Mike Conway has secured his first victory in the British F3 International Series after an exciting opening race at
Croft.
Conway, the reigning Formula Renault champion, started from the front row of the grid and battled past pole man Alvaro Parente to take the win in tricky conditions, with light rain and hailstones falling in the north east during the early stages of the race.
Conway was off to a great start in his Fortec Dallara, whilst pole-sitter Alvaro Parente faltered in his Carlin car. Unable to make the start was Tim Bridgman’s Hitech which suffered an ECU drama and was stranded in pit-lane, whilst unable to complete the first lap were Steven Kane with a clutch problem and Stephen Jelley with a contact issue leaving him stranded down at the Jim Clarke Esses with only three wheels on his wagon.
During the early stages, before the hail even started, there were incidents aplenty. Bruno Senna came to Croft with a new colour scheme, and he soon had an all-new aero package as yet untested by chassis manufacturer Dallara, as his engine cover started to come adrift, before he returned to the pits for it to be put back in place. As if charged up by this, Senna was later to win the competition for the furthest ‘off’ at Tower, not far from where team-mate Dan Clarke was then later to deposit his car.
At the lead Conway had set the then race’s fastest lap on the third tour, and was making off from those behind. Asmer was leading the charge, whilst Parente in third had the attentions of then championship leader Dirani to attend to. Behind Dirani, Carlin’s Christian Bakkerud was looking pacey and holding Dan Clarke at bay.
James Walker had made steady progress forwards and was in seventh place when the increasingly slippery conditions caught out the Jerseyman, and the pursuing Charlie Kimball couldn’t avoid going off either. Whilst Kimball could return to take an eventual ninth place, Walker’s race suffered more and he finished in fourteenth, one place down on the leaders.
