Collard back on form with a well-timed dominant double British F3 win

1 Jon Minshaw/ Phil Keen (Barwell Motorsport Lamborghini Huracan); 2 Mark Farmer/ Jon Barnes (TF Sport Aston Martin Vantage) +0.427s; 3 Rick Parfitt/ Seb Morris (Team Parker Racing Bentley Continental); 4 Derek Johnston/jonny Adam (TF Sport Aston Martin Vantage); 5 Lee Mowle/joe Osborne (AMD Tuning BMW Z4); 6 Phil Dryburgh/ Ross Wylie (Motorbase Aston Martin Vantage). Fastest lap Osborne 1m48.615s (98.40mph). Pole Farmer. Starters 12.

1 Minshaw/ Keen; 2 Johnston/adam +4.086s; 3 Mowle/ Osborne; 4 Farmer/ Barnes; 5 Parfitt/ Morris; 6 Ian Stinton/ Mike Simpson (Tolman Motorsport Ginetta G55 GT3). FL Keen 1m48.579s (98.43mph) record. P Keen. S 12.

1 Minshaw/ Keen 147.5pts; 2 Johnston/adam 136; 3 Parfitt/ Morris 120.5; 4 Farmer/ Barnes 109.5; 5 Mowle/ Osborne 96; 6 Liam Griffin 83.5 etc.

1 Sandy Mitchell/ Ciaran Haggerty (Ecurie Ecosse Mclaren 570S); 2 Jack Bartholomew/ Ross Gunn (Beechdean AMR Aston Martin Vantage GT4) +0.360s; 3 Matthew Graham/ Jack Mitchell (Generation AMR Aston Martin Vantage GT4); 4 Alex Reed/joey Foster (Lanan Racing Ginetta G55); 5 Graham Johnson/ Mike Robinson (PMW/ Optimum Ginetta G55); 6 Jordan Stilp/ William Phillips (RCIB Racing Ginetta G55). FL Gunn 1m58.860s (89.92mph). P Reed. S17.

1 Bartholomew/ Gunn; 2 Johnson/ Robinson +12.361s; 3 Reed/ Foster; 4 S.mitchell/ Haggerty; 5 Marcus Hoggarth/abbie Eaton (Ebor GT Maserati MC GT4); 6 Paul Hollywood/jamie Chadwick (Beechdean Aston Martin Vantage GT4). FL Matthew George (Generation AMR Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT4) 1m58.704s (90.03mph). P Gunn. S 17.

1 Johnson/ Robinson 142.5; 2 Bartholomew 140; = Jordan Albert/joey Foster/alex Reed 97; 4 Stilp/ Phillips 88.5; 5 Marcus Hoggarth/abbie Eaton 88; 6 Haggerty/ Mitchel 78.

1 Collard 438pts; 2 Leist 423; 3 Randle 387; 4 Sowery 376; 5 Ahmed 288; 6 Lando Norris 247 etc.

1 Phil House (Scirocco); 2 Dennis Strandberg (Scirocco) +5.451s; 3 Rob Allum (Golf); 4 Kieran Gordon (Golf); 5 Paul Ivens (Scirocco); 6 Kenan Dole (Golf). FL House 2m07.944s (83.53mph). P Strandberg. S 17.

1 Tom Witts (Golf); 2 Dole +0.140s; 3 House; 4 Ivens; 5 Strandberg; 6 Benjamin Wallace (Scirocco.). FL House 2m08.065s (83.45mph). P Witts. S 17.

1 Dennis Strandberg (Scirocco); 2 Darelle Wilson (Scirocco Tdi) +7.349s; 3 Kenan Dole (Golf); 4 Paul Taylor (Golf); 5 Paul Ivens (Sirocco); 6 Matthew Wilson (Golf). Class winners Barrie Cully (Vento VR6). P Strandberg. S 24.

