King dominates first race of Nurburgring finale

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

Championship standings (International Class)