Kush Maini stormed to the top of the championship as British F3 arrived at Brands Hatch for an action packed weekend.
Hitech GP driver Kush Maini came away from a wet and wild Brands Hatch leading the championship after a solid performance at the Kent track. Second place in race one, third place in race three and then a win in the final race or the weekend, saw the Indian driver top the table by 29 points. Returning for a one off weekend, Ayrton Simmons took two impressive wins for Chris Dittmann Racing but it was Maini who took full advantage of a nightmare weekend for rival Kaylen Frederick. The Carlin driver [Frederick] came into the weekend leading the championship but ended up getting involved in incidents across the weekend and dropped valuable points.
Qualifying
It was a hugely impressive double pole in damp conditions for Simmons on his return to British F3. The Brit started P1 for race one and race three. Simmons, who currently races in Euro Formula with Double R, returned for a one-off weekend with his former team. With Nico Varrone leaving Chris Dittmann Racing, a seat had become available and Simmons gladly took up the offer to return.
In a session plagued by stops and starts, Simmons’ best lap of 1m31.143 seconds was set in the final eight minutes of the session after multiple red flags. Kush Maini was just .084 seconds behind after sneaking onto the front row with a late effort.
Belgium Ulysse De Pauw continued his impressive form, securing P3 for Douglas Motorsport.
It was a bad session for championship leader Kaylen Frederick who caused two red flags after sliding into the gravel at Druids halfway through the session. The American could only set a couple of representative times and qualified 15th for races one and three. Hillspeed’s Oliver Clarke also brought out a red flag after five minutes and will start 16th for both race one and three.
On his double pole, Simmons had this to say; “it’s an amazing feeling, it’s good to be back out on pole. I can’t thank the Chris Dittmann Racing boys enough, the car was amazing today. We had a bit of work to do from the last practice session yesterday but we really showed up today and I’m really happy.
It was tricky and a few red flags as well made it a bit more complicated. It meant you had to just go out and push and we only had five or six flying laps, so we had to be precise with no mistakes and keep chipping away, which we did.
We’re aiming for the win, we’ll have to see what the starts are like. I’ve only done one since I’ve been back, so I think if we get a good getaway from the start we should be in for a very good chance.”
Qualifying Race One
1. Ayrton Simmons, Chris Dittmann Racing, 1m31.143s
2. Kush Maini, Hitech GP, +0.084s
3. Ulysse De Pauw, Douglas Motorsport, +0.143s
4. Manaf Hijjawi, Douglas Motorsport, +0.144s
5. Kiern Jewiss, Douglas Motorsport, +0.209s
6. Josh Skelton, Chris Dittmann Racing, +0.356s
7. Sasakorn Chaimongkol, Hillspeed, +0.364s
8. Louis Foster, Double R Racing, +0.726s
9. Reece Ushijima, Hitech GP, +0.843s
10. Bart Horsten, Lanan Racing, +0.875s
11. Benjamin Pedersen, Double R Racing, +0.966s
12. Nazim Azman, Carlin, +1.018s
13. Josh Mason, Lanan Racing, +2.080s
14. Piers Prior, Lanan Racing, +2.252s
15. Kaylen Frederick, Carlin, +4.075s
16. Oliver Clarke, Hillspeed, +9.945s
Qualifying Race Two
1. Ayrton Simmons, Chris Dittmann Racing, 1m31.256s
2. Josh Skelton, Chris Dittmann Racing, +0.257s
3. Sasakorn Chaimongkol, Hillspeed, +0.348s
4. Kush Maini, Hitech GP, +0.412s
5. Kiern Jewiss, Douglas Motorsport, +0.454s
6. Manaf Hijjawi, Douglas Motorsport, +0.488s
7. Ulysse De Pauw, Douglas Motorsport, +0.498s
8. Louis Foster, Double R Racing, +0.738s
9. Reece Ushijima, Hitech GP, +0.744s
10. Bart Horsten, Lanan Racing, +0.778s
11. Benjamin Pedersen, Double R Racing, +0.954s
12. Nazim Azman, Carlin, +1.240s
13. Josh Mason, Lanan Racing, +2.049s
14. Piers Prior, Lanan Racing, +2.229s
15. Kaylen Frederick, Carlin, +9.079s
16. Oliver Clarke, Hillspeed, no time
Race One
Following on from a dominant qualifying display, it was Chris Dittmann Racing’s Ayrton Simmons who took a lights to flag victory in the opening race of the weekend. It was not the start to the weekend championship leader Kaylen Frederick. The Carlin driver suffered an opening lap incident and only re-joined late on. Sadly, this was not enough to be classified and the championship was blown wide open.
