2017 BRDC British Formula 3 Championship – Double R Rookie Impresses in Rain-Hit Qualifying

Mixed Outing for British F3 Champions at Snetterton

Snetterton 300 Circuit provided a series of ups and downs for Double R Racing during the third event of the BRDC British Formula 3 Championship season over the weekend, 27th/28th May, with Jamie Chadwick taking the Woking squad’s best results of seventh place in rounds seven and eight. Starring with an excellent top five performance in qualifying, all the more notable due to highly challenging wet-but-drying conditions in Saturday’s grid-determining run, Chadwick wasn’t able to add to the podium achieved last time out at Rockingham but still racked up healthy points.

Brazilian driver Guilherme Samaia was the fastest of the Double R competitors in pre-event testing, but the first year British F3 racer had to settle for a best result of 10th position in the second of the weekend’s three encounters. Both drivers enjoyed better fortune than team-mate Harry Hayek, though, who was forced to miss qualifying and all three races after an accident in testing on Friday led to the Australian sustaining a cracked L1 vertebrae. Hayek is expected to have surgery on Tuesday to help stabilise the fracture.

“Everyone at Double R wishes Harry all the very best with his recovery,” said team principal Anthony ‘Boyo’ Hieatt, “He’s receiving very good care at Norwich Hospital and we’re expecting him to have an operation on Tuesday to help heal the cracked vertebrae. Harry’s accident was obviously the low point of the weekend for us, the high point was Jamie’s performance in qualifying in very difficult conditions – P5 was a great result. Overall it wasn’t the weekend we were looking for, but Jamie took a couple of seventh places and Guilherme broke the top 10 in race two. We’re definitely aiming for much more at Silverstone in two weeks.”

Samaia ran within just 0.5 seconds of the pace in officially timed pre-event testing on Thursday and he again led Double R’s charge on Friday, but had to settle for 14th in qualifying. Chadwick, meanwhile, was an excellent fifth fastest in qualifying on the wet-but-drying track, a mere 0.058 seconds shy of the second row of the grid for race one.

Both Chadwick and Samaia slipped back a place on the opening lap of race one, which took place in markedly improved weather, and the former was then edged back to seventh on the second tour prior to the appearance of the Safety Car. When racing got back underway on lap six, Chadwick maintained seventh place and held on to the position to the chequered flag on lap 10 despite significant pressure. Samaia, meanwhile, moved up into 14th again on lap two but was edged back once more before the Safety Car. He reclaimed 14th, though, when Jeremy Wahome retired from the race on lap eight.

In the first of Sunday’s two contests, round eight, Chadwick lined-up second on the partially reversed grid but after being shuffled back to sixth place on the first lap hopes of a podium challenge were dashed. Although slipping to seventh on lap two behind series leader Enaam Ahmed, Chadwick went on to maintain the placing despite intense pressure throughout the second half of the encounter. Samaia, from 14th on the grid, made good progress on lap one to leap into 11th position and he broke into the top 10 the next time around. For the remainder of the contest, the Brazilian spent most of his time staring at the gearbox of the car in front and had to settle for 10th place. His best lap of 1m44.548 seconds, however, was just 0.2 seconds shy of podium pace.

For the third and final race, Samaia started as the highest placed Double R driver in seventh and although dropping to eighth on lap one he solidly held position for the first half of the race. On lap six, though, he was forced to retire after a problem arose with the fly-by-wire throttle which caused his engine to run in ‘limp mode’. Chadwick, from 12th position, was edged back a place initially but moved back inside the top 12 as a result of Samaia’s misfortune. Glued to the back of Manuel Maldonado’s car for the duration, the first year British F3 racer took the flag just 0.4 seconds adrift.

Double R Racing will be back in action a fortnight from now on 10th/11th June, for rounds seven, eight and nine of the BRDC British F3 season at Silverstone Grand Prix Circuit. On the same weekend, Double R’s British Formula 4 team will also be on track at Croft Circuit in North Yorkshire.