Photo: Jakob Ebrey Photography
Enaam Ahmed?leads the BRDC British Formula 3 Autumn Trophy after day one at Snetterton, winning his first race with Carlin while Dan Ticktum scored his?first victory?since returning to racing.
Former junior kart world champion Ahmed came out on top of an ultra-close qualifying session, where 10 of the 12 drivers were within six-and-a-half tenths of pole and a number challenged for top spot.
Ahmed edged out Ticktum by half a tenth and was able to lead comfortably off the line as his rival made a slow getaway to his first race in the championship’s Tatuus-Cosworth.
ADAC Formula 4 champion?Joey Mawson?climbed from third to second off the start, but Ahmed was able to open up a 2.7-second gap in the early stages.
As the race wore on, Douglas Motorsport’s Mawson cut the difference to only just over a second, but Ahmed responded to eek out a few more tenths over the closing laps.
Ticktum, driving for the Double R team that took Matheus Leist to this year’s title, dropped to fourth on the first lap behind a fast-starting?James Pull, who leapt from sixth on the grid for Carlin, but regained the place on lap three and set the fastest lap to secure race-two pole.
He made a much better start to race two, and led by nearly?three seconds at the end of lap one. He finished up 3.8 seconds clear to take a win on his second weekend of racing since completing a one-year ban.
Mawson this time didn’t get away well from second, enabling Ahmed to take the place. He held it to the end under pressure from the Australian to hold a five-point advantage over Ticktum overnight in the two-day Autumn Trophy.
Having posted the best time of Thursday and Friday’s on-track running, Double R’s?Marcus Armstrong?qualified eighth and finished seventh in race one, but lapped quick enough to line up fourth for race two and finished within a second of Mawson.
Tarun Reddy, also at Double R, followed sixth in race one with fifth in race two, ahead of?Callan O’Keeffe, who beat Pull to fourth in race one and sixth in race two.