LUNDOVISTSEALSBRITISHF3TITLE

Linus Lundqvist has been the dominant driver in BRDC British Formula 3 this season but it took until the final round for him to clinch the title, which he did in emphatic style with a lights-toflag victory at Silverstone.

The Swede came into the event having suffered a nightmare weekend the previous round at Donington Park where, on the cusp of the title, his championship lead was more than halved by Nicolai Kjaergaard.

With just 50 points between them and a potential 107 points available last weekend the title was still very much up for grabs.

Qualifying was held in the wet on the Grand Prix layout and as the session drew to a close and conditions improved, Lundqvist found himself exchanging fastest times with Carlin’s Billy Monger and Fortec’s Tom Gamble.

But the Double R driver did enough, securing pole by 0.387s from Monger, Gamble and then Kjaergaard who needed to finish at least seventh to take the title battle into Sunday if Lundqvist were to win race one.

Unbeknown to most people in the paddock though, Kjaergaard was nursing an injured left-hand picked up in the final test session on Friday when an F3 Cup competitor collided with the front of the Dane’s car.

Bandaged, swollen and unable to grip the wheel properly, questions remained whether his hand could manage the duration of the race on a now dry track.

Before the end of the first lap it mattered little however, as the Carlin driver was in the gravel at Farm and out of the race.

“I was behind Billy and he was off through Abbey and he came back on and had a snap of oversteer, I went around the outside [through Farm] and also had a snap of oversteer. I caught it but was going through the gravel,” he recalled.

With Kjaergaard out Lundqvist only needed to finish third to seal the title but drove on unaware of his rival’s retirement, pulling almost 3.5 seconds clear of Gamble by half-distance and maintained a lead he was never to lose on his way to the crown.

“I didn’t know that Nicolai had gone off, it was very clever of them [Double R] not to tell me,” said an emotional Lundqvist after the race.

“I guess that’s what they had in their minds [not telling Lundqvist to keep him focused].

“As I won I saw my pitboard said ‘P1 2018’ and that’s not usually what it says, so on the in-lap I was thinking what did they mean?

“But when I came into the pits I put one and one together.

“I didn’t really think that I was going to win it today [Saturday], I was pretty sure it would still be up for grabs tomorrow [Sunday] as I would need Nicolai not to finish. “It’s unreal and just really emotional.” Lundqvist’s race one domination was a fitting way to seal the title, and even more apt given the circumstances of how it could have been secured the next day.

While Saturday’s race had been held in glorious sunshine, Sunday was a washout.

Beginning 45 minutes behind schedule, the full reverse-grid second race started behind the safety car and after only two laps the red flag was shown and results declared, meaning Lanan Racing’s Josh Mason became the 10th driver to win a race this year.

“I just couldn’t see anything, I could barely see the safety car and could barely keep the car in a straight line,” he said.

“It’s good that they stopped the race but I don’t think we should have gone out in the first place.”

With no improvement in the weather or track conditions Motorsport Vision Racing, the club in charge of the meeting, abandoned the remaining races which included the third and final British F3 round of the season.

The decision meant that Lundqvist also sealed the Sunoco Whelen Challenge, only requiring a ninthplace finish to secure the spot if the race had gone ahead.

He will travel to America to compete in the Daytona 24 Hours next January in a DPI machine to round-off what has been an almost perfect season for the Swede.