Vergne wins again at Oulton Park
Jean-Eric Vergne claimed the second victory of his British F3 career by winning an intriguing 40-minute feature race at Oulton Park this afternoon
The Red Bull-backed Carlin driver made another excellent start from pole position to lead the field into the first turn.
Fellow front row starter Carlos Huertas stalled on the line, allowing Fortec's Oli Webb to sweep through into second.
The momentum ebbed and flowed at the front. Vergne stretched out a 3.3-second lead in the first 10 laps, before Webb pegged him back.
The gap shrunk to 2.3s over the next five, before Vergne responded - upping his pace and stretching his advantage back out to 3.4s over the next three tours. Webb mounted a charge in the late stages of the race, but Vergne held on to win by 1.3s and extend his championship lead.
Carlin's Rupert Svendsen-Cook trailed home third, more than 23s adrift. The race two winner led home a four-car train comprising Hitech Racing's Gabriel Dias, and Carlin team-mates Adriano Buzaid and James Calado.
Calado put in a storming drive to climb from 14th on the grid to sixth, but found his progress halted once latched onto Buzaid's tail.
Raikkonen Robertson's Daisuke Nakajima took a lonely seventh, clear of Litespeed's Jay Bridger, who fell back from his best-ever fifth place on the grid.
T-Sport's Alex Brundle and Fortec's Daniel McKenzie rounded out the top 10 after a battle that entertained, but failed to produce a genuine overtaking manoeuvre.
Pos Driver Team Car Time/Gap
1. Jean-Eric Vergne Carlin D/V 39m00.158s
2. Oliver Webb Fortec D/M +1.377
3. Rupert Svendsen-Cook Carlin D/V +25.912
4. Gabriel Dias Hitech D/V +26.893
5. Adriano Buzaid Carlin D/V +27.544
6. James Calado Carlin D/V +28.131
7. Daisuke Nakajima Raikkonen D/M +31.976
8. Jay Bridger Litespeed D/M +40.341
9. Alex Brundle T-Sport D/V +42.837
10. Daniel McKenzie Fortec D/M +43.024
11. William Buller Hitech D/V +46.059
12. Carlos Huertas Raikkonen D/M +46.428
13. Jazeman Jaafar Carlin D/V +48.547
14. Maxim Snegirev Fortec D/M +1:04.443
15. Lucas Foresti Carlin D/V +1:16.562
16. Adderly Fong Sino Vision D/M +1:28.870
17. James Cole T-Sport D/H +1 lap
Not classified
Luiz Felipe Nasr Raikkonen D/M 15 laps
Menasheh Idafar T-Sport D/H 0 laps
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