Hitech GP’s Kush Maini finished second in the race and drew level with Frederick in the title battle. The Indian driver was over a second ahead of Douglas Motorsport’s Ulysse De Pauw, who claimed his third podium of the year.
Double R’s Louis Foster took fourth after making up four places. Local man Kiern Jewiss was not far behind in P5. Josh Skelton took sixth in the other Chris Dittmann Racing car. He was seven tenths of a second clear of Hillspeed’s Sasakorn Chaimongkol, with Benjamin Pedersen and Piers Prior finishing within a second of the Thai driver.
Hillspeed’s Oliver Clarke put the red flag in qualifying behind him, moving from 16th on the grid to complete the top-10 finishers.
However, the drama was not done there! After race one the driver of car 22, Piers Prior, was been from the results of the race.
Following an investigation and having heard evidence from the competitors, the Clerk of the Course found that the driver of car 22 was guilty of contravening Motorsport UK Regulation C1.1.5 – Driving in a manner not compatible with general safety. The driver of car 22 was judged to have caused a collision with car 8 (Kaylen Frederick) at turn four, causing car 8 to leave the track and strike the barriers.
Accordingly, under Motorsport UK Regulation G5.3, the driver of car 22 was disqualified and issued with four penalty points. Frederick wasn’t classified in the final results while Prior had finished ninth.
Additionally, after investigation and having heard evidence from the competitor, the Clerk of the Course found that the driver of car 8 (Frederick) was found guilty of contravening Motorsport UK Regulation C1.1.9.
Accordingly, under Motorsport UK Regulation G5.3, the driver of car 8 was formally reprimanded and issued with two penalty points.
Prior’s disqualification means an amended result for the race is as follows;
1. Ayrton Simmons, Chris Dittmann Racing, 11 laps
2. Kush Maini, Hitech GP, +0.587s
3. Ulysse De Pauw, Douglas Motorsport, +1.683s
4. Louis Foster, Double R Racing, +5.013s
5. Kiern Jewiss, Douglas Motorsport, +6.497s
6. Josh Skelton, Chris Dittmann Racing, +8.081s
7. Sasakorn Chaimongkol, Hillspeed, +8.858s
8. Benjamin Pedersen, Double R Racing, +9.318s
9. Oliver Clarke, Hillspeed, +10.516s
10. Josh Mason, Lanan Racing, +12.089s
11. Nazim Azman, Carlin, +13.456s
12. Manaf Hijjawi, Douglas Motorsport, +15.511s
13. Bart Horsten, Lanan Racing, +16.630s
14. Reece Ushijima, Hitech GP, +24.763s
NC. Kaylen Frederick, Carlin, 3 laps completed
DQ. Piers Prior, Lanan Racing
On his race win, Simmons said; “it’s amazing! The Chris Dittmann Racing boys have done an amazing job. We got off to a good start and from then on it was pretty straight forward. We spent a few hours looking at starts as I haven’t done once since my last race here last year, so it was a bit of a gamble but my start was good. And I just brought it home after that.
We had a bit of a gap after the start which I was quite happy with, but then the safety car brought us all up together. After that we had a good restart and Kush was catching towards the end. I still had a bit of a gap but he was a bit quicker towards the end which made it a bit nervous!
“In this race coming now the reverse grid, I’ll just keep my nose clean and pick the pieces up, and then we start on pole for race three and hopefully aim to do what we’ve just done.”
Race Two
It was Carlin’s Nazim Azman who took the win in race two at Brands Hatch this weekend (Saturday 29th). The Malaysian made a great start and then withstood pressure from Hitech GP’s Reece Ushijima to claim his first win of the 2020 season.
Azman’s great start propelled him from fourth on the grid to first at Paddock Hill Bend and then the 19-year-old lead the entire race, taking the flag by 0.699 seconds from Ushijima, with Lanan Racing’s Bart Horsten taking P3.
Hillspeed’s Oliver Clarke secured P4 after starting sixth on the grid, ahead of Douglas Motorsport’s Kiern Jewiss, who also had a great start and gained five places from 10th on the grid. Double R’s Benjamin Pedersen and Douglas Motorsport’s Ulysse De Pauw claimed sixth and seventh, With Josh Skelton, Josh Mason and Sasakorn Chaimongkon seeing out the top-10.
