F3 – Doohan closes in on Championship lead with defensive Race 3 win at Spa

F3 – Doohan closes in on Championship lead with defensive Race 3 win at Spa

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Jack Doohan put on a defiant defensive display in a rain hampered Race 3 at Spa, holding off Victor Martins and Alex Smolyar to become the first Formula 3 driver to win twice in a single round with his third victory of the season.

The battle between Doohan and Martins will continue to bubble away even after the chequered flag, with the Frenchman at one point passing the Trident driver off the track. Martins argued that he’d been forced wide, but was ordered to hand back the position.

Retaking the lead, Doohan didn’t make the same mistake twice, holding off Martins for the remainder of the race and clinching a vital victory for his title bid. The Australian is now just 25 points off Dennis Hauger, who had entered the weekend with a 63-point advantage.

After Qualifying back in 14th, Hauger’s goal was damage limitation, and the PREMA Made up six places to eighth, only slowed down by some dogged defending from Doohan’s Trident teammate, David Schumacher, who ended up in ninth ahead of Arthur Leclerc.

Alex Smolyar was out of the battle for first but coolly clinched his third podium of the season, and first since Le Castellet. Caio Collet was unable to challenge him in fourth, finishing in front of Clement Novalak, Frederik Vesti and Logan Sargeant.

AS IT HAPPENED

Further downpour meant that the field started behind the Safety Car for the second time this weekend, with Bert Mylander eventually peeling the Mercedes SC into the pitlane for a rolling start with 14 laps to go.

Starting from pole for the second time in as many races, Doohan slowed the field right down on the main straight before launching into Turn 1, with Martins in tow. The MP driver was locked into Doohan’s slipstream but hampered by the spray from the back of his Trident.

With his main title rival at the front, Championship leader Hauger was attempting to minimise the damage to his advantage after a difficult Qualifying session. The PREMA Racing driver was starting down in 14th but managed to jump two spots inside of the opening lap.

Jak Crawford and Roman Stanek followed next for Hauger as the PREMA locked in a points’ place. Schumacher and Johnathan Hoggard were busy battling for ninth ahead of him, but Hauger put a stop to that, picking off Hoggard and putting himself between the pair.

With 10 laps to go, Martins hadn’t relented in his chase of the race lead, continuing to keep Doohan within DRS range. The MP made a bold move at Turn 9, running wide and scampering past the Trident, but with all four wheels off the tarmac, the Frenchman was told to hand the place back.

Meanwhile, Doohan’s teammate, Schumacher, had been doing a sterling job of keeping his title rival at bay in eighth, but a wobble opened the door for Hauger and the PREMA leapt ahead.

Leclerc had recovered from a difficult start to the race to pass Crawford and Stanek for 11th. The Monegasque was then gifted the chance to join the back of the top 10 after a wide moment for Hoggard, who had gone skidding through the gravel and dropped to 16th.

Eventually, Martins was forced to relent in his battle with Doohan and save his tyres, the Trident weathering the storm to take a second win in as many races. Crossing the line with a 1.6s gap, Martins settled for second but did score the fastest lap.

Alex Smolyar collected a podium ahead of Caio Collet and Clement Novalak. Frederik Vesti had dashed past Logan Sargeant for sixth with two laps to go. Hauger had risen six places to get up to eighth, minimising the points loss to Doohan. Schumacher and Leclerc completed the top 10.

KEY QUOTE – JACK DOOHAN (TRIDENT)

“I am very happy, although I didn’t have the pace that I would like to have had. We didn’t have the same pace as yesterday, but in the end, we got the job done and I adapted as well as I could have.

“Victor had an awesome race and had very strong pace. He was definitely quicker than I was, but luckily, I was able to pull away in the few areas that I was quicker and did enough to keep the gap. I am very happy and off to Zandvoort now.

“The gap to Dennis (Hauger) is definitely a lot better than 63, but there are two rounds to go, and my aim is to be in front of him. We are going to keep pushing as hard as we can.”

THE CHAMPIONSHIP VIEW

Hauger retains his Championship lead but is now just 25 points ahead of Doohan, with Vesti in third on 101 points. Martins is fourth with 96 and Smolyar fifth with 92.

PREMA Racing are first in the Teams’ Championship with 290 points, ahead of Trident on 274. ART Grand Prix are third with 202, in front of MP Motorsport with 159.

FIA Formula 3 Championship

Formula 3F3SEASON 2021SportCircuit1SportFIA Formula 3 ChampionshipCircuitF3SEASON 2021Formula 300Sunday, August 29, 2021 – 12:34pmSunday, August 29, 2021 – 12:34pm

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F3 – Doohan strengthens title bid with wet weather win at Spa

F3 – Doohan strengthens title bid with wet weather win at Spa

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Jack Doohan breathed fresh life into the title battle, slicing 13 points off Dennis Hauger’s advantage at the top of the Championship with a controlled second win of the season in a wet Race 2 at Spa.