1 Strandberg; 2 John Stevens (Passat) +0.109s; 3 Ivens; 4 Taylor; 5 Toby Bearne (Golf); 6 M.wilson. CW Christie Doran (Golf). FL Strandberg 2m08.350s (83.27mph). P Bearne. S 24.

Ginetta Racing Drivers’ Club + (6 laps) 1 Rob Keogh; 2 Richard Evans +0.224s; 3 Shawn Fleming; 4 Gary Wager; 5 Adrian Campbell-smith; 6 Jac Constable. FL Evans 2m18.849s (76.97mph). P Evans. S 15. 1Fleming; 2 Evans +0.773s; 3 Campbell-smith; 4 Keogh; 5 Constable 6 Keith Sinclair. FL Fleming 2m17.193s (77.90mph). P Keogh. S 14. 1 Keogh; 2 Evans +5.621s; 3 Campbell-smith; 4 Constable; 5 Wager; 6 Fleming. FL CampbellSmith 2m18.374s (77.24mph). P Mike Jarvis. S 14.

Ginetta Racing Drivers’ Club (6 laps) 1 Phil Ingram; 2 Richard Isherwood +3.929s; 3 Jack Oliphant; 4 Tom Burgess; 5 Nick Hart; 6 Richard Anderson. FL Ingram 2m21.588s (75.48mph). P Isherwood. S 22. 1 Ingram; 2 Isherwood +13.018s; 3 Richard Tetlow; 4 Oliphant; 5 Anderson; 6 Burgess. FL Ingram 2m21.643s (75.45mph). P Ingram. S 20.

Ricky Collard extended his BRDC British F3 Championship lead with two controlled victories at Snetterton as he became the series’ leading winner for the season.

Collard took victory in races one and three to bring his tally to five for the season, putting him one win clear of the absent Lando Norris, who was yet again away on Formula Renault 2.0 NEC duty at Assen in Holland.

Russian FIA European F3 driver Nikita Mazepin was drafted in as Norris’s Carlin-mounted replacement, and celebrated his maiden single-seater victory in the reversed grid second race, as all three outings suffered from a general lack of overtaking opportunities.

Saturday brought the most drama, and almost a disaster for Collard, who had to rely on some swift work from his Carlin mechanics to be able to take part in qualifying.

Collard left the pits to start the session but began to suffer a misfire that eventually began to cut the engine totally. He crawled back and his engineers traced the fault to an electrical glitch in the steering wheel. With that fixed Collard got out with just a few minutes remaining and repaid their efforts by setting pole.

That was about as troubled as the points leader would get all weekend, despite close attention from biggest rival Matheus Leist. The Brazilian qualified second but couldn’t match Collard’s now customary lightning start when the lights went out.

The race was neutralised almost immediately when championship hopeful Thomas Randle – who had started back in sixth after complaining of a lack of rear stability – brushed with Douglas Motorsport team-mate Enaam Ahmed into the Bomb Hole. Ahmed’s car hit the grass, dug in and rolled, but he escaped the incident unharmed.

When racing resumed, Collard timed his getaway perfectly, bolting early around Coram to build a gap and take the win. Leist was second with Toby Sowery third having benefited from a fresh Tatuus tub after suspicions from the Lanan team that his old one was cracked.

Mazepin’s eighth place in race one handed him pole for race two and he controlled it from the start in what was a processional outing. Snetterton’s technical turns didn’t play brilliantly for overtaking, with Mazepin leading second-place starter Tarun Reddy throughout. Harrison Scott stole third from Randle at the start, with Sowery fith ahead of Leist and Collard.

That would be the one time Leist managed to take some points from Collard, as race three mirrored the first, with Collard leading from pole to beat the Brazilian to the flag again.

“We’re back on form and at the perfect time,” said Collard, who now holds a 15-point lead. “The starts were so important this weekend and I was delighted with the ones I made. The points margin is still small going to Donington and we could let it slip easily, so I’ve got to keep my head down and hope this run continues.”

Ben Hingeley capped a strong weekend with his maiden podium for HHC Motorsport while Ahmed recovered to take fourth.