It’s a super Saturday for CDR and Simmons
» TEWKESBURY’S Chris Dittmann Racing and Ayrton Simmons were the stars of the first day of the 2021 BRDC British F3 Championship season at Brands Hatch.
Simmons put in a perfect performance in qualifying that saw him claim two pole positions and break the Brands Hatch BRDC British F3 lap record in the process.
The driver’s time of 1:20.298 was the fastest-ever recorded by a current specification British F3 car, and was more than a quarter of a second quicker than any other driver in the field.
His second best time was also close to lap record pace, and secured him pole position for the second race of the weekend.
Simmons blasted off the line in Saturday’s opening race of the season, and was never challenged as he stormed to a lights to flag victory, and secured the fastest lap in the process.
That put Simmons at the top of the drivers’ championship, while solid points banked by Max Marzorati added to the team’s tally, which put them top of the team’s championship as well.
The result also ensured that CDR has taken British F3 victories at the circuit for three seasons running.
Strong pace went unrewarded for Alex Fores; the F3 Cup graduate qualified just outside the top-10 for races one and two, and was on course for a solid top-10 finish before a collision with Roberto Faria.
Marzorati defied a lack of experience on the full Grand Prix layout to lap impressively and bank excellent points for 14th place, which were crucial in putting CDR on top of the teams’ championship after the first day.
Sunday didn’t go quite to plan, with Simmons retiring from pole on the first lap of race two after a collision while leading.
A combative drive from Marzorati did though bank more strong points; with the 20-year-old defying logic to gain five places in the race on a circuit that’s renowned for being difficult to overtake on. Fores retired on the formation lap.
Race three promised much, with Marzorati starting on the front row, Fores in ninth and Simmons 19th thanks to the reverse format.
Marzorati made a good initial getaway to briefly hold the lead, but an overheated clutch forced him to retire. Simmons climbed to 13th place, while Fores was firmly in contention for a top-10 finish again before a collision with Reema Juffali.
Despite a difficult second day, Dittmann is only looking at the positives ahead of the next round of the season at Silverstone on June 26 and 27.
He said: “It was definitely a weekend of two halves, but we certainly proved a point on Saturday.
“With Ayrton it’s clear we’ve got the fastest car and driver combination on the grid at the moment, and that showed with a double pole, the quickest ever lap of Brands Hatch in these cars and an unchallenged, dominant win.”