Jakes wins chaotic race at Pau

James Jakes has scored his first victory of the season in the F3 feature race at Pau, reviving his 2008 championship hopes.

The Briton led every lap, finishing ahead of Edoardo Mortara, whose second-place finish moves him into a clear championship lead.

Mika Maki crashed out at the Foch chicane on the second lap, having previously squeezed between Jakes and the armco in a hair-raising start.

But Maki's misdemeanour at Foch wasn't an isolated incident, as the crane operators at Pau had a near-constant supply of wreckage to clear.

In fact, slippery conditions offline helped account for the failure of 20 out of 30 cars to make the finish.

Jon Lancaster registered his first points-finish of the year with a podium. The ART driver started 12th on the grid after a qualifying shunt, and during the race he brushed the barriers at Turn 6.

Contesting with understeer thereafter, Lancaster progressed up the order by making the most of the carnage taking place around him, as well as a fine pass for third on Franck Mailleux at the Lycee hairpin on lap 20.

The first three were covered by just over a second at the finish, but Jakes had an edge on Mortara at the crucial last corner and was able to hold his position.

"I didn't get the greatest start, but we bounced back," said Jakes after the race. "I seemed to be able to carry more speed than Maki through the first corner by taking to the outside, and then I had to stay in front.

"The race was made more difficult when the battery warning light lit up on the third lap. I wondered how long I was going to last. I was short shifting, and behind the safety car was really trying to keep the revs down low, but we came out on top and I couldn't be happier."

Mailleux settled for fourth place ahead of Christian Vietoris, who was delayed when Jean-Karl Vernay misjudged a passing manoeuvre at Lycee. Dani Clos put in an impressive showing to fight his way up from 26th on the grid to sixth place at the finish.

Classified: Pos Driver Make Time 1. James Jakes Dallara/Mercedes 41:06.198 2. Edoardo Mortara Dallara/Volkswagen + 0.662 3. Jon Lancaster Dallara/Mercedes + 1.251 4. Franck Mailleux Dallara/Volkswagen + 4.584 5. C.Vietoris Dallara/Mercedes + 6.305 6. Daniel Clos Dallara/Mercedes + 8.062 7. Michael Klein Dallara/Mercedes + 8.776 8. R.van der Zande Dallara/Mercedes + 9.769 9. Robert Wickens Dallara/Volkswagen + 10.154 10. Kazuya Oshima Dallara/Mercedes + 19.359 11. K.Tsukakoshi Dallara/Mercedes + 4 Laps 12. Richard Philippe Dallara/Mercedes + 7 Laps 13. Niall Breen Dallara/Mercedes + 8 Laps Not classified: Driver Make Laps Martin Plowman Dallara/Volkswagen 17 Erik Janis Dallara/Mercedes 17 Sam Bird Dallara/Mercedes 17 Jules Bianchi Dallara/Mercedes 16 Yann Clairay Dallara/Mercedes 11 Nico Hulkenberg Dallara/Mercedes 10 Jean-Karl Vernay Dallara/Volkswagen 9 Rodolfo Gonzalez Dallara/Mercedes 8 H.Waldschmidt Dallara/Mercedes 7 Charlie Kimball Dallara/Mercedes 6 Daniel Campos Dallara/Mercedes 5 Cheng Cong Fu Dallara/Volkswagen 3 Tom Dillmann Dallara/Mercedes 3 Maximilian Götz Dallara/Volkswagen 3 Mika Maki Dallara/Mercedes 2 Jens Klingmann Dallara/Volkswagen 1 Basil Shaaban Dallara/Mercedes 1

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Jakes relieved after securing pole

James Jakes expressed his relief after securing pole position and his first point of the F3 Euro Series season at Pau.

A win today would move the Englishman back into title contention after enduring a trying start in the opening races of the year at Hockenheim and Mugello.

"In the second qualifying group, I knew that whoever crossed the finishing line last would be first, because of the improving conditions," said Jakes.

