Race 2: Sato bounces back
Takuma Sato dominated the second British Formula 3 Championship round at Croft on Monday in slippery conditions to make up for his first-race collision with fellow title contender Derek Hayes

The Japanese took full advantage of horrendously botched starts from front-row men Hayes and Anthony Davidson to control the race from start to red-flagged finish.
Poleman Hayes missed his shift to second gear, dropping his Manor Motorsport Dallara-Mugen to third behind Sato and Jamie Spence. Davidson, meanwhile, got away last after stalling.
With spots of rain falling, Sato's Carlin Motorsport Dallara-Mugen pulled away from Spence, who came under little threat from F3 rookie Hayes, who did not know how hard to push on the slippery circuit.
Eventually, on the 14th lap, Spence arrived at Clervaux just after the rain had suddenly increased in intensity. The Duma Racing Dallara-Mugen slid wide, was launched clear of the gravel trap by the kerb and plunged head on into the barriers before rolling over. Spence was unhurt and, with the race stopped just seconds later because of the worsening conditions, he even kept his second place in the results.
A delighted Sato, who extends his championship lead (regardless of the outcome of Manor Motorsport's protest into his first-race driving standards, see previous story), said: "I made a perfect start regardless of what happened to Derek and Anthony. Then I had to put the brakes on to avoid Derek. Jamie came rocketing up the inside so I had to pass Derek on the outside.
"Then I got a comfortable distance. There were spots of rain, but it lowered the track temperature and actually increased the grip. But after that the rain increased and I had to back off."
Nicolas Kiesa took a strong fourth, chased throughout by Gianmaria Bruni. The Italian said he was lining up to make a late challenge, only for the race to be stopped.
Bruce Jouanny completed the top six after a competitive weekend. He had Andre Lotterer closing, the German having made a fantastic start from 15th on the grid.
First-race winner Davidson recovered to 11th, just one place outside the points, but was dumped back to 12th on results countback (due to the red flag). "From so high to so low," he said, "but it's been a great weekend and I love driving through the field! I was completely flat on the throttle at the start but it just didn't catch. I don't know why."
Robbie Kerr took the Scholarship Class from Michael Keohane. Series leader Matt Gilmore unavoidably hit Ernani Judice at the first corner and lost two laps having a new nosecone fitted before rejoining to claim the final point for 10th place.
Takuma Sato (Carlin Motorsport Dallara-Mugen) 12 laps in 15m13.885
Jamie Spence (Duma Racing Dallara-Mugen) +4.207s
Derek Hayes (Manor Motorsport Dallara-Mugen) +5.202s
Nicolas Kiesa (RC Motorsport Dallara-Opel) +7.661s
Gianmaria Bruni (Fortec Renault Dallara-Renault) +8.245s
Bruce Jouanny (Promatecme Dallara-Mugen) +8.831s
Andre Lotterer (Jaguar Racing Dallara-Mugen) +10.792s
Matt Davies (Team Avanti Dallara-Opel) +11.713s
James Courtney (Jaguar Racing Dallara-Mugen) +12.382s
Paul Edwards (Alan Docking Racing Dallara-Mugen) +13.214s
Scholarship Class Robbie Kerr (Fred Goddard Racing Dallara-Renault)
Fastest lap Sato 1m15.136s

Race 1: Davidson benefits from Sato-Hayes shunt
Sato excluded from Race 1 at Croft

Latest news
NASCAR bans Chastain Martinsville wall-ride manoeuvre
NASCAR has decided to ban the wall-ride manoeuvre made famous by Ross Chastain at Martinsville that secured him a place in the Championship 4.
Gasly: Mindset for Alpine is "completely different" to Red Bull F1 move
Pierre Gasly says he has a "completely different" mindset for his Alpine Formula 1 move thanks to lessons taken from his failed stint at Red Bull in 2019.
GTD Pro win a “proper send-off” for retiring IMSA stalwart MacNeil
Winning the GTD Pro class at the Daytona 24 Hours was a fitting way for Cooper MacNeil to retire from racing in the IMSA SportsCar Championship, says team-mate Jules Gounon.
The all-French F1 partnership that Ocon and Gasly hope to emulate
Alpine’s signing of Pierre Gasly alongside Esteban Ocon revives memories of a famous all-French line-up, albeit in the red of Ferrari, for BEN EDWARDS. Can the former AlphaTauri man's arrival help the French team on its path back to winning ways in a tribute act to the Prancing Horse's title-winning 1983?
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.