Ahmed Continues Winning Streak with Victory at Rockingham

Carlin’s Enaam Ahmed has continued his incredible and unbreakable winning record with his fourth successive victory of the 2017 season following the first race of the BRDC Formula Three Championship meeting at Rockingham Motor Speedway. Ahmed, who started fourth, clinched the lead on the opening lap of the race and led the way as pole sitter Cameron Das followed the Brit home to make it a brilliant Carlin 1-2. James Pull also enjoyed a fantastic start off the line and fought well to gain positions – taking fifth as the chequered flag fell. The result ensures that Ahmed extends his already strong championship lead.

The first lap saw the majority of the racing action. Das launched well as the lights extinguished however came under pressure from an incredibly fast starting Ahmed. The Carlin drivers were close together in to turn two and it was Ahmed who came out on top to lead the race as the cars made their way through the opening stages. Das however remained on his tail throughout in second – sticking with him in case a move for the win was in the offering.

Meanwhile Pull had also enjoyed a great start following a qualifying session which left him starting out of place in ninth. Pulling away well, Pull was able to gain a handful of positions around the outside and soon came up against Omar Ismail for fifth place. Forcing the issue around the outside Pull made a great move to take the position as his own and soon began chasing down Ben Hingeley ahead – however the dirty air made this difficult and he slotted in behind.

The rest of the race was a relatively processional affair. Despite Das looking very quick he was unable to get close enough to challenge for the win. Meanwhile at the front Ahmed looked unstoppable and amazingly took his fourth win of the season – winning every 2017 BRDC British F3 race this season.

Ahmed said of his fantastic race result, “I was actually quite disappointed with my qualifying because I knew that I had pace and the red flag came at a time where it ruined my lap. However I knew what I had to do in the race and made sure that I was fully lit off the line. I sent it up the inside of Cameron [Das] at turn two having already got up near the front. From then, it was a case of tyre management. I was very conscious of what I had to do so when he was catching, I made sure to pull the gap, and then backed off a little when I needed to. But great to get my fourth victory of the season.”

Taking the flag in second and securing a brilliant haul of points Das added, “My start was pretty decent however I ran a little wide in to turn two which left the door open for Enaam [Ahmed] and he was able to take the lead from me. After that I was working on my tyre temperature and trying to close the gap but it’s pretty difficult to overtake around here. Enaam and I pulled away quite nicely from the rest of the field and I managed to come away with the fastest lap of the race, which all counts towards race three. I think we’re looking pretty solid for the two races tomorrow.”

Pull said of his race, “I had a little bit of wheel spin off the line but still managed a good start relative to those around me. On the first lap, I managed to get three cars around the outside and was starting to pressure Hingeley ahead for fourth but couldn’t really keep that close behind him in the dirty air. However it was a great improvement on our qualifying position and we plan to keep this momentum up for the next two races.”