"But I was the first in the bunch to cross the line and I am very pleased that the lap was good enough for pole, particularly as it was by half-a-second.

"I was already on pole before the red flag (brought out when teammate Jules Bianchi found the barriers), but I hadn't quite put the complete lap together. I gave away a tenth to Maki in the middle sector, but in the first sector I was up by three tenths.

"The two seconds that we found on the restart was mainly in me. Granted, the track was drying out, particularly in the high speed corners, but most of the improvement came from me.

"I don't mind either way if the race has a normal start or, if it remains wet, gets under way behind the safety car. My start was good in Barcelona last year in similar conditions.

"The way this season has started it means a lot to be on pole here. I have had to adapt my driving style to the team, but I am sure if you look at the success the team has had it will reap benefits.

"I just wanted this year to get moving. I am looking for a solid points haul because others are beginning to make a big margin in the championship. It is not that I was frustrated, if you look at the starts Paul [di Resta] and Romain [Grosjean] have had, they were also difficult."

Maldonado: I could have gone quicker

Jakes takes pole at Pau

Jakes takes pole at Pau

James Jakes has taken pole position upon the F3 Euro Series return to Pau, after a break of two years.

Jakes will be joined on the front of this afternoon's feature race by joint championship leader Edoardo Mortara.

In a wet qualifying session, the second group in which Jakes was seeded was red-flagged with four minutes remaining, with the Englishman provisionally fastest on a time of 1:27.919.

On the restart, half a dozen drivers improved on Jakes's effort, but the Guisley driver responded with almost two seconds less in the drying conditions.

Italian Mortara toppled Jakes's ART teammate Nico Hulkenberg with less than a minute on the clocks in the first group.

Christian Vietoris could only manage third in the group for Mucke, having been fastest in both dry practice sessions on Friday.

Vietoris was lucky to survive a near miss with the tyre barriers, and finished over a second slower than Mortara's time. Jon Lancaster was less fortunate, and crashed at the Buisson hairpin when placed fourth.

Finn Mika Maki, tied for the series lead with Mortara, kept his title chances stoked with third place on the grid.

Franck Mailleux was the highest placed of the six home drivers, and will start in fifth, directly behind Maki.

It is an all French fourth row with SG's Yann Clairay heading Richard Philippe who made an impressive showing for Carlin.

Further down the grid, Cong Fu Cheng has a busy weekend in store, as he combines F3 with his rookie initiation at the Le Mans test day.

Cheng's LMP1 team Saulnier have laid on a private jet after today's race in order for the Chinese driver to complete the required laps at La Sarthe on Sunday morning, before jetting back to the Midi-Pyrenees to fulfil his commitments with RC Motorsport.

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Abay tops Thruxton test

Carlin Motorsport rookie Sam Abay topped the collective British Formula 3 test at Thruxton yesterday.

The afternoon session was abandoned mid-way through because of heavy rain, but the best times were set just after lunch following a wet morning session.

Abay was the only driver to duck below the one minute 12 second barrier and finished the test two tenths clear of championship leader Sergio Perez.

"The morning session was wet throughout and we made a couple of changes for the afternoon," said Abay.

"I knew I could make improvements under braking and when a dry line started to emerge I was able to set my best time. Unfortunately it started to rain heavily and it was too dangerous to continue."

Oliver Turvey, Max Chilton, and John Martin were all with a tenth of Perez's second-placed time, with Andy Meyrick leading the National Class runners in seventh overall.

Matt Howson, who was runner-up in the Asian F3 Championship earlier this year, was the latest driver to join the British F3 field for a test. He was helping Team Loctite with the set-up of their National Class car in the absence of regular driver Niall Quinn, but will not race for the team.

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Hohenthal triumphs in wet race two

Sebastian Hohenthal scored his first British Formula 3 victory of the season in the wet second race at Rockingham this afternoon.

The Swede came out on top of a three-car drag race to Deene hairpin with pole-sitter Jaime Alguersuari and Max Chilton on the first lap and was able to control the race from then on.

