Category: British F3

Double R’s Linus Lundqvist may have a 120-point lead in the British F3 series, but that doesn’t mean he’ll be settling for anything less than a victory,

A good weekend in Spa that saw the 19-year-old take his first double-victory of the season has seen the Swede’s lead extend to more than a weekend’s total.

But that doesn’t mean Lundqvist is taking it easy despite his big lead.

“From a championship point of view, it is about staying out of trouble and getting on the podium but I go racing to win. I do this because I love winning and I love racing, around this circuit you need to qualify well and if we get up there we’ll see what we can do.”

That approach does not mean that Lundqvist isn’t thinking about his potential championship success.

“I’m not going to be one of those drivers that lie and says that he’s not thinking about the Championship because obviously you do and it’s looking very good right now.

“It’s motorsport though, and looking back last year here there was a treble-DNF in F4 for me so if we have one of those weekends the gap will shrink very quickly. I’m taking nothing for granted, but all of this proves that we’re doing it right. I’m enjoying it.”

Lundqvist’s cause has been helped by Nicolai Kjaergaard’s sudden loss of form. The Dane was level on points with Lundqvist at Snetterton, but a run of only one podium from six races has seen him drop well.

“I should not take pleasure from other people’s misfortune,” said Lundqvist when asked about his consistency relative to his rivals.

“I was happy with the way I produced the result. It was the first double win of the season so I felt great, to do it at Spa as well is amazing because it’s a legendary track and I had a lot of sponsors and friends there so it was very nice to produce those results in front of them.”

Lundqvist was coy when asked about his plans for next season, although he is likely to move up to international racing.

“Nothing is decided for next year, it is no secret that you need a good budget. My first aim is to do well in this series and hopefully win the championship and we’ll see what my sponsors think and whether they’ll come along for next year. We know what we want to do.”

 

IMAGE: Jakob Ebrey, via BritishF3.com http://www.britishf3.com/british-f3-news/bh-gp-practice-report-2018/

Lanan’s Kush Maini insists that he remains focused after conceding that winning the British F3 championship is unlikely.

Maini trails leader Linus Lundqvist by over 140 points with nine rounds left, starting at the Brands Hatch GP circuit, but says that the motivation is still there.

“You always want to go out and do your best. Nicolai (Kjaergaard, second in the standings) also had a bad weekend at Spa and he’s in range.

“So after all the bad luck to be in that position I am pretty happy. I just have to keep pushing and we’ll try and get him.”

This is the first tie that the 17-year-old Indian has ever been on the Grand Prix circuit, but he isn’t fazed by his lack of track experience.

“Even the Indy Circuit is not a straightforward track, and this is my first time on the GP circuit and I’m sure that will not be easy either. It’s the same for all of us that haven’t been here though. You just need to go in and get a rhythm and debrief afterwards to see what we can change.

“I spend a lot of time at iZone simulators, so I know roughly where to go and what lines to take. Every time you jump in for real it is always a little different, you have a lot more different factors to think of so I’m confident.”

Maini was non-committal on his plans for the future but hinted at moving up the Junior Formulae ladder.

“We’ll wait and see how we finish this season before deciding whether or not to move up to a bigger car.”

Maini’s brother Arjun was at the centre of the Santino Ferrucci controversy at last month’s British Grand Prix, when the American drove into the back of his Trident F2 teammate on the cooldown lap.

Kush feels that Ferrucci’s emotions got the better of him at Silverstone

“I think something was going on in his mind, maybe he was frustrated as Arjun was quicker. I can’t say too much but it was all a little unnecessary.”

Tom Gamble wants more consistency for the remainder of the season after a Super Sunday for the Nottinghamshire teenager.

Gamble was third early on Sunday before winning from the first corner of the evening race after an engine change Saturday night when an issue was discovered.

Since his maiden pole and win on the Saturday at Rockingham six weeks ago, it’s been difficult for the 16-year-old with disqualifications and collisions since then.

“I can’t thank Fortec enough for deciding to change the engine and it was the right call. I’m delighted to be back on the top step because since Rockingham it has felt like ages.

“A podium today was great earlier, last race I made a good start and got him at the first corner and it was a case of being consistent and building a gap.”

Gamble is a comfortable fourth in the championship and is looking up rather than down the standings after improvements this weekend.

“There’s no pressure, I’d like to make the top three in standings and I think it’s definitely possible as long as we stay consistent because Snetterton and the second half of Rockingham was a nightmare. We want to get as many wins as we can.”

And he isn’t fazed about the prospect of racing at Spa-Francorchamps in six weeks’ time despite having never done so before.

“A few of the competitors around me have been to Spa before but we all do the two-day test there earlier in the year so I know where I’m going. If we had not have changed the engine then it would have been a lot harder.”

Image: Spacesuit Media

Linus Lundqvist took pole and win on a super Saturday for the British F3 championship leader to hold off championship rival Kush Maini, while second in the standings Nicolai Kjaergaard could only manage sixth after qualifying seventh.

Jordan Cane made an impressive return to the podium. Here’s what they had to say following a busy Saturday.

Lundqvist:

“Today was perfect, we got pole and win and I’m super happy. There’s another two races tomorrow but I’m going to enjoy this victory for a short time.

