Lundqvist Impresses in Chaotic F3 Rockingham Weekend

The BRDC British Formula 3 championship displayed some of the best – and worst – junior racing at Rockingham this weekend.

At one end of the scale, Linus Lundqvist impressed in three very different races to take the lead of the championship. At the other, the event was riddled with incidents and three drivers were disqualified from the final race for dangerous driving.

After finishing second in race one, Lundqvist pulled off an impressive move to take the final podium position in race two.

The Double R Racing driver spent most of the race on the tail of Jamie Chadwick, who’s strong defence had built up quite a train. Lundqvist made multiple moves to try to get past, even after Chadwick was handed a five second penalty for exceeding track limits. He finally managed to make a move stick around the outside at Yentwood on the final lap to take third, behind Nicolai Kjaergaard and Kush Maini.

The shoe was on the other foot in race three. Having taken the lead off the line, Lundqvist spent the entire race trying to keep Kjeargaard behind him. On the opening lap, the duo ran wheel to wheel until an early safety car paused the fight. Lundqvist got the upper hand on the restart but a second safety car in the closing stages of the race put his closest title rival back on his tail. He managed to just edge out Kjeargaard to become the first driver to take two wins this season.

Kjeargaard also put in an astonishing performance at Rockingham. His Sunday was almost perfect, taking two second place finishes and 11 bonus overtaking points in race two. But the weekend didn’t get off to the best of starts when he, and a number of other drivers, ran off in the tricky conditions at the start of race one, retiring on the opening lap and brining out the safety car. It meant, despite strong races two and three, he left the Rockingham 11 points behind Lundqvist.

Tom Gamble would also have been closer to the championship lead were it not for one mistake. The Fortec driver took victory after an impressive start in race one and managed to make up six positions to finish fifth in race two.

Race three looked to be another strong performance. He spent the closing stages of the race battling for fourth with fellow Brit Billy Monger and managed to hold him off for eight laps until the pair collided at Deene on the penultimate lap. Gamble was able to continue and finished fourth, though Monger was sent into the gravel. Gamble was later disqualified for “driving in a manner incompatible with general safety” and dropped back to 37 points behind Lundqvist, though he retained third in the championship.

Also disqualified from the race were Clement Novalak, who collided with Chadwick on lap one, and Chia Wing Hoong, who collided with Arvin Esmaeili on lap one.

Kush Maini claimed his first car racing victory in race two after a storming start from fifth on the grid. Fastest lap in race two earned him pole for the final race of the weekend, though he dropped back to third. He ends the weekend fourth in the championship, ahead of Manuel Maldonado.