NEWS

ROCKINGHAM 4 SEPTEMBER 2011: Scott Pye joined the British Formula 3 winners’ club this morning at Rockingham, the 21-year-old Australian leading Round 23 of the Cooper Tires British Formula 3 International Series from pole position to chequered flag.

It was a copybook performance from the Double R Racing driver, Scott putting all the wet-track knowledge gained during his 2010 Formula Ford championship-winning season to good use on a circuit left streaming wet by heavy pre-race rain. Pye made a perfect getaway at the lights, seeing off a determined challenge from Kevin Magnussen on the run through the banked first turn to secure top spot as they filed through the tight second hairpin, Deene.

By first lap’s end Pye was 1.9s clear of Magnussen and by mid-distance had stretched his advantage to nearly eight seconds. Champion elect Felipe Nasr had by this stage taken over second spot after Magnussen fell foul of the conditions and slithered his way down to fourth.

At the chequered flag, Pye was 10.2s ahead. “It was all about the start,” said Scott. “With the spray and the rain it was going to be difficult to overtake. Kevin and I made very similar starts but I led into turn one and commanded the race from there. After that it was just a case of keeping my head down. I knew that we were quick in the wet and though there was a lot of pressure with Kevin and Felipe behind me I kept my head down and drove away.”

After being gifted second by Magnussen’s error, Nasr was more than content to cruise and collect the points, adding the extra two awarded for fastest lap with a lightning 11th-lap tour. “Scott was way too far ahead of me to catch,” said Felipe, “I was happy to maintain my pace and get the points. I was struggling to find grip early on; once I had some heat in them it was not so bad.”

The battle for third place was a highlight – Jazeman Jaafar held it all the way to the final corner, where he was jumped not only by the recovering Magnussen but also by a mercurial Will Buller, who enjoyed a stunning opening lap to plough his way through to seventh, from which spot he picked off those ahead to secure fourth on the road.

Post-race, stewards deemed that Magnussen had cut the final chicane and gained an unfair advantage, and penalised him by three seconds. This promoted Buller to third overall, Jaafar to fourth and dropped Magnussen back to fifth.

T-Sport’s Menasheh Idafar claimed seventh ahead of Double R man Pipo Derani, SVR’s Hywel Lloyd and Rupert Svendsen-Cook for Carlin.

Kotaro Sakurai led the Rookie class from start to finish, despite a last-lap spin, to head home West-Tec’s driver Luca Orlandi.

British Formula 3 enjoys the headlining support of Cooper Tires and is additionally backed by Sunoco Racing Fuels, Anglo American Oil Company and OAMPS.

PODIUM DRIVER AUDIO INTERVIEWS

Cooper Tires British Formula 3 International Series

Round 23, Rockingham 4/9/2011

13 laps / 25.22 miles

Provisional results Championship class

1  Scott PYE / AUS,  Double R Dallara-Mercedes  20m 19.368s / 74.45mph

2  Felipe NASR / BRA,  Carlin Dallara-Volkswagen  +10.217s

3  William BULLER /GBR,  Fortec Dallara-Mercedes  +17.592s

4  Jazeman JAAFAR / MAS,  Carlin Dallara-Volkswagen  +15.359s

5  Kevin MAGNUSSEN / DEN,  Carlin Dallara-Volkswagen  +15.765s

6  Carlos HUERTAS / COL,  Carlin Dallara-Volkswagen  +16.229s

7  Menasheh IDAFAR / GBR,  T-Sport Dallara-Volkswagen  +17.976s

8  Pipo DERANI / BRA,  Double R Dallara-Mercedes  +18.406s

9  Hywel LLOYD / GBR,  Sino Vision Dallara-Mercedes  +20.220s

10  Rupert SVENDSEN-COOK / GBR,  Carlin Dallara-Volkswagen  +23.827s etc

Rookie class

1  Kotaro SAKURAI / JPN,  Hitech Dallara-Mugen Honda  +1m 13.910s

2  Luca ORLANDI / ITA,  Team West-Tec Dallara-Mugen Honda  12 laps

Fastest lap Nasr 1m 32.614s / 75.40mph

Full timesheets http://bit.ly/q3seNy

Provisional championship standings

1 Nasr 285 points; 2 Huertas 166; 3 Buller 161; 4 Magnussen 154; 5 Jaafar 151; 6 Svendsen-Cook 144 etc

Rookie class

1 Sakurai 279; 2 Bart Hylkema / NED 214; 3 Orlandi 30.