Maini extends lead in British F3 standings
DONINGTON PARK BRSCC 19-20 SEPTEMBER
Early-season pacesetter Kaylen Frederick may have bounced back from a miserable weekend at Brands Hatch with a victory at Donington Park, but it wasn’t enough to prevent the relentless Kush Maini from extending his lead at the top of the BRDC British F3 Championship standings.
Frederick has perhaps been guilty of over-driving on occasions, but the Carlin racer’s searing pace allowed him to top qualifying by nearly a quarter of second from Ulysse de Pauw, as almost the same margin covered second to eighth. He had a similar gap over Hitech GP man Maini in the second-fastest times used to determine race three’s grid.
Come the first race, Frederick never looked like being beaten. After an early safety car, he reeled off a series of fastest laps to take his fourth win of the season by over three seconds from de Pauw, who suffered gear-selection problems all weekend, and Maini.
“It all really started with qualifying, where you have to put the work in,” said Frederick. “From pole you’re starting on the front foot with less pressure. You just need to hold position instead of make up positions.”
Maini’s championship challenge had so far been built on consistency, with just a single win. His podium in race one, allied to 10th (ahead of Frederick in 12th) in race two, suggested more of the same. But Maini himself wanted more and started race three in determined mood. “It’s going to be gloves off and try to get that win,” he said.
So it proved. On the first lap, a late dive inside Frederick at the Old Hairpin allowed Maini to complete the pass into Mcleans, as Frederick also dropped behind the Douglas Motorsport car of de Pauw after a mistake at the Esses. The positions remained static, but Frederick lost third to team-mate Nazim Azman post-race via a track-limits penalty.
The other main title contenders had mixed weekends at best. Louis Foster, a winner at Donington last month, was left perplexed by a lack of pace that put him 11th fastest in qualifying. A good start in race one was undone by a spin after contact with Kiern Jewiss at Mcleans on the first lap, before charging back to 11th after the resulting safety car.
From sixth on race two’s reversed grid, Foster led within a lap. He cruised to victory from Josh Mason (Lanan Racing) and Manaf Hijjawi (Douglas) – both claiming their first podiums of the season – but could only manage 11th in race three.
It was Douglas driver Jewiss’s turn to endure a nightmare weekend. The 2018 British Formula 4 champion hasn’t had a podium since inheriting victory in the season opener, but still held second in the points, through consistent finishes, heading into the weekend. After qualifying mid-grid, the race-one incident cost Jewiss dearly. He limped back for repairs but was not classified and so unable to benefit from the reversed grid, earning his only points of the round from eighth in race three.
With three race weekends to go, Maini holds a 54-point lead over Frederick, with Foster and de Pauw more than 70 points off the pace.
Four drivers have consistently been the class of the field in this year’s Ginetta
GT5 Challenge. Josh Malin and Gordie Mutch took the wins at Donington, but Jonny Wilkinson and James Taylor kept them honest.
Malin passed polesitter Mutch at Mcleans to win race one, while Mutch had to fight back past Wilkinson to reclaim second.
Mutch took advantage of Wilkinson’s poor starts, and scraps among the other frontrunners, to edge clear in races two and three, his first wins of the season. Contact between race-two podium finishers Wilkinson and Taylor left Taylor fifth in race three and earned Wilkinson – third behind Malin – a grid penalty and three licence points. The resulting championship points deduction means Wilkinson sits just behind Taylor in the standings, with Malin and Mutch breathing down their necks.
Tom Golding completed his quest to reclaim the Ginetta G40 title he won in 2018. His charge to a hat-trick of victories, making it nine from 12 this season, means closest challenger Giles Dawson now can’t catch him, barring penalties. Dawson spun exiting Goddards while trying to pressure Golding in the opener, and couldn’t live with his pace in races two and three.