IT was all ominous signs for the chasing pack today when British driver Charlie Hollings dominated round two of the Kumho Tyres Australian Formula 3 Championship for the CAMS Gold Star at Oran Park.
Astuti driver Hollings, from Yorkshire in the UK, capped off a perfect qualifying day yesterday by securing two commanding race victories under heavy skies to vault up the championship standings after a slow start to the season.
However behind Hollings Tim Macrow’s pair of second-place finishes elevated him to a clear championship lead after two rounds of the chase for the Australian Drivers Championship, leading Hollings and a consistent Stuart Kostera as the circus heads to Phillip Island in two weeks.
Hollings won the first race by over two seconds after commanding early-race pace.
Leanne Tander, after starting from the front row, slipped behind Tim Macrow after the start and despite placing pressure on the Victorian for a good portion of the 15-lap affair was unable to execute a pass and settled for her first podium of the season.
The second race was more of the same for the top three, with Hollings clearly leading a closely matched Macrow and Tander to the line at the end of the race.
Behind the leaders, however, three drivers – Marco Mapelli, Stuart Kostera and Mat Sofi – were penalised for jumping the start and sent to pit lane for drive-through penalties.
Mapelli rebounded the best of the three, setting the quickest race lap to secure a bonus championship point.
The main beneficiaries of the penalties were James Winslow and Chris Gilmour, who both worked their way cleanly through the field to secure top five positions to end a tough weekend in a positive fashion for both drivers.
It was all Hollings out in front though, completing a near-perfect weekend to score his first championship race wins.
”I think it was always close in qualifying but by the end of the weekend it looked like we had the advantage to everyone which is what we really wanted, ” he said.
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