Jack Harvey re-takes the British F3 Championship lead

British racing driver Jack Harvey claimed his fifth win of the Cooper Tires British Formula 3 Championship at Snetterton this weekend. The Racing Steps Foundation-backed driver’s race results at the latest round of the Championship means he re-takes the Championship lead with just two rounds left on the calendar.

The Carlin driver had a tricky free practice session on Friday, suffering from technical issues, but the team successfully resolved the problems in time for Saturday’s qualifying session. Harvey led the way in the first half of session with a 1.41.270 lap, and then bettered this with a 1:41.170 to claim the double pole for the weekend and his eighth pole position of the season so far.

Jack Harvey

Photo by: Daniel James Smith

Heavy rain fell just ahead of the start of race one on Saturday afternoon, which delayed the race start until the rain had stopped. The cars eventually took to the damp grid on wet tyres and Harvey lined up in pole position. The Carlin driver made a perfect start despite the tricky wet conditions and, while a number of cars were caught up in accidents, Harvey kept a cool head and controlled the race from the front.

With only a few laps of the race to go, the rain began to fall heavily once again and the driving conditions deteriorated. Race control made the call to red flag the race and Harvey took his fifth victory of the season and re-claimed the lead in the drivers Championship.

Harvey lined up for race two in 12th position for the reverse grid race. With a break in the torrential rain, Harvey took to the grid on slick tyres and made a storming start, moving up through the field to P7 by the end of lap one. Five laps later Harvey was up to P6 as Goddard dropped down the field as a result of a drive through penalty.

Continuing his drive through the field, on lap nine Harvey overtook Uhrhane for fifth position. It took Harvey just one more lap to catch and pass Fong for fourth place. After eleven laps of racing Harvey took the checkered flag in P4; just 0.3 seconds behind third placed McBride.

Jack Harvey

Photo by: Daniel James Smith

Sunday afternoon saw Harvey line up in pole position for the final race of the weekend on a wet grid. The Carlin driver had a difficult start and dropped to P3 by turn one as the cars on the other side of the grid were able to get a much stronger start. Struggling for pace in the wet conditions, Sainz and Serralles were then able to pull away from Harvey.

As the track began to dry, the handling of Harvey’s car improved and the Carlin driver set a series of fastest laps. Harvey was able to close in on the leading duo but ran out of laps to challenge them for position and crossed the finish line in P3; Harvey’s ninth podium of the year.

“We’ve come away from Snetterton with mixed feelings. Two pole positions, another win and a third place finish plus a P4 from P12 on the grid is a great result but at the same time it’s disappointing that we didn’t have the pace to get another win in race three. We were really quick when the track began to dry but struggled in the wet;” commented Jack Harvey.

“The conditions for race one was really tough. When the rain came we were aquaplaning everywhere and the red flag decision was definitely the right call. I’m also really happy with my drive through the field from P12 to P4 in race two. We now head to the final two rounds of the Championship; Silverstone and Donnington. These are two of my favorite tracks on the calendar and our aim will be pole positions and wins to extend our lead in the Championship;” continued Jack Harvey.

Jack Harvey heads to Silverstone on the 8th September for the next round of the British F3 Championship. Harvey is currently leading the drivers Championship with 252 points.

Source: Driven Communications