Race 1: Davidson nicks ahead of Sato
Anthony Davidson made the best use of team mate Takuma Sato's misfortune in opportunist fashion to win the first British Formula 3 Championship round at Castle Combe for 28 years

Davidson made the best getaway of his F3 career to slot in behind fellow Carlin Motorsport runner Sato at the start, but the Japanese was in trouble. Right from the first corner he could feel that his engine wasn't picking up, estimating that he was losing 500 revs down each straight. Out of the Bobbies chicane on the first lap Sato really struggled, Davidson diving for the inside at Camp Corner and into the lead.
"Round Bobbies I used second gear, where normally it's third," said Davidson. "I'd sussed that sometimes that's quicker on cold tyres. I could hear his engine struggling and he was sideways. He didn't defend, but I only pulled the move out at the last moment and pounced on him."
As Davidson rocketed into the distance, so Sato was forced to fend off a fast starting Derek Hayes, who had surged his Manor Motorsport Dallara-Mugen through from sixth on the grid. But Hayes in turn was having to defend from James Courtney.
On the sixth lap Courtney drew alongside Hayes out of Bobbies and, as the Northern Irishman missed a gear shift, the Australian moved into third. Courtney then really put the pressure on Sato, once edging ahead on the outside into Quarry before having to go the long way round.
Then, just as Courtney made a mistake, Sato's engine began to clear and normal service was resumed. He brought the gap down to the distant Davidson hand over fist, breaking Bob Light's outright lap record on the penultimate tour, although he was still two seconds adrift at the flag.
Behind Courtney and Hayes, Bruce Jouanny had a good race to take fifth. Team mate Atsushi Katsumata got ahead of him at the start but fell off on the first lap, then Mark Taylor moved in to challenge. But Taylor was given a stop-go penalty for an alleged jumped start.
That promoted slow starting Andre Lotterer to sixth, the German having to battle ahead of Gianmaria Bruni before challenging Jouanny for fifth. Ryan Dalziel also passed Bruni in a closely matched group to take seventh.
Robbie Kerr took yet another Scholarship Class win to move into the championship lead. Despite starting only third he got ahead of title rival Matt Gilmore and poleman Robert Doornbos on the first lap, these two thereafter battling for second before Gilmore prevailed. Michael Keohane, the third title contender, went out on the first lap after colliding with Ernani Judice.
Anthony Davidson (Carlin Motorsport Dallara-Mugen) 20 laps in 20m22.690s
Takuma Sato (Carlin Motorsport Dallara-Mugen) +1.865s
James Courtney (Jaguar Racing Dallara-Mugen) +7.624s
Derek Hayes (Manor Motorsport Dallara-Mugen) +10.984s
Bruce Jouanny (Promatecme Dallara-Mugen) +11.933s
Andre Lotterer (Jaguar Racing Dallara-Mugen) +12.219s
Ryan Dalziel (Duma Racing Dallara-Mugen) +12.936s
Gianmaria Bruni (Fortec Dallara-Renault) +13.413s
Matt Davies (Team Avanti Dallara-Opel) +15.491s
Jamie Spence (Duma Racing Dallara-Mugen) +16.254s
Scholarship Class Robbie Kerr (Fred Goddard Racing Dallara-Renault)
Fastest lap Sato 1m00.040s
Latest news
Ranking Lewis Hamilton's 10 F1 seasons with Mercedes
Lewis Hamilton’s decade at Mercedes has been one of remarkable success not seen before in Formula 1.
Dennis singles out Jaguar as Porsche's biggest Formula E threat
Jake Dennis says Porsche cannot let off its development of its Gen3 Formula E powertrain, and singled out Jaguar as a threat to the German manufacturer in the coming rounds.
Verstappen buoyed by new handling characteristics of 2023 F1 tyres
Formula 1 world champion Max Verstappen is hopeful the new Pirelli tyres will help further dial out the inherent understeer of the current generation of cars.
Pastrana adds NASCAR Truck Series race to Daytona programme
Travis Pastrana has added the season-opening NASCAR Truck Series race to his appearance at Daytona International Speedway this month.
Ranking the 10 best drivers from F1's junior series in 2022
The ladder to F1 never gets any less slippery. But a strong cast of Formula 3 and Formula 2 aces proved sure of foot as they continued their climbs in 2022
What racing in Australia means for the future of F1's junior series
The announcement that FIA Formula 2 and 3 would race alongside the Australian Grand Prix from 2023 came as a surprise, not only to fans but to the series’ teams too. But with Formula 1’s boom in popularity bringing more fans to the championships, team principals are relishing the opportunity
Why the Formula 3 benchmark's 2022 season hinges on qualifying
Prema Racing has long dominated FIA Formula 3, taking the teams’ title in two of the past three seasons. But its start to 2022 has been trickier than usual, and the answers lie in its qualifying performance
How the ultra-tight F3 title fight is taking shape
With just five points separating the top five after two rounds, FIA Formula 3 looks set for another thrilling season in 2022. But who stands the best chance of pulling away from that pack, and who are the contenders bubbling under?
The F3 newcomer making good on his unusual career path
Joining the FIA Formula 3 grid as a rookie with a team new to the series could prove daunting for most, but then there aren't many drivers who have the extensive experience Franco Colapinto brings from his time racing sportscars. The Argentinian explains how his LMP2 experience is already helping him in 2022
The British trio hunting for F3 title glory
The 2022 FIA Formula 3 season kicks off this weekend in Bahrain. British trio Zak O’Sullivan, Ollie Bearman and Jonny Edgar have all become proteges of Formula 1 teams, and are talents to watch this year
How an outsider demolished a rank of F1 juniors
His career has been a slowburner but Gregoire Saucy trounced a collection of F1 juniors in Formula Regional by Alpine last year, and now he’s preparing to do it again in FIA F3. Here’s how the Swiss caught the world by surprise in 2021 and how he plans to do it all over again
Ranking the top 10 F2 and F3 drivers of 2021
With a veritable feast of feeder series talent in 2021, FIA Formula 2 and Formula 3 produced some of its most exciting racing yet. Although Prema Racing drivers once again dominated the respective series, drivers from other teams also stole the limelight to mark themselves out as stars of the future, or validate their highly-regarded standing
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.