Vaidyanathan and Norris take fantastic double podium

It was another extremely successful race for Carlin’s BRDC British Formula Three team with Ameya Vaidyanathan and Lando Norris claiming a further double podium for the team as the second race of the weekend around the Rockingham Motor Speedway commenced this morning. Lining up on the front row of the grid Vaidyanathan and the field had two starts to contend with due to an early red flag however the Indian racer held well to claim his first podium of the 2016 season. Norris moved up well from his eighth place position to finish on the podium in third while Championship leader Ricky Collard came home with more points in seventh.

Following the opening race of the weekend yesterday afternoon Vaidyanathan lined up on the front row of the grid, while Collard was seventh and Norris Eighth after their double podium of yesterday. As the lights went out Vaidyanathan had a brilliant start to briefly take the lead however as the field made their way in to the first corner, he lost position and slotted back in to second. Norris and Collard had also done well in their respective positions however their progress was halted when a massive crash for Enzo Bortoleto flipped his car end over end at Chapman.

This incident brought out the safety car initially and then a red flag as both the driver and car were attended to on track; thankfully the Tatuus chassis held up well and the driver walked away. However this did mean that the field were forced to start the race over meaning they once again lined up on the grid.

As the lights went out, Vaidyanathan had another great start however it was Thomas Randle who had the best launch from fifth to take the lead; Vaidyanathan slotted in behind him in second. Norris had also made great progress upon the restart and had moved nicely up to sixth as he looked to gain as many positions as possible during the course of the race. Collard, who currently leads the championship, had points on his mind and was sitting nicely in seventh as the cars streamed round in the opening stages.

The rest of the race was slightly more subdued with Norris making the most overtaking manoeuvres as he fought well up to third positon. With the laps counting down the gap to his team mate ahead was too big and Norris settled for third as the race came to its conclusion. At the front, Vaidyanathan had been keeping close with Randle ahead looking to close the gap to the race leader however and as the flag fell around the Rockingham Motor Speedway he clinched his first podium of the 2016 season for a brilliant second position with Norris ensuring a double Carlin podium. Collard meanwhile made sure to come home with further points; importantly ahead of his title rival Toby Sowery.

All three drivers also pushed hard to put thir fast laps in to clinch their starting positions for race three – Norris will line up in pole position, Collard third and Vaidyanathan fourth this afternoon.

Vaidyanathan said of his podium, “My first start was ok and I got the lead but as we went in to turn one I lost out to Ahmed so in that respect getting the restart was handy to have another go. The second time around Randle had a really good start and was able to get by me at turn one, but I was able to once again hold second and go from there. The rest of the race was a case of keeping him in my sights and doing my own thing. It was a little nerve wracking seeing Lando closing in at the end however we managed the race well and I’m really pleased with the podium here.”

Norris added of the race, “My initial start was good and I got up to sixth and began tracking down fifth position. Then there was the red flag meaning a second start. This time, I had a better start and was up to fifth place and ready to hunt down those ahead. I was able to get by in the next few laps and get up to third. The gap however by this point was a little too big and I couldn’t close in enough to fight for second. However I’m pleased with how the race turned out and we have pole for race three so that’s great too.”