Carlin’s Ed Jones and Jordan King this afternoon secured a fantastic double podium for the team in the first race of the weekend at Hockenheim in the FIA Formula Three European Championship. Jones snatched second position off the line and didn’t look back however it was a different turn of events for King who clinched his third placed podium on the very last lap of the race. Team mate and Formula Three Rookie Jake Dennis also had a fantastic drive to the points to take the flag in seventh – placing him on the podium also as the top rookie driver. The result ensured that all three Carlin cars finished the first race of the weekend in top ten positions.

As the lights went out Jones had a storming getaway from third and was quick to dispose of Antonio Giovinazzi in the sister Volkswagen powered Dallara Carlin car. Taking his position and moving nicely into second, he was then able to set his sights on race leader Lucas Auer – however Auer ensured he pulled a large gap from the go.

King had also enjoyed a fantastic start and had gained positions off the line however things were all to change on the opening lap when two separate incidents brought out the safety car and briefly neutralised the racing. By this point King had made his way up into fourth position and Racing Steps Foundation driver Dennis was in ninth.

After just a couple of laps under the safety car racing action resumed; off the line the positions remained relatively unchanged as the drivers got into the rhythm of the 22 lap race. Dennis soon became involved in his own battle as he fought to take the maximum amount of points away from the race as possible. His hard work paid off and by the end of the seventh lap he had already moved his way up to eighth overall.

At the front the gaps remained similar over the next few laps with Jones, Esteban Ocon and King running in quite close succession. Despite this battle continuing it was all to end on the final lap when Ocon dramatically dropped down the grid – this meant that King moved up into the final podium position and Dennis clinched seventh. At the front Jones remained solid throughout the 35 minute race to claim his first FIA Formula Three European Championship podium.

Ed said of his achievement, ‘It was a really good race for me I had a fantastic start off the line and that set me up well for the rest of the race. I wasn’t really able to push Lucas Auer for the lead but I tried to stay close to him and take it from there. This is my first year in the championship so to have a result like this during only the second weekend shows our potential. I’m very happy and would like to thank the team for giving me a car in which I was able to get the podium.’

Jordan said of his podium, ‘I made the most progress during the very first lap and was able to sit in fourth position by the time the safety car was released. From then on in it was a case of putting pressure on Esteban [Ocon] and seeing what happened. I pushed really hard in the final few laps and took a bit out of my tyres but it paid off because Ocon had a problem and I was close enough to get past. I’m pleased to come away with points and a podium today.’

Jake Dennis added, ‘I managed to get to the hairpin well on the first lap however there was a crash ahead and I had to go around it. It pushed me quite wide and as a result I lost a lot of places. However I managed to make them up again over the course of the race. The pace has been great here and it’s a boost to get points on the board especially after a tough weekend at Silverstone.’