09 June 2012

A win at Rockingham and the championship lead!

Jazeman Jaafar followed up last month’s first British F3 win in Pau, France, with an undisputed race victory in the Cooper Tires British Formula 3 International Series at Rockingham Motor Speedway in Corby, UK, today with the young Malaysian driver leading from start to finish to take the championship lead.

 

The 19-year-old PETRONAS Talent Programme driver seized control of the race on the startline, making a phenomenal getaway in his Volkswagen-powered Carlin Dallara from third on the grid to fly past pole man Jack Harvey. Jazeman was quick to put clean air between himself and his pursuers, made no errors in the ensuing 22 laps and crossed the line 2.1s ahead for the win. “It’s incredible,” said Jazeman. “I don’t know how to sum it up in a sentence. It’s an amazing feeling to lead right from the start and stay consistent and not make any mistakes for the whole race. The start was great: there was not so much grip on my side of the track, but I was ready to go, all set, and then I saw Jack had a poor start and I went for it and dived up his inside.” Jaafar started from third on the grid after a highly competitive qualifying session. He said after his Rockingham victory, “I’m on a big high now.  I’ve been on the podium every race weekend, both in British F3 and F3 Euro series. With two British F3 wins and one in in F3 Euro Series I’ve been a regular visitor to the podium this season and it feels great! “It’s also really important to me to be leading the championship, but I’m still very aware that there is a long way to go this season, as we’re not even halfway yet” says the Carlin driver.  “I’ll just keep pushing in every race. Tomorrow I’ll be starting eighth for the race in the morning, so I’ll have my work cut out to get on the podium, but in the third race I’ll be starting third, so that’s another real opportunity to be taking home another trophy.” Jaafar leads the British F3 championship with 121 points, followed by one of his team mates, Carlos Sainz, who sits on 106 points. Third placed driver, Jack Harvey, also from the Carlin stable, has 91 points. Ends.
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