Silverstone BF3: Leist and Sowery take wins in rain-shortened round
Matheus Leist and Toby Sowery shared wins in the fifth round of the British F3 season at Silverstone after the final race was abandoned due to heavy rain.
In Race 1 on Saturday, Leist claimed his third win of the season after overtaking polesitter Thomas Randle off the line, which proved to be the decisive move.
The race was shortened to six laps after, at the initial start, Enzo Bortoleto stalled from ninth on the grid and was hit by Indian Krishnaraaj Mahadik, who had started 19th and couldn't avoid a collision.
After a brief red flag the race was restarted, with Leist going on to take a dominant win and Randle coming home in second.
British F3 part-timer Lando Norris had initially been up to second before crashing out at Becketts, allowing Tarun Reddy to move up to the final podium spot.
The Indian then resisted the charge from championship leader Ricky Collard and Enaam Ahmed to claim his second podium of the season.
Sowery wins wet Race 2
The second race on Sunday was declared wet after showers hit Silverstone just before start. All, barring guest driver Harrison Scott, chose to start on wet tyres.
Reverse grid polesitter Jan Jonck went wide on the opening lap, handing the race lead to Toby Sowery and himself starting to tumble down the order.
Meanwhile, Norris, who started 17th, was up to second by lap four after a series of moves over his rivals on a damp track.
His teammate Collard, having fought for the runner-up spot in the opening stint, dropped back and was battling championship contender Randle for fifth when Quinlan Lall joined the fray.
Soon Lall and Collard made contact as both went off, the Carlin driver continuing outside of the top 10.
Up ahead, Sowery took a commanding win over an impressive Norris, with Leist completing the podium.
Randle eventually finished fourth, while Ahmed ended up fifth. Collard would only take 13th, just behind polesitter Jonck.
After the crash on Saturday, Chris Dittmann Racing couldn’t repair Mahadik’s car and the Indian driver was forced to sit on the sidelines on his 18th birthday.
Washout in Race 3
With Leist on pole, eyeing a double win in the Silverstone round, the final race of the weekend would end up being a non-starter.
Heavy downpour at the circuit meant there was little chance of the race to start and it was officially abandoned after inspection.
After round five, Collard still maintains his championship lead with 298 points, with Randle a further 19 points away and three points ahead of Leist.
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