run through the Redgate gravel trap. Tincknell's own 10s penalty for the same infringement as Fong dropped him further to a point-less 14th.
His Fortec team-mate Lucas Foresti thus inherited eighth, while Nasr trailed home ninth after several further spins during the course of the race, ahead of Carlin team-mate Jazeman Jaafar, who also spun late-on.
GP3 champion Valtteri Bottas (Double R) mistakenly started on slicks and had to pit for wets on the first lap after a terrible getaway from the grid.
The Finn recovered to 13th, but was often over a second lap faster than anyone else and eventually took the bonus point for fastest lap with a best time over half a second quicker than any other driver.
Results - 24 laps: Pos Driver Team/Car Time/Gap 1. Kevin Magnussen Carlin Dallara-VW 40m30.222s 2. Pipo Derani Double R Dallara-Merc + 4.806s 3. Rupert Svendsen-Cook Carlin Dallara-VW + 7.477s 4. Carlos Huertas Carlin Dallara-VW + 19.373s 5. Scott Pye Double R Dallara-Merc + 26.252s 6. Pietro Fantin Hitech Dallara-VW + 26.588s 7. Adderly Fong Sino Vision Dallara-Merc + 35.271s 8. Lucas Foresti Fortec Dallara-Merc + 37.897s 9. Felipe Nasr Carlin Dallara-VW + 39.009s 10. Jazeman Jaafar Carlin Dallara-VW + 39.587s 11. Menasheh Idafar T-Sport Dallara-VW + 41.245s 12. Hywel Lloyd Sino Vision Dallara-Merc + 45.661s 13. Valtteri Bottas Double R Dallara-Merc + 45.935s 14. Harry Tincknell Fortec Dallara-Merc + 47.610s 15. Yann Cunha T-Sport Dallara-VW + 1m13.884s 16. Will Buller Carlin Dallara-Merc + 1m19.705s 17. Bart Hylkema T-Sport Dallara-VW + 1m23.043s Retirements: Jack Harvey Carlin Dallara-VW 20 laps Fahmi Ilyas Fortec Dallara-Merc 19 laps Maxim Snegirev Hitech Dallara-VW 9 laps Kotaro Sakurai Hitech Dallara-Mugen 4 laps
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