OzRacingWrap

JAMES WINSLOW won the first Formula 3 race to be staged at Darwin’s Hidden Valley Raceway, fighting his way back from an early disadvantage to take his third consecutive win of the 2011 season.

Starting from pole position, which he earned dramatically earlier in the day, Winslow dropped to second early in the race but was able to re-take the lead and continue his impressive streak of wins since his return to the championship earlier this year.

As such, he becomes the first ever race winner of an F3 race at the Hidden Valley circuit.

“This race track is perfect for Formula 3 cars,” Winslow beamed after taking his 11th career race victory.

“It’s fast, challenging and very ‘racy’ and it makes for great racing. I didn’t get a bad start – it’s just that Chris Gilmour’s was better – but we had good race pace and I just wanted to make sure I could keep the pack at arms length and focus on getting the lead back.

“It’s been an incredible start to the year but each race gets harder and more competitive so it’s great to be able to keep wining – but by no means was it easy.”

From second place on the grid, Chris Gilmour made the best start and led the field for the first two laps before Winslow hauled him in and passed for the lead on lap three.

Gilmour slipped back to eventually finished fourth, having conceded the podium positions to Kristian Lindbom and Bryce Moore in the closing laps. Lindbom made an agressive move to pass Gilmour for second on lap seven, and was promptly chased down by a flying Moore.

Moore closed on Lindbom in the closing few laps and came within a car length or two of the Team BRM Dallara at the finish – setting the fastest lap and a new lap record in the process, despite running as low as sixth at the end of the first lap.

Former champion Tim Macrow was another to make a stunning start and ran as high as third early in the race in his older model car, before slipping to fifth at the flag. Round one pole sitter John Magro could only manage sixth place with Steel Guiliana, Ben Gersekowski, Roman Krumins and Josh Burdon completing the top ten.

Gilmour was pleased with his race, leading his first laps in more than five years in a stunning return to the very front of the pack from the veteran driver.

“We had the tyre pressures set a bit high and from the fourth lap of the race the car dropped off pretty quickly,” he explained.

“But it was great to be able to lead some laps and show that we’re right there and competitive. We’ll come back tomorrow and make some changes and see if we can get back to the front.”

The race featured competitive racing and plenty of overtaking, the long Hidden Valley straight and tight first corner offering plenty of chances for passing.

The City of Darwin Cup will be decided over two races tomorrow, with the driver with most points at the end of the weekend winning the newly-inaugurated trophy.

James Winslow now leads the championship by 12 points ahead of team-mate Bryce Moore, Chris Gilmour holding third over the tied John Magro and Steel Guiliana.

34 points are available across tomorrow’s two races.

Earlier in the day, James Winslow scored a stunning pole position in one of the most competitive qualifying sessions in the F3 Australian Drivers Championship history.

The dramatic session saw the top three cars split by less than one-tenth of a second with just five minutes to go before Winslow completed in his stunning pole lap.

It was Winslow’s first pole position since the final round of his championship-winning 2008 season, the seventh of his F3 career and the first outright pole for R-Tek Motorsport.

Team BRM / Magro Motorsport driver Magro was third whilst Bryce Moore was fourth – the pair shuffled backwards in the last minute of the session after holding the first two spots for most of the twenty minutes.

Friday pacesetter Kristian Lindbom was ‘only’ fifth – but still only two-tenths of a second from pole position in one of the closest qualifying sessions of the past two seasons.

For more information head to www.formula3.com.au