With three of the top six drivers in the championship taking wins at Rockingham – including James Pull’s maiden win – the championship is really hotting up as we head to the final stages of the season.
Pull, Sennan Fielding, and Max Fewtrell all took race wins at the Leicestershire circuit, with Fewtrell extending his championship lead.
Whilst half of the top six were winning, the other half were having difficult weekends. Luis Leeds took a single podium finish, taking twenty five points from the weekend, whilst both Devlin DeFrancesco and Petru Florescu retired from the opening race of the weekend.
Race One
Pull had already secured his maiden pole in the series earlier in the day but it wouldn’t be easy to keep the lead of the race, with rookie Alex Quinn starting in second.
Quinn was off to a lightening start on the wet track, getting side by side with the Carlin driver as they approached the first corner. It was Pull who had the inside line though, managing to keep the rookie behind him. He was eventually able to pull out a gap to Quinn behind him, crossing the line with a five second advantage to the Racing Steps Foundation driver.
It was a rookie win for Quinn again, his seventeenth of the season. Max Fewtrell had managed to climb up to P3 after a poor start, but struggled to get close enough to Quinn until the end of the race, when there was not enough time to get past the rookie.
“The start was amazing,” Quinn said. “I got alongside [Pull] into turn one and then I wasn’t quite able to get past around the outside of the hairpin, but we were pressuring [Pull] a lot in the first few laps. I think we were quick at the beginning and he was quick towards the end. I’m really happy with second and this rookie win.
“I knew we would be really quick in the first part of the race. I’m really happy we are always at the front now. When it matters, we seem to be able to do it.”
The star of the race was really Jamie Caroline, though. The Fortec driver has already proven himself a master in the wet, and the conditions were perfect for him to move forward from eighteenth on the grid. Caroline swept past six drivers off of the line, and had managed to move up to eighth by the time the field reached the start/finish straight for the first time.
His progress from that point onwards was a little slower, but he crossed the line in fourth after thirteen laps.
Race Two
Nicolai Kjaergaard took pole for the second race of the weekend, with Luis Leeds starting alongside him and Raffael Martins and Sennan Fielding starting on the second row.
It was a spectacular start of the race, as the four leading drivers arrived at the first corner alongside one another. It wasn’t as clean as the pole sitter would want as he and Martins came together at the first corner. Both drivers were able to keep moving, but not at a great speed, and Kjaergaard was forced into the pits.
JTR’s Patrik Matthiesen also ran into trouble on the opening lap, and the safety car was brought out to clear his car from the track. That would have a huge impact on James Pull’s race.
The race one winner would start in eighth in the partially reversed grid, and slowly make his way through the order. Including, unfortunately for him, during the safety car. Pull was excluded from the race for overtaking under the safety car boards and flag.
Back up at the front of the field, Sennan Fielding emerged from the scrap in the lead of the race, with Leeds not far behind him. Caroline had been promoted to third after the scrap but Fewtrell would soon take the podium position away from the Fortec driver.
From there, it was a quiet race for the top three. Leeds was unable to challenge Fielding for the win, leaving the JHR Developments driver to get his fifth race win of the season. The finish put the pair on an equal number of points.
“I knew it was going to be a close race and I knew we had the pace to win even though it would be challenging,” said Fielding. “In today’s race, I knew I needed a good start and aimed to pick them off.
“Once I got in front I just got my head down and pushed on for the win. With the safety car restarts I knew I had to nail them which I did thankfully because Luis was really quick.”
“That race was pretty interesting,” Leeds said. “I got a shocking start. Unfortunately Rafa and Sennan just got me and then there was contact at the start, which allowed me to get back and catch up to Sennan.”
“It was a bit annoying I didn’t really capitalise on the opportunity to win that I had in that race… It would have been nice to get ahead of Sennan.”
Race Three
Billy Monger took his maiden pole of the season for the final race of the weekend, and drove a superb race throughout the fifteen lap race, but it would go unrewarded as Fewtrell and Fielding both passed the JHR Developments driver on the final lap.
Championship contender Petru Florescu had his best chance of the weekend in the final race, starting alongside Monger. The Romanian came alongside the pole sitter, but couldn’t find a way past and, though he stuck close to Monger, was unable to take the lead.
