Ayrton Simmons on top in British F3 reverse-grid Race 3 at Silverstone

Ayrton Simmons took his second win of the 2021 BRDC British Formula 3 Championship season in the reverse-grid Race 3 at Silverstone on Sunday.

Reema Juffali started on pole, ahead of Max Marzorati and Mikkel Grundtvig, the top three lining up as they did in Brands Hatch‘s reverse-grid race.

Race 1 and 2 pole-sitter and winner Reece Ushijima started 16th and last, with Championship leader Zak O’Sullivan just ahead.

Ushijima has closed the gap to the Carlin driver this weekend, with the pair finishing 1-2 in the opening races.

Dexter Patterson was excluded from the race weekend after an altercation with Bryce Aron and a marshal in parc fermé after Race 2, after the two drivers collided.

Marzorati forced his way past Juffali into Maggotts, which unsettled the Douglas Motorsport driver and enabled Ayrton Simmons and Alex Connor to move through.

Meanwhile, Javier Sagrera spun into the gravel at the same place and fell to the back of the field.

Zak O’Sullivan was ninth by the halfway point of Lap 2, with Ushijima 12th.

Simmons took the lead from Marzorati into Brooklands, as Bryce Aron looked to capitalise. But the American driver ran out of track on the exit of Luffield, losing his front wing as he ran through the gravel.

José Garfias overtook Elite Motorsport team-mate Tom Lebbon into Abbey, while Marzorati suffered a puncture into Copse after contact with Aron and fell to the back.

O’Sullivan tried to get past Lebbon into Village, but Alex Connor dived up the inside into The Loop.

Mikkel Grundtvig retired with 14 minutes remaining after a collision with Bart Horsten left both with suspension damage, while Aron retired in the Carlin pit box.

The myriad incidents brought out a safety car halfway through the race, with Grundtvig’s Fortec Motorsport car and Horsten’s Hitech GP stranded on the infield between Brooklands and Luffield.

Aron was able to replace his front wing with the field neutralised, and quickly worked to move up the field once the green flag flew for the final few laps.

Tom Lebbon squeezed Garfias onto the grass on the entry to Brooklands but the Mexican driver was able to move past his team-mate into fifth.

The two surviving Hitechs did battle through Becketts, Sebastian Alvarez going up the inside of Ushijima, while all three Carlins convened behind.

Mansell held Aron at bay, while O’Sullivan swooped around the outside of Ushijima exiting the Club chicane.

That move ensured the Carlin driver held his Championship lead heading to Donington Park, though the gap to Ushijima is much smaller than it was going into the weekend.

Ayrton Simmons held on to take his second win of the season, just over a quarter of a second ahead of Alex Connor and half a second ahead of Roberto Faria in third place.

Reema Juffali held station well after reverse-grid pole, coming home P4 ahead of Garfias, Tom Lebbon and Frederick Lubin.

The Hitech drivers of Alvarez and Ushijima sandwiched O’Sullivan in eighth and tenth respectively, with Christian Mansell leading Bryce Aron home in 11th and 12th.

2021 Silverstone GP Race 3 Results:

Pos.	No.	Name	Nat.	Team	Time/Gap
1	18	Ayrton Simmons	GBR	Chris Dittmann Racing	9 laps
2	27	Alex Connor	GBR	Arden Motorsport	+0.281
3	7	Roberto Faria	BRA	Fortec Motorsport	+0.552
4	10	Reema Juffali	SAU	Douglas Motorsport	+3.789
5	99	Jose Garfias	MEX	Elite Motorsport	+5.356
6	34	Tom Lebbon	GBR	Elite Motorsport	+5.692
7	78	Frederick Lubin	GBR	Arden Motorsport	+5.814
8	12	Sebastian Alvarez	MEX	Hitech GP	+7.848
9	51	Zak O’Sullivan	GBR	Carlin	+8.239
10	13	Reece Ushijima	JPN	Hitech GP	+8.837
11	21	Christian Mansell	AUS	Carlin	+9.410
12	23	Bryce Aron	USA	Carlin	+9.788
13	43	Mikkel Grundtvig	DEN	Fortec Motorsport	DNF
14	50	Bart Horsten	AUS	Hitech GP	DNF
15	81	Max Marzorati	GBR	Chris Dittmann Racing	DNF
16	3	Javier Sagrera	ESP	Elite Motorsport	DNF