Oulton race 1: Van der Merwe's sixth win
Alan van der Merwe extended his lead of the British Formula 3 Championship at Oulton Park today (Sunday), taking full advantage as polesitter Nelson Piquet Jr was forced out right at the start
Piquet (Piquet Sports Dallara-Mugen) only managed a couple of yards off the startline as his engine stalled, allowing van der Merwe (Carlin Dallara-Mugen) to lead from Adam Carroll (Menu Dallara-Opel) and Danny Watts (Hitech Dallara-Renault). The entire field managed to miss the stranded Brazilian on the narrow startline, but the fire truck clipped his car (!) and made sure he went no further.
Watts pulled off a great move to grab second from Carroll at Cascades, but despite setting the fastest lap of the race, he could do nothing about the swift South African, who won his sixth race of the season.
"I was expecting an equal battle with Piquet, but he didn't make it further than a couple of inches off the startline," said van der Merwe. "I paced myself at the front, pushing just hard enough to make sure they didn't get any ideas behind me."
Van der Merwe took the flag over 3secs clear of Watts, who just kept the charging Carroll at bay to take second. Watts said: "Adam was breathing down my neck, but it was good to get the points and fastest lap."
Carroll added: "I got to within a car length of him a couple of times, but that was as close as I could get to passing him."
Jamie Green (Carlin Dallara-Mugen) finished fourth, ahead of the close following Will Davison (ADR Dallara-Mugen), while Robert Dahlgren (Fortec Dallara-Renault) held off Richard Antinucci (Carlin Dallara-Mugen) for sixth.
Karun Chandhok (T-Sport) won the Scholarship class after pacesetters Steven Kane (T-Sport) and Ernesto Viso (P1) clashed at the first corner, which caused an early safety car period. Kane managed to recover to finish third, but lost a lap while a new nose was fitted.
1 Alan van der Merwe (Carlin) Dallara-Mugen 17 laps
2 Danny Watts (Hitech) Dallara-Renault +3.063s
3 Adam Carroll (Menu) Dallara-Opel +3.807s
4 Jamie Green (Carlin) Dallara-Mugen +9.789s
5 Will Davison (Docking) Dallara-Mugen +10.227s
6 Robert Dahlgren (Fortec) Dallara-Renault +12.381s
7 Richard Antinucci (Carlin) Dallara-Mugen +13.706s
8 Ronnie Bremer (Carlin) Dallara-Mugen +15.128s
9 Billy Asaro (P1) Dallara-Mugen +23.036s
10 Rob Austin (Menu) Dallara-Opel +26.728s
1 Karun Chandhok (T-Sport) Dallara-Mugen 17 laps
2 Can Artam (SYR) Dallara-Mugen
3 Steven Kane (T-Sport) Dallara-Mugen
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