When someone is as close as Kush was there doesn’t go a lap where you aren’t looking in your mirrors, you sort of look at what they’re trying to do and I made a small mistake out of the hairpin and he got a run on me. We went side by side a Brooklands and Copse, I just stayed cool and was able to stay ahead.

I would like a win where it’s easier but all in all we’ve had a great car all weekend so thanks to Double R. I just did my part today.

You could say it’s almost perfect. I’m always happy with a win and it’s always a bonus if your main rival isn’t doing too well. We’re always happy with a win when it’s there.”

Maini:

Today was perfect, we got pole and win and I’m super happy. There’s another two races tomorrow but I’m going to enjoy this victory for a short time.

When someone is as close as Kush was there doesn’t go a lap where you aren’t looking in your mirrors, you sort of look at what they’re trying to do and I made a small mistake out of the hairpin and he got a run on me. We went side by side a Brooklands and Copse, I just stayed cool and was able to stay ahead.

I would like a win where it’s easier but all in all we’ve had a great car all weekend so thanks to Double R. I just did my part today.

You could say it’s almost perfect. I’m always happy with a win and it’s always a bonus if your main rival isn’t doing too well. We’re always happy with a win when it’s there.

Kjaergaard:

We’ve struggled a lot yesterday and today. We were slow yesterday and we’re only a bit better today, Clement did a really good job in qualifying.

I didn’t put my lap together so I was P7 and a lot of others put new tyres on and we didn’t have the pace anyway. It was going to be hard.

Tomorrow we need to have a look and see what we can do, we definitely need to find some speed as we weren’t fast enough.

Hopefully these things even themselves out, normally we do have a very quick car. This time it’s weird, we just can’t figure out exactly what the problem is. We seem to have the same problem every time. Hopefully tomorrow we’ll be faster.

Cane:

You always aim for the top step but third isn’t bad, Douglas gave me a great car. It was about focussing and staying with the front two,  got close towards the end as they battled more than they did. It’s a good result today.

I knew Maini had four new tyres, where we had two like Linus, set the second fastest lap time so we’re in a  good position for race three. We’ll be pushing to stick with these boys tomorrow. This is the one place you can have a go at overtaking, as we have a lot of downforce it usually is quite difficult.

Lanan Motorsport’s Kush Maini remained upbeat despite losing ground to championship rivals Linus undqvist and Nicolai Kjaergaard.

Maini finished Race Two 14th after a third in Race One on Saturday, his race scuppered by a puncture sustained while trying to move through the field.

The 17-year-old Indian made no excuses.

“It’s a setback, the puncture was a bit of my own fault. That’s racing, Nicolai had similar luck. All I can do is look forward. It’s disappointing but it is all about how you react.

“You win championships on how you react on your bad weekends, not your good weekends. At Oulton I could easily have lost my head and not finished races there but I got a podium, a fifth and made the best of the situation. The race was my error in race two, but it’s all a case of what ifs now.”

Maini was still able to take third in the final race of the day, having threatened the Scandinavian lead duo of Lundqvist and Kjaergaard early on.

Having already suffered in Race Two, he was keen to stay in the race avoid risks at a circuit that proved difficult to pass on.

“I was driving with my head, honestly. It played a little on my mind, there was a time where I could get second off Nicolai where he’d gone off trying to pass Linus. I could have risked it but if I’d risked it there it could have been all over. We’re still in the game.

“I wanted more than third as we had got the best lap in Race Two but this track is so difficult to follow at. I was getting closer in the slower corners but in the fast ones I was losing it all again, because you lose downforce.”

Lanan were strong at Silverstone last year, and Maini is hoping to repeat that form when the British F3 series visits the home of British Motorsport again in two weeks time.

“We went really well at Silverstone last year, two firsts and a second and we did well at the test. You can expect a fight between us three again, I’m excited and I can’t wait for it.

“I love getting in the car and driving my heart out, I always have fun. Let’s see what happens at Silverstone.”

Nicolai Kjaergaard is hopeful that luck will soon start smiling down on him after a costly retirement in Race Two on Sunday.

The Carlin Motorsport driver had ascended to the top of the standings on Saturday with victory in the opening race of the weekend, but contact with Tom Gamble saw him retire having climbed ten places early on.

“I had gained a lot of positions in the first two laps and my speed was good.

“I thought I was on for a podium so that was really good, but then I came up to Gamble. We were close to touching at Turn One, and he misjudged it at Turn Three where I was on his outside, put us on the grass and we hit the wall. He probably thought he left more room.

“Hopefully that is my last DNF of the season.”

Kjaergaard was second in the final race of the day behind championship leader Linus Lundqvist, and admits that the Swede’s consistency is cause for concern.

“He just doesn’t not finish. He’s always there, and not making mistakes. I was really pushing, but Linus was just too fast. He’s getting further and further away in the championship so I really need to finish ahead of him now in all races.”

Kjaergaard was realistic about his chances in Race Two, with Snetterton proving hard to pass at this weekend.

“Second is a lot better than Race Two, it’s difficult to expect much around here because it is not an easy track to overtake on. The pole man has won here in all three races which tells the story. I was hoping for the win but we knew it was going to be hard.”

And the Dane is looking forward to Silverstone in two weeks’ time, where he sees an opportunity to start making up ground to Lundqvist.

“Usually at Silverstone Carlin have a really good car so I’m expecting to be at the front as we have been for these first three weekends. We need to get some wins.”