Austin takes British F3 victory at Donington.

Rob Austin scored his first British F3 win in round 22 of the British F3 Championship gripped by Avon Tyres at Donington Park this afternoon [Sunday].

Austin got ahead at the start and fended off Alan van der Merwe to score an emotional victory with a faultless drive. In another close battle, Danny Watts beat Jamie Green for third.

In the Scholarship class, Ernesto Viso scored a superb victory to increase his chances of grabbing the title, taking a slender lead of just one and a half points into the final two races.

The start of the race was briefly delayed when Billy Asaro [P1 Motorsport] pulled off the grid with a broken driveshaft, the same problem that put Fairuz Fauzy [Promatecme F3] and Clivio Piccione [Manor Motorsport] out of the race before the start. That also led to a reduced race distance of 18 laps.

Having had victory snatched from his grasp on the final lap of Saturday's race, Austin [Menu F3 Motorsport] was even more determined to take control of Sunday's race. In a tightly packed dash to the first corner, Austin achieved his aim. "Once I got to the first corner in the lead, I knew I had the pace to stay there," reckoned Rob.

True to his word, he fended off the challenge of van der Merwe [Carlin Motorsport] throughout the 18-lap race and never put a wheel wrong as he chalked up his first British F3 win. When he arrived back at the podium, Rob got an emotional reception from his father Richard and his manager Mike Baker. "That just about makes up for yesterday," he said.

Behind van der Merwe, Watts [Hitech Racing] and Green [Carlin Motorsport] battled furiously over the opening laps and that served to help Austin and van der Merwe extend their margin. Watts managed to fend off Green to complete the podium party, but only three tenths of a second split them at the flag. "It's been a while since I was on the podium, and I've missed it," said Watts.

Ronnie Bremer [Carlin Motorsport], Nelson Piquet Junior [Piquet Sport], Will Davison [Menu F3 Motorsport] and Richard Antinucci [Promatecme F3] ran in close formation to take the remaining leading positions.

In the Scholarship class, Viso [P1 Motorsport] emerged supreme to score a very important victory, as well as finishing ninth overall. His pace took him well clear of his class rivals Karun Chandhok [T Sport], Justin Sherwood [Performance Racing] and Steven Kane [T Sport]. Kane tried to grab third at the final corner and got briefly ahead of Sherwood before spinning on the grass. Although the car stalled, he managed to restart the engine and still took fourth in class.

However, Viso has now moved ahead in the championship points by just one and a half points with two races to run. "We deserved this win, we have been working very hard," said an elated Viso. "It's like the movie: 'Catch me if you can'!"