Trevor Carlin admitted that the opening rounds of the British F3 International Series had been bittersweet for his team despite a clean sweep of victories in both the International and National Classes.
The team went into the weekend with an all-rookie line-up, but that didn't stop Jaime Alguersuari and Oliver Turvey locking out the front-row of the grid in qualifying for race one, with Andy Meyrick also securing top spot in the National Class.
A fine start from Turvey saw him lead into Old Hall on the opening lap, while Alguersuari was soon up to second having initially dropped behind Max Chilton off the line. Team-mate Brendon Hartley meanwhile battled through to third place leaving Carlin well set for a podium lock-out before Hartley and Alguersuari collided at Shell – putting both out of the race and leading Turvey to uphold honours on the top step of the podium. Meyrick meanwhile secured the National Class win to continue his impressive pre-season pace.
“It was a fantastic way for the team to start the season, and a fantastic win by Oliver, who drove a very mature race under a great deal of pressure,” Carlin said afterwards. “He didn't make any mistakes at all. Andy Meyrick yet again did the business to win his first race in British F3, and hopefully that will be the start of his championship assault.
“Obviously I'm very disappointed that our
Red Bull drivers made contact while running in a very strong second and third position. The worst thing is that it's given our rivals points that on the day they didn't deserve, but it's a self-inflicted defeat. Hopefully we'll make amends in the next race.”
From pole again in race two, Meyrick stormed to the National Class win for the second time in the day while Alguersuari opened up a healthy lead at the front of the field before a Safety Car period led to confusion in the field as it appeared racing had resumed before the race actually went green.
