Buller triumphs in hectic Spa race one

Photo: Stephane Ratel Organization

Will Buller made up for a lackluster qualifying performance by taking the race victory in the British F3 weekend opener at Spa-Francorchamps, after it took the Briton a mere sector to get up to first from seventh.

The rainy conditions seemed to favour Buller, who managed a fantastic getaway from the line and was leading after lap one. He maintained the lead over nearest rival Jordan King for the majority of the race and then managed to hold on to his lead after the race went green for one final lap following a safety car period.

It was Carlin teammates Nicholas Latifi and Jann Mardenborough who caused the safety car period. While poleman Latifi ran the bigger part of the race in third, Mardenborough found himself under attack from Sean Gelael and eventually yielded fourth place. He didn’t take long to take the spot back and soon closed in on the Canadian, the pair of teammates making contact into Eau Rouge and retiring on the spot. They weren’t the first names off the timesheets, with Felipe Guimaraes exiting the race earlier on.

Gelael, who inherited third, held onto it after the restart. Another Double R driver, Tatiana Calderon, took fourth, while Antonio Giovinazzi finished a frustrating race in fifth, after he was sent into the pits early on with a black-and-orange flag for a malfunctioning rear wing light.

In the National Class, Sun Zheng made an error, allowing Jordan Oon through, but then capitalized on a similar favour from his opponent and eventually eased to class win. Oon came in second with teammate Chris Vlok rounding out the finishers.

Race results