On first victory of the 2020 season, Azman has this to say; “the last two rounds have been a bit disappointing. At Oulton Park we were really quick but we kind of dipped off at Donington, and then the same here because of the rain. But overall, I was quite optimistic starting from P4, I had a gut feeling. I knew that I’m a bit more experienced and that I could definitely get a good launch, and I think I did one of the best launches of my career from P4 straight to P1 before the first turn. After that it was almost smooth sailing almost until the end.
It started spitting with rain a bit early in the race and until the end, almost the whole race it was raining. So, I had to be a bit careful and manage my tyres wisely because I think halfway through the race I had a decent moment because it started to spit a bit too much. After that I was trying to take it easy, maintain the gap, not let him get too close, and in the end, we won the race so I’m really happy.
Race Two Result
1. Nazim Azman, Carlin, 14 laps
2. Reece Ushijima, Hitech GP, +0.699s
3. Bart Horsten, Lanan Racing, +1.142s
4. Oliver Clarke, Hillspeed, +2.807s
5. Kiern Jewiss, Douglas Motorsport, +3.136s
6. Benjamin Pedersen, Double R Racing, +3.856s
7. Ulysse De Pauw, Douglas Motorsport, +4.328s
8. Josh Skelton, Chris Dittmann Racing, +6.868s
9. Josh Mason, Lanan Racing, +7.153s
10. Sasakorn Chaimongkol, Hillspeed, +7.460s
11. Kush Maini, Hitech GP, +8.246s
12. Kaylen Frederick, Carlin, +8.728s
13. Piers Prior, Lanan Racing, +9.030s
14. Louis Foster, Double R Racing, +9.206s
15. Ayrton Simmons, Chris Dittmann Racing, +12.394s
16. Manaf Hijjawi, Douglas Motorsport, +18.033s
Race Three
It was another victory for Chris Dittmann Racing’s Ayrton Simmons in a drama filled race three this weekend (Sunday 30th). The Brit headed home teammate Josh Skelton in a race that was red flagged after the original start following two separate incidents.
Kush Maini finished and impressive P3 for Hitech GP and took the championship lead after Kaylen Frederick suffered early drama for the second time this weekend. Hillspeed’s Sasakorn Chaimongkol took P4 and Douglas Motorsport’s Kiern Jewiss took fifth place for the third race in a row.
Louis Foster was sixth for Double R Racing, ahead of Bart Horsten and Reece Ushijima, with Double R’s Benjamin Pedersen and Carlin’s Nazim Azman Seeing out the top ten the top-10.
The original start saw Simmons made a great getaway to hold the lead, while teammate Skelton alongside him lost a place to Chaimongkol. All of that counted for nothing as Douglas Motorsport’s Ulysse De Pauw skated off into the barriers at Clearways at the end of the opening lap. The Belgium had run wide at Paddock Hill Bend at the start, lost position and then was unable to return to the track.
That brought out the safety car but moments later Frederick, Prior and Manaf Hijjawi came together at Graham Hill Bend. With the safety car boards displayed, and cars snaking to keep tyre temps up, Frederick drove into the back of Ushijima on the run down to Graham Hill Bend, as the two drivers slowed, Prior squeezed up the inside and collided with Frederick, the collision moving the pair into the path of an innocent Manaf Hijjawi. With all three drivers unhurt, a red flag was inevitable, and a lengthy car cleanup began.
After the race there were inevitable penalties for multiple drivers following the three-car collision. The drivers of car 22 (Piers Prior) and car 8 (Kaylen Frederick) were disqualified from the results.
Following investigation and having heard evidence from the competitor, the Clerk of the Course found that the driver of car 8 was guilty of contravening Motorsport UK Regulation Q15.1 – failure to comply with yellow flag signals.
The Clerk of the Course found that Frederick had passed a yellow light at turn two entry and a waved yellow flag and SC Board at turn two exit. He made contact with car 13, passed car 13 and continued at speed.
Frederick was therefore disqualified from the results of the race and handed four penalty points.
Following investigation and having heard evidence from the competitor, the Clerk of the Course found that the driver of car 22 was guilty of contravening Motorsport UK Regulation C1.1.5 – driving in a manner not compatible with general safety.
Car 22 was judged to have caused a collision with car 8 at turn three, causing car 8 to leave the track, while under yellow flags and SC boards.
Prior was therefore disqualified from the results of the race and handed four penalty points. This was the second disqualification for Prior and capped a miserable weekend.
Both cars failed to take the restart.
