Title slips away from Kush Maini as Carlin’s Kaylen Frederick wins British F3

Silverstone, 8 Nov 2020: Carlin’s Kaylen Frederick led from lights to flag to claim his ninth win of the year in the final race of the weekend at Silverstone, and secured the BRDC British F3 Championship title in the process. Frederick entered the race needing only to finish to wrap up the title, but did it in style with another dominant victory.

Frederick becomes the first American driver to win the British F3 title, and he finished over four seconds clear of Fortec Motorsports’ Roberto Faria who secured his first ever podium with second place ahead of JHR Developments’ Ayrton Simmons. Kush Maini needed to win the race with Frederick failing to finish, but the Indian could only manage sixth place after being overtaken late on by Hillspeed duo Oliver Clarke and Sasakorn Chaimongkol, who finished fourth and fifth, with Maini settling for sixth. 

Chris Dittmann Racing’s Josh Skelton completed his season with seventh place ahead of Hitech’s Reece Ushijima, with Fortec debutant Jonny Wilkinson claiming a top-10 finish on his first weekend, with JHR’s Carter Williams the final driver inside the top-10. 

As has been the case for most of the season, a good start from pole position meant that Frederick led the field almost untroubled around the opening lap. Faria and Simmons found their way past Maini, who dropped from second to fourth by the end of the opening tour. 

Frederick then pulled away, again as he’s done so often in 2020, enjoying a lead of over three seconds by the mid race point, a gap he extended to 4.121 seconds at the flag as he clinched his ninth victory from the 24 races, and secure a clear title success.

Maini down in fourth again found himself staring at the back of the JHR car of Ayrton Simmons, but rather than challenge the British driver, he found himself looking in his mirrors as the Hillspeed pair closed on him. Clarke, having been eighth on lap one, was up to fifth by lap seven, and blasted past Maini on lap eight with Chaimongkol following suit, and adding salt into Maini’s wounds. 

That pretty much guaranteed Frederick the title, with the American finishing over 50 points clear in the provisional championship standings. Maini nevertheless claimed second overall, one better than in 2018 when he was third. 

BRDC British F3 Championship, Silverstone race three provisional result:

1. Kaylen Frederick, Carlin, 10 laps
2. Roberto Faria, Fortec Motorsports, +4.121s
3. Ayrton Simmons, JHR Developments, +8.660s
4. Oliver Clarke, Hillspeed, +9.932s
5. Sasakorn Chaimongkol, Hillspeed, +11.435s
6. Kush Maini, Hitech GP, +14.600s
7. Josh Skelton, Chris Dittmann Racing, +15.562s
8. Reece Ushijima, Hitech GP, +20.135s
9. Jonny Wilkinson, Fortec Motorsports, +22.404s
10. Carter Williams, JHR Developments, +23.129s
11. Nazim Azman, Carlin, +23.687s
12. Piers Prior, Lanan Racing, +24.851s
13. Josh Mason, Lanan Racing, +27.091s
14. Benjamin Pedersen, Double R Racing, +27.617s
15. Louis Foster, Double R Racing, +28.117s
16. Ulysse De Pauw, Douglas Motorsport, +39.192s
17. Manaf Hijjawi, Douglas Motorsport, +1m33.117s
DNF. Max Marzorati, Chris Dittmann Racing, 1 lap completed
DNF. Bart Horsten, Lanan Racing, 1 lap completed

Earlier, 33 points separated the leaders with Kush Maini in second as he could finish only 17th but the title race alive till the last race.

Double R’s Benjamin Pedersen won a spectacular reverse grid race at Silverstone this morning, with the championship battle going down to the final race. Pedersen started third but fought his way to the front to finish clear of Lanan Racing’s Bart Horsten, who put in an overtaking masterclass to soar from 10th on the grid to second, which included a last lap overtake on Carlin’s Nazim Azman, who finished third.

Behind them there was all sorts of drama, mainly between championship contenders Kaylen Frederick and Kush Maini, with the pair banging wheels on a couple of occasions on the same lap. The pair raced with wet weather tyres on a cold and damp but drying track, with half the field opting for slick tyres in the assembly area just before the start of the race. The slick tyre gamble paid off with the podium drivers all racing with dry tyres, while Frederick and Maini slipped down the order after strong starts.

Frederick ultimately finished 12th with Maini 17th, a result which sees the pair separated by 33 points going into the final race with 35 still on offer.

A five car scrap for the lead developed by the final lap, with Fortec’s Roberto Faria finishing just a couple of tenths away from a maiden podium, and less than seven tenths clear of Hillspeed’s Oliver Clarke.

Double R’s Louis Foster finished in a remarkable sixth place. The British driver was spun down the order after spinning on the Hangar Straight after getting involved in one of the Frederick/Maini incidents, falling as far back as 15th, but using his dry tyres and some astute overtaking to climb to sixth.

JHR Developments’ Carter Williams secured seventh, less than a second ahead of Hillspeed’s Sasakorn Chaimongkol, with Piers Prior (Lanan) and Josh Skelton (Chris Dittmann Racing) completing the top-10.

Pole sitter Max Marzorati fell to 11th for Chris Dittmann Racing, but still a long way clear of Frederick, who just missed out on claiming the title a round early, but now only needs to finish race three to claim the title. Frederick starts race three from pole, with Maini starting second. 

BRDC British F3 Championship, Silverstone GP, race two provisional result:

1. Benjamin Pedersen, Double R Racing, 10 laps
2. Bart Horsten, Lanan Racing, +0.737s
3. Nazim Azman, Carlin, +1.140s
4. Roberto Faria, Fortec Motorsports, +1.327s
5. Oliver Clarke, Hillspeed, +2.001s
6. Louis Foster, Double R Racing, +13.833s
7. Carter Williams, JHR Developments, +19.440s
8. Sasakorn Chaimongkol, Hillspeed, +20.362s
9. Piers Prior, Lanan Racing, +1m00.282s
10. Josh Skelton, Chris Dittmann Racing, +1m16.222s
11. Max Marzorati, Chris Dittmann Racing, +1m22.715s
12. Kaylen Frederick, Carlin, +1m36.082s
13. Ulysse De Pauw, Douglas Motorsport, +1m43.082s
14. Manaf Hijjawi, Douglas Motorsport, +1m48.091s
15. Reece Ushijima, Hitech GP, +1m48.261s
16. Jonny Wilkinson, Fortec Motorsports, +1m49.577s
17. Kush Maini, Hitech GP, +1m53.081s
18. Ayrton Simmons, JHR Developments, +1 lap
19. Josh Mason, Lanan Racing, +1 lap