Fresh from his maiden Formula 3 victory last time out a
Thruxton, Stephen Jelley made it two wins in as many meetings at
Croft – strengthening his third place in the British F3 International Series standings as a result.
The Raikkonen Robertson Racing driver qualified in a solid fourth place for the opening race of the weekend and was quickly able to climb into second when Carlin team-mates Maro Engel and Niall Breen clashed at Clervaux on the opening lap.
Jelley then settled into second place behind newly crowned champion Marko Asmer but when the engine let go on his Hitech Dallara, Jelley was able to come through to take his second win in as many weekends from Sam Bird and Greg Mansell.
"I saw a couple of big plumes of smoke coming from the back of his [Asmer's] car, and it was obvious something wasn't quite right,” he said. “A couple of laps later I started to notice that he was dropping oil on the circuit, which made the corners quite slippery for a while.
"I could have gone a little quicker if I had needed to, but I was just driving in a way that wouldn't produce mistakes. I knew it was difficult for anybody to overtake me at this circuit unless I made a big mistake – and I didn't!"
Race two saw Jelley take eighth place but he has now closed in on second placed Engel in the championship race with just two races remaining at Rockingham later this month.
