Jaime Alguesuari led the Carlin challenge on the latest rounds of the British F3 International Series at Rockingham as the Spaniard secured podium finishes in both races at the Northamptonshire venue.
On a weekend where Carlin's International Class drivers finished inside the top ten in both races, Andy Meyrick also strengthened his lead in the National Class with a double win to rebound from his no-score during the Monza event a week earlier.
When the first race kicked off, Alguersuari made a good getaway from his third place on the grid and made his way past Max Chilton for second as the field made their way through the first corner. Team-mate Sam Abay struggled away from the line, and dropped to fifth place. Racing Steps Foundation driver Oliver Turvey made up two places from his ninth place grid slot, while Brendon Hartley had lost two places in twelfth place. In the National Class Meyrick was in a fine tenth overall and leading the class, while Kristjan Einar was in sixth place.
On a charge to make up the positions he lost at the start, Hartley passed Michael Devaney into the first corner on lap two, to move up to eleventh, while Abay was also making up places, passing Walter Grubmuller for fourth place. In the tricky conditions, F3 rookie Kristjan Einar made his first big mistake of the season and spun off into the gravel and into retirement.
After a difficult start, Turvey was making his way through the field and passed Grubmuller to take sixth place. Alguersuari was on a charge on lap five, chasing down race leader Atte Mustonen and setting the fastest lap of the race. Behind Alguersuari, Brendon Hartley had Nick Tandy in his mirrors, who was challenging for the final points paying position, while National Class racer Meyrick had Salman Al Khalifa chasing him down for the race lead.