Team mate Fewtrell was growing impatient. He overtook Florescu at the midpoint of the race, with Fielding following him not long after. Florescu would eventually finish fourth, his best finish of the weekend, bringing him to within two points of team mate DeFrancesco in the title fight, but the Romanian still lies sixth in the championship.
The top three eventually broke away from the rest of the pack. Monger was doing a great job to defend against the two championship contenders, with a mechanical problem hindering his progress. As the cars came down the pit straight for the penultimate time, the JHR Developments team clapped them past, but it wasn’t over yet.
Fewtrell managed to get past Monger on the final lap, with Fielding following him. Monger would finish on the podium, his first since Thruxton.
“Monger drove really well,” said Fewtrell. “He was unlucky, but this sport can be like that. It can be cruel, but obviously today it was good for us and you have to be there to take the chance. I did a few good moves to make my way through and I slowly chased Monger down.
“Fielding was coming at us towards the end. Defending and attacking at the same time is probably the hardest thing to do, but I knew Sennan wasn’t quite close enough to attack, although on the last lap it got really close.
“It’s been another good weekend for us. This is the time to perform so I think I’m doing alright at the moment. I think I was holding back a little too much in the middle part of the season, but when the championship is close you have got to start taking risks.”
Leeds and Pull faced another difficult race. Leeds could only manage a tenth place, taking a single point from the race and dropping him to third in the championship, whilst Pull got stuck into a race long battle with Martins, DeFrancesco, and Simmons. DeFrancesco and Simmons both managed to get past the race one winner in the dying stages of the race, leaving him with a disappointing seventh.
Results
Race One
1 – James Pull – Carlin
2 – Alex Quinn – Fortec
3 – Max Fewtrell – Carlin
4 – Jamie Caroline – Fortec
5 – Sennan Fielding – JHR Developments
6 – Raffael Martins – TRS Arden
7 – Luis Leeds – TRS Arden
8 – Nicolai Kjaergaard – Fortec
9 – Zane Goddard – Double R Racing
10 – Carrie Schreiner – Double R Racing
11 – Ayrton Simmon – TRS Arden
12 – Jack Martin – TRS Arden
13 – Patrik Matthiesen – JTR
14 – Frank Bird – Fortec
15 – Billy Monger – JHR Developmets
16 – Alexandra Marinescu – Richardson Racing
17 – Jack Butel – JHR Developments
18 – Petru Florescu – Carlin – DNF
19 – Devlin DeFrancesco – Carlin – DNF
Race Two
1 – Sennan Fielding – JHR Developments
2 – Luis Leeds – TRS Arden
3 – Max Fewtrell – Carlin
4 – Jamie Caroline – Fortec
5 – Alex Quinn – Fortec
6 – Ayrton Simmon – TRS Arden
7 – Petru Florescu – Carlin
8 – Raffael Martins – TRS Arden
9 – Devlin DeFrancesco – Carlin
10 – Zane Goddard – Double R Racing
11 – Nicolai Kjaergaard – Fortec
12 – Jack Butel – JHR Developments
13 – Billy Monger – JHR Developmets
14 – Alexandra Marinescu – Richardson Racing
15 – Carrie Schreiner – Double R Racing – DNF
16 – Frank Bird – Fortec – NC
17 – Jack Martin – TRS Arden – DNF
18 – Patrik Matthiesen – JTR – DNF
19 – James Pull – Carlin – EX
Race Three
1 – Max Fewtrell – Carlin
2 – Sennan Fielding – JHR Developments
3 – Billy Monger – JHR Developmets
4 – Petru Florescu – Carlin
5 – Alex Quinn – Fortec
6 – Raffael Martins – TRS Arden
7 – Devlin DeFrancesco – Carlin
8 – Ayrton Simmon – TRS Arden
9 – James Pull – Carlin
10 – Luis Leeds – TRS Arden
11 – Patrik Matthiesen – JTR
12 – Zane Goddard – Double R Racing
13 – Jack Martin – TRS Arden
14 – Jamie Caroline – Fortec
15 – Carrie Schreiner – Double R Racing
16 – Jack Butel – JHR Developments
17 – Frank Bird – Fortec
18 – Nicolai Kjaergaard – Fortec
19 – Alexandra Marinescu – Richardson Racing
Image credit: Caroline Rhea
