Defending National Class champion Sergio Perez has opened up a handy 32 point lead in the British F3 International Series standings following a stunning double victory in the latest round of the season at Monza.
The T-Sport driver, who took his maiden overall win at
Croft during the second round of the year, endured a difficult time in qualifying – with one session being used to decide the grid for both races after first qualifying was abandoned due to rain.
In the session, which saw drivers' quickest lap decide the grid for race one and second quickest time set the grid for race two, Perez was one of a number of drivers to have his best times disallowed for cutting a chicane which meant the Mexican youngster lined up 14th on the grid for both races.
Despite that, Perez stormed to the front in both races to secure a dramatic double win that leaves him as the man to beat going into the bank holiday meeting at Rockingham.
“It was fantastic,” he said. “Everything went well in both races after such a disappointment with the qualifying results. It was perfect; we made no mistakes. It's difficult to go from 14th to first when everyone around you is crashing a lot so I just concentrated on finishing; I wasn't thinking about winning.
“My straight line speed was very good. Honda did a perfect job, and so did my team. I've been to Monza four times and always won here so it's my favourite circuit now!”
Team boss Russell Eacott was understandably thrilled with the double win, which makes Perez the first repeat winner of the 2008 campaign.
“I haven't seen an F3 race like this in years,” he said. “To win from that far down the grid, twice, in changing conditions, at one of the best tracks in the world, is staggering stuff. I take my hat off to Skelly and the engineering department as all of their hard work behind the scenes is now paying off. Thanks also goes to Honda of course who have done a brilliant job for us and Sergio has come along and put it all together into a winning package.
“Sergio has a good lead in the Championship now so we'll go into Rockingham looking to maintain this momentum.”
