Sebastiani claims F3 Cup championship
JACOPO SEBASTIANI SEALED THE F3 CUP championship at Oulton Park with yet another convincing display, a second place and victory in the season finale confirming him as champion, 34 points ahead of runner-up Shane Kelly.
A strong weekend at Brands Hatch last time out meant the Italian’s intention to not play the numbers game was evident from the start as he took pole position for race one. But it was the impressive Cian Carey who won the opening race to secure his first victory of the season, storming into second at Old Hall Corner. He inherited the lead at the end of the opening lap after Wade Eastwood pulled into the pits with an engine issue. Sebastiani had made an uncharacteristically poor getaway and slipped back to third, which then became second after Eastwood’s retirement.
With drizzle falling and the pack electing to stay on slicks save for two runners, conditions were treacherous and the title was wrapped up midway through when Shane Kelly could not avoid Robbie Watts’ sideways moment at Cascades and spun out. The order up front remained unchanged, with Sebastiani finishing behind Carey in second, safe in the knowledge that the position would be enough to give him the title.
Consistent all season and only finishing off the podium four times in 17 races, the F3 Cup champion was determined to finish on a high in race two – he pulled clear from pole to secure a lights-to-flag victory, with Carey and Kelly completing the podium.
Both VAG Trophy outings were interrupted, with Simon Walton taking the honours in race one. Starting from pole, the Audi driver pushed the fast-starting Paul Taylor wide at the first corner and controlled the pace superbly to win despite the emergence of the safety car midway through, courtesy of Callum Jenkins crashing around the back of the circuit while battling with Matthew Wilson and Kenan Dole for third.
A red flag in race two could not stop Brayden Fletcher winning from pole. Richard Morgan got sideways at Old Hall Corner, collecting Matthew Evans, and the chaos descended into Cascades with Jenkins and Peter Davies also unable to avoid the melee. Fletcher nailed the restart and was untouchable until the end. Owen Walton and Wilson completed the podium after a race-long battle with Dole, Ben Wallace, Kyle Owen-bradshaw and Simon Walton. Second to sixth was covered by two seconds before Dole failed post-race scrutineering.
Callum Mcdoughall and Ben Simonds (Caterham Supersport) won the MSVT Trackday Championship with a fourth-place finish and a retirement for Class S champion Darren Goes. Eventual winners David Gardner and Chris Mills surrendered the lead in their BMW M3 to Goes in the early stages, but the result for Mcdoughall and Simonds was confirmed when SEAT Leon driver Goes suffered a delaminated tyre and crashed at Cascades midway through.
John Lyne inherited the MSVT Trackday Trophy win after Dean Hyde went off at Cascades late on while leading, causing a red-flag stoppage. Lawrence Davey and Toby Hotston had started from pole, but surrendered the lead to Hyde after the stops, the latter pulling clear until the error that gifted the win to Lyne in his Volkswagen Golf.