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Two Pole Positions for Webb at Rockingham
Two Pole Positions for Webb at Rockingham
Manchester-based Formula 3 driver, Oliver Webb showed once again why he is one of the hottest properties in the Cooper Tires British International F3 Series with two dominant pole positions at Rockingham. Only bad luck and being pushed off the track in race three denied the 19 year-old his second double victory of the season.
Webb’s qualifying performance was as a result of hard work from his Fortec team, who had worked through the night to get his HWA-Mercedes-powered Dallara F3 car into front-running trim. Webb repaid the hard work of his engineers by claiming pole position in both races. In addition the BRDC Superstar had the biggest gap to the next driver in the whole Formula 3 field, further underlining his advantage.
Webb was unfortunate to get an unusually poor start, relegating him to third by the first corner. Despite his best efforts, Webb was unable to get the position back and had to settle for third place on the podium. Race two made history as pit stops were introduced to F3 for the first time in the Championship’s history. The addition of pit stops has been made to make sure that drivers like MSA Elite Team member Webb are prepared for when they progress towards Formula 1.
Webb started the historic race in eighth position under the reverse grid system and the Fortec driver decided that pitting at the earliest available opportunity would give him the best chance of some clear air to push home his performance advantage. The gamble was achingly close to paying off as Webb was tenths of a second from taking fourth place, only for the Hitech cars to sneak out of the pits in front and allow two other cars back in front of the North West driver.
Webb was on pole for race three and determined to make up for his earlier disappointing start. Webb got away well, but was almost immediately taken out of the race when a collision behind the ex-Formula Renault driver catapulted arch-rival Vergne into the back of him. The impact looked to have ended the pole-sitter’s race, but Webb got the car going again and started his fight back. The BRDC member showed his best overtaking manoeuvres to pull himself back up to sixth, rescuing valuable points from a race which looked to have been over.
Webb was disappointed with his points hall from a weekend where he had again shown his pace and worth ethic, commenting: “After the team had worked really hard to give me a great car and HWA-Mercedes have provided an excellent engine again it is galling to not turn that into two victories. Starts are usually a strong point for me and I will be working hard to make sure that doesn’t happen again. The final race was just bad luck, I got hit and I had to make the best of a bad situation and I am pleased with how I recovered despite the collision. The pace we’ve shown over the weekend is a better indicator of where things are and I will keep my head up and go all out for Spa at the end of the month.”
Webb is back testing at Snetterton this week and will be racing again in just nine days as the ultra-fast Formula 1 circuit of Spa Francorchamps in Belgium.
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