Doohan led a Trident one-two ahead of David Schumacher and Charouz Racing System’s Logan Sargeant, who crossed the line behind the Safety Car after a late crash between Calan Williams and Amaury Cordeel, who both escaped unscathed.

Although the rain stayed away until the closing laps, the field were still forced to overcome slippery conditions on a wet track, with visibility remaining at a premium.

Caio Collet and Clément Novalak both moved up a place to complete the top five after a sloppy start from Alex Smolyar, who fell from third to eighth in the opening lap, finishing behind Frederik Vesti and Victor Martins.

Championship leader Hauger made up four positions to ninth, overtaking Arthur Leclerc in the closing stages to claw back two points from Doohan.

AS IT HAPPENED

After a rain-hampered opening race that started behind the Safety Car, the field were able to get away under normal conditions in Race 2, with the almost constant downpour taking a temporary break. Though they were warned on the radio during the formation lap that the heavens would likely reopen at the halfway point.

Reverse polesitter Doohan retained first when the lights went out as he pulled in front of his teammate, Schumacher, and formed a shield of spray behind him.

Sargeant barged his Charouz Racing System past Smolyar’s ART Grand Prix for third at the start, making the most of the Russian’s sluggish getaway. Smolyar attempted to fight back but was chucked wide and returned in eighth. His ART teammate, Vesti, enjoyed a much more productive opening stint, making up three places to sixth.

Following one another in tow, PREMA Racing duo Leclerc and Hauger jumped three places each in the opening three laps, rising to 10th and 11th. The pair quickly closed in on Johnathan Hoggard, and Leclerc attempted an overtake, but the Monegasque clipped wheels with the Jenzer and Hoggard was sent into a dizzy spin.

The Briton got going again at the back of the pack as Leclerc steadied himself to take ninth in front of Hauger, who moved into the points’ positions for the first time this weekend.

READ MORE: Schumacher ‘unplugged’ his radio in frustration after Race 1 mistake

HWA RACELAB delivered a reminder to Matteo Nannini that rain was coming within the next 10 minutes, but the Italian wouldn’t get to see it as he spun at the Bus Stop chicane, which ended his race and resulted in a Safety Car.

The rain did arrive as Nannini’s HWA was cleared by the marshals, with Doohan’s win suddenly thrown into doubt for the first time, the Trident’s advantage sliced from 5s to nought.

Doohan aced the restart and got to work rebuilding his advantage, but before he could, the Safety Car was called out for a second time after a collision between Calan Williams and Amaury Cordeel heading up to Eau Rouge.

The duo clambered out of the cars safely but with just three laps to go and plenty of damage and debris to clear, the race finished behind the Safety Car. Doohan crossed the line ahead of Schumacher and Sargeant, with Collet in fourth and Novalak fifth.

Vesti claimed sixth following his surging start, ahead of Martins and Smolyar. Hauger had managed to scramble past Leclerc before the second Safety Car and doubled his points tally, taking ninth ahead of the Ferrari junior.

HIGHLIGHTS: Colombo clinches maiden win in wet Race 1 at Spa

KEY QUOTE – JACK DOOHAN (TRIDENT)

“Drier conditions than this morning, and I have to say that visibility was a lot better from pole. I got a decent start, I wasn’t expecting it to be as good as it was, but I was happy with the getaway. From there, I was managing the rears because that is where I was quite quick early on.

“I didn’t want to be too high on the pressure and then the other guys come at me at the end, so decided to be quite conservative. But when the Safety Car came out, our tyre pressures could all lower again.

“Overall, I’m very happy. I would have preferred to win a full race and not finish behind the Safety Car, but I will take the points – game on for tomorrow.”

THE CHAMPIONSHIP VIEW

Hauger retains his advantage at the top of the Drivers’ Championship with 154 points, ahead of Doohan on 108. Vesti is third with 93 and Olli Caldwell fourth with 86. Novalak is fifth with 82.

In the Teams’ Championship, PREMA Racing are top with 285 points, ahead of Trident on 237 and ART on 179. MP Motorsport are fourth with 127 and Hitech Grand Prix fifth with 86.

FIA Formula 3 Championship

F3Formula 3F3SEASON 2021SportCircuit1SportFIA Formula 3 ChampionshipCircuitF3SEASON 2021F3Formula 300Saturday, August 28, 2021 – 9:22pmSaturday, August 28, 2021 – 9:22pm

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