Race Three Result
1. Ayrton Simmons, Chris Dittmann Racing, 10 laps
2. Josh Skelton, Chris Dittmann Racing, +1.362s
3. Kush Maini, Hitech GP, +3.523s
4. Sasakorn Chaimongkol, Hillspeed, +4.082s
5. Kiern Jewiss, Douglas Motorsport, +5.684s
6. Louis Foster, Double R Racing, +6.985s
7. Bart Horsten, Lanan Racing, +8.036s
8. Reece Ushijima, Hitech GP, +9.607s
9. Benjamin Pedersen, Double R Racing, +10.817s
10. Nazim Azman, Carlin, +12.926s
11. Oliver Clarke, Hillspeed, +14.747s
12. Josh Mason, Lanan Racing, +16.342s
DNS. Manaf Hijjawi, Douglas Motorsport, did not restart
DNS. Ulysse De Pauw, Douglas Motorsport, did not restart
DQ. Kaylen Frederick, Carlin, disqualified
DQ. Piers Prior, Lanan Racing, disqualified
On his second race win of the weekend, Simmons said; “it’s been going pretty well, I must say! I couldn’t give the team enough credit for an amazing car again. That race was pretty similar to yesterday, obviously there was a red flag involved as well so it was tricky to stay on top of your game but I just had to keep the basics.
I was a bit more chilled out today for the starts having had a start from yesterday under my belt so I sort of knew what I was doing, got a bit of a better feel on the clutch. My first start was really good, then obviously after the red flag my start was OK, it wasn’t anything special but it got me P1 by turn one.
If I keep winning like this it would be good, but again I can’t thank the team enough for having me here and giving me this opportunity. It’s been great to be back.”
Race Four
In the final race of the weekend, Hitech GP’s Kush Maini secured his first win of the 2020 season with a solid drive in the final race. He extends his championship lead from Kaylen Frederick who suffered several setbacks on what was a difficult weekend for the American.
The Indian took P1 by 0.782 seconds over Douglas Motorsport’s Ulysse De Pauw, his first win earning Hitech GP’s first win in BRDC British F3 in too. Double R Racing’s Louis Foster claimed the final spot on the podium, a further four seconds further back from the lead duo.
Kiern Jewiss took his best result of the weekend with fourth place to strengthen his grip on second place in the championship, while Hillspeed’s Sasakorn Chaimongkol was fifth completing a good weekend for the British F3 stalwart. Chris Dittmann Racing’s Josh Skelton took advantage of late drama for Lanan Racing’s Bart Horsten to take P6.
Horsten’s off road experience at Sheene Curve dropped him from fifth to seventh, and the Australian headed a drag to the finish line with Nazim Azman who pipped Reece Ushijima on the line. Double R’s Benjamin Pedersen saw out the top-10.
On his maiden race win, Maini said; “we’ve been waiting for that first win after seven podiums, but I didn’t want to rush it. I just wanted to gather points and I knew the win would come sooner or later, and finally it came so I’m really happy.
For me I don’t look at the championship until the last two rounds to be honest, because in this championship anything can happen like you saw. Kaylen [Frederick] was 30 points ahead and he’s leaving 40 points behind so there’s no point looking at the championship yet, but it’s definitely a positive first three rounds.
They’re so brilliant, Hitech gave me a faultless car. They’ve taken nine or ten podiums in 11 races and one win now, and the championship lead, in their debut year. It’s amazing and I really want to thank them.”
Race Four Result
1. Kush Maini, Hitech GP, 12 laps
2. Ulysse De Pauw, Douglas Motorsport, +0.782s
3. Louis Foster, Double R Racing, +4.994s
4. Kiern Jewiss, Douglas Motorsport, +5.645s
5. Sasakorn Chaimongkol, Hillspeed, +7.849s
6. Josh Skelton, Chris Dittmann Racing, +9.448s
7. Bart Horsten, Lanan Racing, +10.362s
8. Nazim Azman, Carlin, +10.540s
9. Reece Ushijima, Hitech GP, +10.644s
10. Benjamin Pedersen, Double R Racing, +11.610s
11. Kaylen Frederick, Carlin, +11.845s
12. Oliver Clarke, Hillspeed, +12.075s
13. Josh Mason, Lanan Racing, +13.031s
14. Piers Prior, Lanan Racing, +14.205s
DNF. Ayrton Simmons, Chris Dittmann Racing, 0 laps
DNF. Manaf Hijjawi, Douglas Motorsport, 0 laps
The British F3 season continues with a second trip to Donington Park for rounds 12,13 and 14. This will take place on the 19th and 20th of September.
