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KENNARD VICTORIOUS IN IRELAND
First and second moves Jonathan to third in standings and top Brit
Jonathan Kennard drove a superb race to take his maiden F3 National championship victory in round 20 at his first visit to Mondello Park in Ireland. Starting from second on the grid, Jonathan made a blinding start to take an immediate lead he was never to lose, setting the races' fastest lap on his way to a 1.8-second lead and a superb seventh place overall.
The 20 year-old Tunbridge-Wells driver was robbed of a certain victory in the first race after leading for 15 of the 17 laps by being pushed down to second in an incident three corners from home. The two results though have elevated him to third in the points standings, top British driver and still with a mathematical chance of taking second in the national class championship.
“I'm absolutely delighted,†said Jonathan at the finish. “It's an amazing feeling. The team deserve it, so a big thank you to everybody at Alan Docking Racing and now I'm third in the National Championship and top Briton which is great.â€
Qualifying for the first of two races went well on the 1.88-mile track, the youngster posting the third and second quickest times respectively for the penultimate rounds. A difficult start in race one resulted in him dropping two places, first to Barton Mawer then Josh Fisher but he soon recovered to retake Fisher before the end of the first lap. Up ahead Charlie Hollings and Salvador Duran clashed and as Mawer braked too early, Jonathan made no such mistake and nipped through to take the lead. With the safety car deployed, the pack held station, although a desperate manoeuvre by the former championship leader Mawer saw him ram the back of Jonathan's Dallara F304 Mugen-Honda and damage the diffuser.
At the restart, Jonathan held position and things were looking good for his first win until Mawer's T-Sport teammate Ryan Lewis slowed suddenly in front and then closed the door leaving Jonathan with nowhere to go except over the top of him. Mawer capitalised on the incident to take the win, as Jonathan remarkably recovered to take second and his eighth podium of the year.
After the disappointment of race one, race two left Jonathan more determined than ever to take the elusive first win that had so often beckoned. At the lights an amazing start, when everyone bunched up to the inside, gave Jonathan the chance he needed and he took to the outside, passing eight cars in the opening lap to get to ninth place overall and first in class. Thereafter he never put a wheel wrong, holding a comfortable lead over Hollings and series leader Duran, and despite a late-race scare when Bruno Senna spun in front of him held on to the flag for a popular first win and seventh overall.
“After the incident in race one, I was pretty fired up for race two. That victory should have been mine, but it did make me very determined for the second race. I made a good start but then as we entered the first corner everyone ahead bunched up on the inside and I saw my opportunity to drive around the outside. I knew the car would be good, the tyres had been preserved from qualifying and apart from Senna's spin and then Marko Asmer having a puncture and trying to stop me passing, things went very much to plan in the second race. After the delay behind Asmer, Danilo Dirani in the championship class, closed the gap so I let him through and was pretty much on my own after that.â€
Jonathan's F3 campaign concludes in three weeks time at Silverstone, Northamptonshire on October 8/9.
Results of race one - 17 laps
1. Barton Mawer Dallara F304 Mugen-Honda 31:10.964
2. JONATHAN KENNARD Dallara F304 Mugen-Honda 31:12.196
3. Juho Annala Dallara F304 Mugen-Honda 31:17.234
4. Josh Fisher Dallara F304 Mugen-Honda 31:33.522
5. Cheong Lou Meng Dallara F304 Mugen-Honda 31:56.678
Fastest lap: Salvador Duran 1:33.807 83.53mph 134.42kph
Results of race two - 18 laps
1. JONATHAN KENNARD Dallara F304 Mugen-Honda 31:52.416
2. Charlie Hollings Lola-Dome F106/4 Mugen-Honda 31:54.288
3. Salvador Duran Dallara F304 Mugen-Honda 31:54.989
4. Josh Fisher Dallara F304 Mugen-Honda 31:56.181
5. Juho Annala Dallara F304 Mugen-Honda 31:35.417
6. Nick Jones Dallara F304 Mugen-Honda 31:37.439
Fastest lap: Jonathan Kennard 1:34.594 82.83mph 133.31kph
Top Ten Championship positions after 20 rounds
1. Salvador Duran 268
2. Barton Mawer 244
3 JONATHAN KENNARD 209
4. Josh Fisher 203
5. Charlie Hollings 196
6. Juho Annala 151
7. Ben Clucas 80
8. Ricardo Teixeira 61
9. Nick Jones 58
10. Cheong Lou Meng 53
Editor's note: The new Jonathan Kennard website is now up-and-running and copyright free images and information can be downloaded from there, or obtained from the details below.
Further media information: Cathy Metcalfe, MPR Associates Tel: +44 (0)1327 352199
Fax: +44 (0) 1327 352908 Mob: +44 (0) 7802 332398 E-mail: cathymetcalfe@mpr-associates.co.uk www.jonathankennard.com
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