By RaceScene Publisher on Saturday, 26 June 2021
Category: The Checkered Flag

Ushijima takes first British F3 win in Race 1 at Silverstone

The second round of the 2021 BRDC British Formula 3 Championship began with Race 1 at Silverstone on Saturday afternoon, where Hitech GP‘s Reece Ushijima took his maiden win in the series.

The Japanese-American driver took pole on Saturday morning, ahead of Zak O’Sullivan (Carlin) and Frederick Lubin (Arden Motorsport).

Lubin slipped back to sixth in the opening exchanges, with Bart Horsten, Javier Sagrera and Roberto Faria moving past between Abbey and Aintree.

Alex Connor, Bryce Aron, Max Marzorati and Chris Dittmann Racing team-mate Ayrton Simmons all overtook José Garfias who dropped to 14th.

The top three remained unchanged from then, with Ushijima and O’Sullivan pulling a three-second gap to Horsten and the rest of the chasing pack.

Reema Juffali moved up to 12th, with her Douglas Motorsport team-mate Dexter Patterson sitting sixth.

Tom Lebbon retired in the opening laps for Elite Motorsport, while Sagrera stayed fourth with Garfias ten places further back.

Juffali slipped to 15th just past the halfway point, falling behind Garfias, Marzorati and Mikkel Grundtvig (Fortec Motorsport).

Alex Connor swapped places with Christian Mansell for eighth, while Zak O’Sullivan began to reel in Ushijima’s lead to half a second.

Ushijima held on for his maiden British F3 win, closing the gap at the top of the Drivers’ Championship to O’Sullivan who finished three tenths behind.

Bart Horsten finished a second behind O’Sullivan, a further five seconds ahead of Javier Sagrera, Roberto Faria and Dexter Patterson.

Sebastian Alvarez led Alex Connor home for P7, with Christian Mansell ahead of his Carlin team-mate Bryce Aron.

Ayrton Simmons recovered from a five-place grid penalty to finish P11.

Garfias finished 12th, ten seconds ahead of Grundtvig and Juffali, with Max Marzorati four seconds further back for Chris Dittmann Racing.

Lubin pitted early to remove grass from his car and lapped well behind the rest of the field.

Race 2 starts at 10:10am on Sunday, with Race 3 at 4:15pm.

You can follow all the action on The Checkered Flag.

2021 Silverstone GP Race 1 Results:

Pos.No.NameNat.TeamTime/Gap
113Reece UshijimaJPNHitech GP10 laps
251Zak O’SullivanGBRCarlin+0.382
350Bart HorstenAUSHitech GP+1.352
43Javier SagreraESPElite Motorsport+6.250
57Roberto FariaBRAFortec Motorsport+7.306
655Dexter PattersonGBRDouglas Motorsport+9.142
712Sebastian AlvarezMEXHitech GP+10.246
827Alex ConnorGBRArden Motorsport+11.953
921Christian MansellAUSCarlin+13.838
1023Bryce AronUSACarlin+14.356
1118Ayrton SimmonsGBRChris Dittmann Racing+17.356
1299Jose GarfiasMEXElite Motorsport+20.860
1343Mikkel GrundtvigDENFortec Motorsport+31.226
1410Reema JuffaliSAUDouglas Motorsport+31.384
1581Max MarzoratiGBRChris Dittmann Racing+35.889
1678Frederick LubinGBRArden Motorsport+1:04.976
1734Tom LebbonGBRElite MotorsportDNF
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