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King dominates first race of Nurburgring finale

by Valentin Khorounzhiy

Photo: British F3 International Series

Carlin’s Jordan King has made a major step towards securing the 2013 British F3 title by taking a commandeering victory in race one at Nurburgring.

As he came into the race with just a three-point cushion over main championship rival Will Buller, King’s championship hopes were bolstered massively when the Northern Irishman’s engine erupted with smoke after the formation lap, sending him into the pits for inspection.

Thus, with his fellow front row man off the grid, King enjoyed an easy start, leading into turn one. From that point on, the Briton encountered little trouble, improving his gap to second-placed Antonio Giovinazzi with each lap until he crossed the line ten seconds clear from the rest of the field.

Giovinazzi had a rather lonely race in second, which kept his title hopes alive. Fortec’s Felipe Guimaraes slotted into third after a great start and, despite having to defend the position from Jann Mardenborough for the entire race, eventually completed the podium.

Carlin men Mardenborough and Nicholas Latifi finished fourth and fifth respectively, while Tatiana Calderon secured sixth with a pass on teammate Sean Gelael in the closing stages. Spike Goddard, Alfonso Celis and National Class winner Sun Zheng completed the top ten. Buller, who was eventually cleared to start, finished three laps down, picking up tenth in class.

In the standings, King now leads Buller by 28 points, with Giovinazzi another point behind. There is a maximum of 39 points available for the final two races.

Race results
Pos. Driver Team Cl. Time/Gap
1 Jordan King Carlin INT 15 laps
2 Antonio Giovinazzi Double R Racing INT +10.383
3 Felipe Guimaraes Fortec INT +11.374
4 Jann Mardenborough Carlin INT +12.122
5 Nicholas Latifi Carlin INT +12.615
6 Tatiana Calderon Double R Racing INT +28.206
7 Sean Gelael Double R Racing INT +30.241
8 Spike Goddard ThreeBond/T-Sport INT +33.806
9 Alfonso Celis Fortec INT +34.722
10 Sun Zheng CF Racing NAT +46.796
11 Chris Vlok Team West-Tec NAT +1:18.504
12 William Barbosa Team West-Tec NAT +1 lap
13 William Buller Fortec INT +3 laps
Championship standings (International Class)
Pos. Driver Team Pts.
1 Jordan King Carlin 144
2 William Buller Fortec 116
3 Antonio Giovinazzi Double R Racing 115
4 Felipe Guimaraes Fortec 90
5 Nicholas Latifi Carlin 78
6 Jann Mardenborough Carlin 72
7 Sean Gelael Double R Racing 77
8 Tatiana Calderon Double R Racing 67
9 Jazeman Jaafar Carlin 58
10 Felix Serralles Fortec 15
11 Zhi Cong Li Carlin 7
12 Alfonso Celis Fortec 2
13 Spike Goddard ThreeBond/T-Sport 4