NORRIS TAKES WIN BUT AHMED LEADS
Consistency proved key for Enaam Ahmed as he claimed the early BRDC British F3 points lead after taking three podiums in the opening round at Snetterton.
Ahmed steadily improved during the weekend as he went from qualifying eighth for the opener to winning the finale.
The Douglas Motorsport driver was third in the first race but the opening encounter was all about one driver: Lando Norris.
The 16-year-old was utterly dominant, building a sevensecond lead after just two laps on a difficult wet track. He eventually won by a gargantuan 19s and – just as he was with MSA Formula in 2015 – became the inaugural BRDC British F3 winner.
“The conditions were really tricky – there was a bit of oil down so it was very slippery with the wet,” he explained. “It was hard to push but I built a base and controlled the race. I couldn’t have started in a better way.”
His closest challenger was Double R’s Aleksanteri Huovinen, who put in a strong performance to climb up from sixth, finishing well clear of Ahmed. Lanan’s Toby Sowery was promoted to fourth having been nudged wide by Ricky Collard – who started second. The MSA Formula runner-up was given a three-second penalty for the clash that dropped him from fourth to fifth. HHC Motorsport’s Ben Hingeley put in an impressive drive to take sixth having started 14th.
For the second race – on a largely dry track – it was a different former MSA Formula driver who starred. Matheus Leist had a disappointing opener, ending up 10th. But he made up for that by storming through the order to take the lead on lap two as the cars ahead battled hard.
Reverse grid poleman Enzo Bortoleto held onto the lead at the start but was delayed when fighting with Jan Jonck and Ahmed, allowing Leist to pounce.
The Brazilian wasn’t troubled thereafter, building a big lead after a safety car caused by Hingeley punting Collard into the Oggies gravel.
“I started 10th and on the first lap I was up to fourth,” said Leist. “I don’t know what happened but this motivated me to go on and try to win.”
Fresh tyres for Ahmed and Sowery aided their progress to eventually finish second and third respectively.
The race wasn’t so good for Norris. He had risen to fifth but was then delayed at Agostini when battling Bortoleto and had to settle for sixth, behind Huovinen and Sisa Ngebulana.
The final contest, now in bright sunshine, was decided on the first run into Riches.
Ahmed made a good getaway and brilliantly passed polesitter Sowery around the outside. He was never headed and went on to take a narrow victory.
“I made the same move on Enzo in the second race but it was a bit easier this time as I got a better start,” enthused Ahmed. “I’m delighted to take my first British F3 win and now I’ve got to maintain that and try to take as many wins as I can.”
He was under pressure throughout as the top six ran nose-to-tail for much of the race. It was Sowery who rounded out a strong weekend with second, while Norris and Leist took third and fourth. Ahmed’s Australian team-mate Thomas Randle was fifth and Huovinen completed the top six.
Collard struggled to make much of an impression from the back but finished eighth. Considering he went into the season as one of the favourites, he’s already 49 points behind Ahmed in the standings. Norris sits second but his Eurocup Formula Renault commitments force him to miss the next round.