There was a brief spell at one third distance where Alguersuari began to close the gap, but Hohenthal was never seriously threatened in the half hour race.

"I was hoping for rain because I think we've got a good car in the wet," said Hohenthal. "We've struggled a bit in the dry so when it started to rain this afternoon I was the happiest guy in the pit lane."

Chilton completed the podium in a lonely third place ahead of the day's earlier winner Atte Mustonen in a quiet fourth.

Michael Devaney passed Nick Tandy a couple of laps from home, and survived a late trip round the oval after out-braking himself at the Deene hairpin, to finish as the top Mygale runner in fifth.

Andy Meyrick started the race fifth and kept his National Class car in that position for the first half of the race.

He succumbed to Devaney and Tandy eventually, but still finished seventh, beating his Carlin teammates Brendon Hartley and Oliver Turvey, Marcus Ericsson, and championship leader Sergio Perez.

Classified:Pos Driver Car Time 1. S.Hohenthal Dallara/Mercedes 31::05.263 2. J.Alguersuari Dallara/Mercedes + 2.199 3. Max Chilton Dallara/Mercedes + 6.450 4. Atte Mustonen Dallara/Mercedes + 16.502 5. Nick Tandy Mygale/Mercedes + 18.372 6. Michael Devaney Mygale/Mercedes + 21.659 7. Andrew Meyrick Dallara/Mugen-Honda + 23.274 8. Brendon Hartley Dallara/Mercedes + 25.494 9. Oliver Turvey Dallara/Mercedes + 25.956 10. Marcus Ericsson Dallara/Mercedes + 26.240 11. Sam Abay Dallara/Mercedes + 26.950 12. W.Grubmuller Dallara/Mercedes + 30.411 13. Sergio Perez Dallara/Mugen-Honda + 32.004 14. John Martin Dallara/Mercedes + 43.004 15. Ricardo Teixeira Mygale/Mercedes + 46.319 16. Jay Bridger Dallara/Mugen-Honda + 1:01.890 17. Steven Guerrero Dallara/Mugen-Honda + 1:12.114 18. Viktor Jensen Dallara/Mugen-Honda + 1:14.247 19. Hywel Lloyd Dallara/Mugen-Honda + 1:17.333 20. Kristjan Einar Dallara/Mugen-Honda + 1:18.865 21. Stefan Wilson Dallara/Mugen-Honda + 1:19.944 22. Niall Quinn Dallara/Mugen-Honda + 1 Lap Not classified: Driver Car Laps S.Al-Khalifa Dallara/Mugen-Honda 15 Craig Reiff Dallara/Mugen-Honda 11 Ali Jackson Mygale/Mercedes 8 Philip Major Dallara/Mercedes 2 Henry Arundel Dallara/Mercedes 0 Fastest lap: Oliver Turvey, 1:28.587 on lap 17

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Mustonen takes Rockingham victory

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Mustonen takes Rockingham victory

Atte Mustonen resisted a late charge from Marcus Ericsson to score his second career British Formula 3 victory at Rockingham today.

The Finn beat pole-sitter Max Chilton off the line and controlled a comfortable gap over second-placed Jaime Alguersuari for the majority of the 24-lap race. But a rain shower in the last 10 minutes coincided with Ericsson's charge from seventh on the grid.

Ericsson picked off Carlin teammates Oliver Turvey and Sam Abay in the early, dry conditions, and took third from Chilton as the Hitech driver aborted his defence of the position at the hairpin and went straight on round the oval.

The Swede then set about the lead pair, who were over three seconds up the road. The gap reduced more each lap the wetter the circuit got as the rain brought about a classic slicks on a wet track situation, and Ericsson was a second a lap quicker than Alguersuari and Mustonen as the track got more slippery.

Ericsson took second from Alguersuari down the inside at turn two and threatened Mustonen's lead as the Finn lost three seconds on one lap as he tried to lap Hywel Lloyd.

But Ericsson ran out of laps and Mustonen held on to record his first victory of the season.

