27.03.08 FANTASTIC START AT OULTON I had a fantastic start to the my British Formula 3 career with Carlin Motorsport and the Racing Steps Foundation at Oulton Park over the Easter weekend - taking my first F3 win in the opening round. Qualifying took place on the Saturday, and the half hour session for the race one grid was dry throughout although very cold. My fastest lap was a 1:28.559, which was second quickest and only 0.118 seconds off pole. However the Oulton Park grid is unique in that it is set up with the first two cars absolutely side by side rather than slightly staggered, so I felt I was in as good a position as pole. The qualifying session for the second race was in the afternoon. I ended up with a time of 1:29.266 which put me 14th on the grid due to getting caught behind slower cars. Frustrating as I knew from the data that I was quick enough to have set a time that would have put me in the top three on the grid. I have learnt from this and will work on qualifying to make sure I don't get caught out again. The races were on Bank Holiday Monday, so no racing on Easter Sunday. I took the opportunity of watching the Formula 1 race in the morning, then had a light session in the gym and a home-cooked Sunday lunch. Again the weather was very cold on Monday, with a heavy hailstorm just before our first race which meant that we had to go out on wet tyres. My plan was to try to get a good start and get to the first corner in the lead. As this was my first ever F3 start in the wet it was always going to be difficult. I was delighted when I got away well and made it to the first corner first. The track conditions were very difficult as it was wet but drying, so it was very difficult to judge how much grip there was. Once I was in the lead I was confident I could win the race so just needed to control the pace. I went quick enough to maintain a gap to second place driver so that he was unable to have a go at overtaking. Towards the end of the race, the pressure was relieved when the second and third placed drivers came together and went off. I then just had to keep focused to complete the last few laps to take the chequered flag first. My first race in the British F3 International Series and my first win. It could not have been a better start. Second race in the afternoon I started 14th made up two places to finish 12th. I set the fifth fastest lap during the race. After the first round, I am third in the championship on 20 points, only one point behind the joint leaders on 21. A great start to the season and one that gives me great confidence for the future. Carlin Motorsport and Jimmy my engineer did a great job with the car set-up amid very difficult changing weather conditions. I am also delighted that I have given The Racing Steps Foundation their first race win at their first ever race. I hope to repay them with more wins during the season. The next meeting is at Croft in Yorkshire on the 26/27 April. In the meantime it's straight back to Cambridge to study for my exams which begin at the end of April. << back to news