Vergne wins on F3 debut at Oulton
Jean-Eric Vergne claimed Carlin's 100th British Formula 3 win on his series debut at Oulton Park this afternoon
The Red Bull-backed French driver led away from pole position and controlled a largely processional race from the front.
A ballistic opening lap put Vergne a full second clear of the pack, before fellow front row starter Oli Webb began to find his rhythm in second place.
Webb edged back to within 0.8 seconds of Vergne, before the Frenchman's team-mate James Calado, who had hauled himself into the top 10 from 15th on the grid, ran into the back of Hywel Lloyd on the fourth lap - triggering a safety car.
The race restarted four laps later and Vergne bolted. The Frenchman again immediately put a second between himself and Webb, before slowly increasing his advantage over the remaining laps.
Webb crowned his own F3 debut with second place - three and a half seconds adrift, while Carlin's Adriano Buzaid made the most of a lightening start to complete the podium.
The Brazilian swept around the outside of Rupert Svendsen-Cook and Carlos Huertas into Old Hall on the opening lap to take third, then stayed there for the duration.
Huertas and Svendsen-Cook fell away from Buzaid as the race wore on, and ended it fourth and fifth, while Huertas's Raikkonen Robertson team-mate Daisuke Nakajima rounded out the top six after jumping Jay Bridger and Hywel Lloyd on the opening lap.
Bridger looked set for a comfortable seventh until he went off on the penultimate lap and allowed Hitech's Gabriel Dias to inherit the spot.
With Bridger in the barrier, William Buller found himself promoted into the top 10, behind Carlin's Jazeman Jaafar and Fortec's Daniel McKenzie.
Menasheh Idafar squabbled with T-Sport team-mate James Cole for the National Class lead in the early stages, but ultimately finished comfortably clear in 11th as Cole battled to suppress Max Snegirev and the recovering Lloyd.
Pos Driver Team Car Time/Gap 1. Jean-Eric Vergne Carlin D/V 30m21.288s 2. Oli Webb Fortec D/M + 3.491s 3. Adriano Buzaid Carlin D/V + 5.797s 4. Carlos Huertas Raikkonen Robertson D/M + 9.698s 5. Rupert Svendsen-Cook Carlin D/V + 11.164s 6. Daisuke Nakajima Raikkonen Robertson D/M + 12.572s 7. Gabriel Dias Hitech D/V + 15.741s 8. Jazeman Jaafar Carlin D/V + 16.942s 9. Daniel McKenzie Fortec D/M + 17.771s 10. William Buller Hitech D/V + 20.105s 11. Menasheh Idafar T-Sport D/H + 26.259s 12. James Cole T-Sport D/H + 33.714s 13. Maxim Snegirev Fortec D/M + 34.159s 14. Hywel Lloyd CF/Manor D/M + 34.800s 15. Alex Brundle T-Sport D/V + 35.428s 16. Adderly Fong Sino Vision D/M + 42.381s 17. Lucas Foresti Carlin D/V + 1 lap 18. Jay Bridger Litespeed D/M + 2 laps Retirements: Felipe Nasr Raikkonen Robertson D/M 7 laps James Calado Carlin D/V 3 laps
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