Davies scores at Thruxton

THE third round of the British Formula 3 Championship, at Thruxton April
14, is being hailed as the race that had everything. In tricky wet
conditions, championship leader Jamie Davies picked his way through the
field to win his second successive race, albeit a shortened one after
several cars crashed around the Hampshire track.

Davies, from Yeovil, started the race from second on the grid, alongside
pole position man Ralph Firman, but neither of them led into the first
corner. Instead, Colombia's Juan Pablo Montoya powered his way through
from third to snatch the lead. As the field sorted itself out, Montoya
pulled out what seemed an unassailable lead.

Davies had other things in mind, however, and hauled in the South
American to take the lead on the eighth lap. Firman had made a dreadful
start and had dropped back to fifth, behind the Renault-powered car of
James Matthews. This pair then came racing through the field to finish
an eventual - and eventful - second and third to make it an all-British
top three.

The race was shortened to nine laps from the scheduled 20 after two cars
had separate accidents. Frenchman Nicolas Minassian climbed unhurt from
his wrecked Dallara-Renault after falling off while fighting over sixth
place, but Class B pacesetter Philip Hopkins barrel-rolled his three-
year-old car and was taken to hospital, where he was reported to be
suffering from nothing more serious than concussion.

'As wins go, this was a pretty satisfying one,' said Davies, who now
leads the championship by 15 points. 'I didn't make the best of starts
but I always felt that I would catch Juan. In the end my tyres had gone
off after following him too closely, and I was quite relieved to see the
red flags.'

The championship battle resumes at Donington Park on May 5.

Results: 1 Jamie Davies, 11m 59.16s, 106.14mph; 2 James Matthews,
+1.27s; 3 Ralph Firman, +2.71s; 4 Juan Pablo Montoya, +6.98s; 5 Jonny
Kane, +7.56s; 6 Guy Smith, +13.13s. Fastest lap: Montoya.

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