NEWS

DONINGTON PARK 25 SEPTEMBER 2011: Kevin Magnussen claimed his sixth Cooper Tires British Formula 3 win of the season this afternoon at Donington Park, triumphing in a rain-hit round 27 to close to within a point of the championship runner-up position with just three races remaining.

Magnussen survived a controversial collision with new champion and team-mate Felipe Nasr on the opening lap to fight back from third and lift the lead from another Carlin driver, Jack Harvey on the ninth of the 24 laps.

The weather dealt half the grid a crushing blow when the heavens opened on the warming-up lap; those on wet-weather Cooper tires were sitting pretty – the top six on the grid, headed by Nasr, in particular – while those behind were forced to start from the pits after hurried tyre swaps.

Magnussen got a great start from fifth on the grid to slot into second behind Nasr, but a challenge on the champion into the Esses at the end of the lap resulted in contact and delay for both. Magnussen slipped to third, behind Harvey and Saturday winner Rupert Svendsen-Cook, and Nasr dropped to 10th.

When Svendsen-Cook slithered back to fourth on lap four, Magnussen was promoted to second and took Double R’s Pipo Derani with him. The Dane then proceeded to harry Harvey until the Lincolnshire driver erred at the Esses on lap nine and Magnussen assumed the lead. Alas Jack’s strong showing was to last only a further 11 laps, when a sudden loss of power sidelined him.

“It was very tricky and took a lot of concentration,” said Magnussen, who would not be drawn on his incident with Nasr. “It was all about not making any mistakes and I am very pleased to have brought the car home. Obviously I need to get the best out of the rest of the season to try to get second in the championship.”

Magnussen crossed the line 4.8s ahead of Derani, the Brazilian claiming his maiden podium finish in British F3 in some style. Svendsen-Cook was third and, as top Brit, collected the prestigious Raymond Mays Challenge Trophy, awarded by the Donington Park Racing Association. For his efforts, Derani was gifted the Sunoco Driver of the Weekend award.

“I am really happy,” said Derani. “I can’t explain this feeling. We have been working hard towards this result all year, and now it is here. Now I will keep working; there are three more races at Silverstone and I want to be on top.”

Carlos Huertas collected fourth with Sino Vision Racing’s Adderly Fong finishing a fine fifth on the road. Adderly was, however, docked 10 seconds – along with Harry Tincknell – because of a tardy wheel change on the grid. That dropped him to seventh, still his best result, behind Scott Pye (Double R) and Pietro Fantin (Hitech). Lucas Foresti was eighth for Fortec, ahead of Nasr and Carlin’s Jazeman Jaafar.

PODIUM AUDIO INTERVIEWS

Cooper Tires British Formula 3 International Series

Round 27, Donington Park GP 25/9/2011

24 laps / 59.69 miles

Provisional results Championship class

1  Kevin MAGNUSSEN / DEN,  Carlin Dallara-Volkswagen  40m 30.222s / 88.43mph

2  Pipo DERANI / BRA,  Double R Dallara-Mercedes  +4.806s

3  Rupert SVENDSEN-COOK / GBR,  Carlin Dallara-Volkswagen  +7.477s

4  Carlos HUERTAS / COL,  Carlin Dallara-Volkswagen  +19.373s

5  Scott PYE / AUS,  Double R Dallara-Mercedes  +26.252s

6  Pietro FANTIN / BRA,  Hitech Dallara-Volkswagen  +26.588s

7  Adderly FONG / CHN,  Sino Vision Dallara-Mercedes  +35.271s

8  Lucas FORESTI / BRA,  Fortec Dallara-Mercedes  +37.897s

9  Felipe NASR / BRA,  Carlin Dallara-Volkswagen  +39.009s

10  Jazeman JAAFAR / MAS,  Carlin Dallara-Volkswagen  +39.587s etc

Fastest lap Bottas 1m 37.809s / 91.55mph

Full TSL timesheets http://bit.ly/pO5G5O

Provisional championship standings

1 Nasr 302 points; 2 Huertas 196; 3 Magnussen 195; 4 Will Buller 183; 5 Svendsen-Cook 179; 6 Jaafar 175 etc

Rookie class

1 Sakurai 324 etc