"I pushed at the start to make myself a gap and then it was comfortable," said Mustonen. "It was very slippery for a couple of laps at the end and I lost a lot of time lapping a car, but I had it under control."

Ericsson added: "That was a brilliant race, I knew we had the pace to do that. When it was only raining a little I was really quick and thought maybe I could even win, but it rained harder and I found the limit a couple of times and thought I'd better calm down because second is a great result and exactly what we needed."

Alguersuari completed the podium in third, ahead of Chilton who disappeared round the oval twice during the race but dropped back to resume his correct position each time.

Championship leader Sergio Perez finished fifth after making solid progress throughout the race from 11th on the grid, ahead of Oliver Turvey who rounded out the top six.

Andy Meyrick took another National Class victory, returning to form after a couple of retirements at Monza. He slipped back through the field of Championship Class cars from his excellent fourth row grid spot.

At one point it looked as though he would be challenged by Salman Al-Khalifa, but he strode away confidently as the conditions became more difficult in the closing laps.

Classified:Pos Driver Car Time 1. Atte Mustonen Dallara/Mercedes 30:40.004 2. Marcus Ericsson Dallara/Mercedes + 2.907 3. J.Alguersuari Dallara/Mercedes + 6.077 4. Max Chilton Dallara/Mercedes + 10.877 5. Sergio Perez Dallara/Mugen-Honda + 13.886 6. Oliver Turvey Dallara/Mercedes + 15.066 7. S.Hohenthal Dallara/Mercedes + 17.246 8. Sam Abay Dallara/Mercedes + 21.343 9. W.Grubmuller Dallara/Mercedes + 23.199 10. Brendon Hartley Dallara/Mercedes + 24.432 11. John Martin Dallara/Mercedes + 32.720 12. Michael Devaney Mygale/Mercedes + 34.941 13. Henry Arundel Dallara/Mercedes + 38.808 14. Nick Tandy Mygale/Mercedes + 39.538 15. Ricardo Teixeira Mygale/Mercedes + 46.064 16. Andrew Meyrick Dallara/Mugen-Honda + 49.678 17. S.Al-Khalifa Dallara/Mugen-Honda + 58.719 18. Stefan Wilson Dallara/Mugen-Honda + 1'07.462 19. Jay Bridger Dallara/Mugen-Honda + 1'07.791 20. Philip Major Dallara/Mercedes + 1'17.299 21. Viktor Jensen Dallara/Mugen-Honda + 1 Lap 22. Hywel Lloyd Dallara/Mugen-Honda + 1 Lap 23. Niall Quinn Dallara/Mugen-Honda + 1 Lap 24. Craig Reiff Dallara/Mugen-Honda + 1 Lap Not classified: Driver Car Laps Steven Guerrero Dallara/Mugen-Honda 21 Kristjan Einar Dallara/Mugen-Honda 1 Ali Jackson Mygale/Mercedes 0 Fastest lap: Alguersuari, 1:13.229 on lap 5

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Wickens to Signature for Euro Series

Red Bull-backed Canadian Robert Wickens will join the Formula 3 Euro Series for the remainder of the season.

The 19-year-old is already racing for Carlin Motorsport in the Formula Renault 3.5 series this season, but will double up in place of Stefano Coletti at the Signature-Plus team in F3.

Coletti hasn't finished in the points yet this season and has been dropped from Red Bull's young driver scheme just two rounds into the season.

Wickens spoke to autosport.com at this weekend's Formula Renault 3.5 round supporting the Monaco Grand Prix, and is relishing the challenge.

"I've never even seen a Formula 3 race, let alone sat in a car, but it would be great to do," he said.

Wickens will make his F3 debut in the rounds at Pau next weekend, and will be able to contest most of the season with just one clash between the Euro Series and Formula Renault 3.5.

"Signature are supposed to have a very good car for Pau and I think it will be easier to find the limit on a street circuit because there is less grip. I think there should be enough free practice.

"Signature are involved in Renault 3.5 with Ultimate, and Carlin are in the Euro Series as well, so there will be some familiar faces in the paddock."

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