Rapid F4 British Championship certified by FIA – powered by Ford driver racer Linus Lundqvist delivered a series of star performances at Croft in North Yorkshire over the weekend, 10th/11th June, securing two magnificent victories for Double R Racing in rounds 13 and 15.

At a track where the Woking team has always had an excellent set-up in any formula, Lundqvist backed up his timesheet-topping efforts in testing with pole position for the first and third races and he converted both into superb wins – moving the Swede into third in the championship.

Lebanese team-mate Karl Massaad only just missed out on a podium return in the final encounter of the weekend, taking a best finish of fourth place, while Chinese racer Daniel Cao took his only finish in race three after two unfortunate retirements in the opening two contests.

“It’s fantastic for Linus to take two wins”, said Double R team principal Anthony ‘Boyo’ Hieatt, “Our set-up for Croft has always been good, we always have a great car there, so we take great delight in doing so well this weekend – Linus was the pace-setter throughout and did an outstanding job.

“Karl had a terrific recovery in the third race after an unfortunate collision in the second one, he raced very strongly and to be in the fight with the podium contenders was fantastic and where we know he can be on a regular basis. It wasn’t the strongest weekend of the season for Daniel but, overall, we’re delighted with the team performance.”

Nearly 200 miles further south, Double R was also in action over the weekend at Silverstone Grand Prix Circuit for the latest rounds of the BRDC British Formula 3 Championship. Brazilian driver Guilherme Samaia took the squad’s best finish with eighth place in round 12 while team-mate Jamie Chadwick secured a highest result of ninth in round 10 and another top 10 in round 11.

“Silverstone wasn’t as successful for us as the F4 at Croft but Guilherme and Jamie were both competitive and raced well”, added Hieatt, “They’re both doing a good job in their first season in British F3 and we’re all looking forward to the next round at Spa, always a real highlight.”

Two out of three for Lundqvist at Croft

Lundqvist certainly started the Croft weekend as he intended to go on, lapping fastest in pre-event testing and then going on to set the quickest and second quickest laps in a highly competitive, rain-hit qualifying session on Saturday to secure pole position for the first and third races of the event.

Continuing drizzle into the afternoon meant round 13, would also take place on a wet track and Lundqvist made an outstanding start. Storming into a lead of two seconds on lap one alone, racing then fell under Safety Car conditions due to an unfortunate incident for team-mate Massaad who was pitched into a spin at Tower Bend, having started sixth. He retired with damage soon after.

At the resumption on lap five Lundqvist made a textbook re-start and went on to control the race from the front, reeling off a series of fastest laps – a best of 1m30.761 seconds – before taking the flag on lap 12 an incredible 6.7 seconds clear. Team-mate Cao, meanwhile, experienced misfortune like Massaad after an excursion when the Safety Car was on track, while running in the top 10.

Starting the dry 14th round on Sunday from sixth on the partially reversed grid, Lundqvist got away from the line cleanly and managed to climb into fifth on the opening tour. Massaad and Cao started the contest from 13th and 15th respectively but the latter’s race came to an early conclusion in the gravel at the first corner – triggering the deployment of the Safety Car.

Racing resumed on lap four and Lundqvist quickly moved up into the top four before challenging for the podium. After running wide at Tower on lap six, he was edged back to sixth and then seventh soon after but battled back into fourth before the race was red flagged on lap 12 when Massaad was involved in a tangle at Tower while battling inside the top 10.

Normal service was resumed for Lundqvist in round 15 as he again dominated, opening up a one second lead from pole position at the start and going on to take the chequered flag on lap 15 almost six seconds clear with a phenomenal drive. He also posted the fastest lap by some margin, a time of 1m21.444 seconds (93.93mph).

Massaad made amends for his earlier disappointment with a great drive to fourth, his second best result of the season. Starting fifth on the grid after a strong run in qualifying, he moved into fourth on lap five and was just 1.4 seconds shy of the podium at the chequered flag – he also set the third fastest race lap. Cao, meanwhile, started 11th on the grid and went on to finish in 15th position.

British F3 runners Samaia and Chadwick both in top 10 at Silverstone

With Harry Hayek ruled out of racing due to the cracked vertebrae he sustained during the previous British F3 event at Snetterton last month, Double R fielded two cars at Silverstone GP Circuit over the weekend with Guilherme Samaia and Jamie Chadwick.

Samaia was the quickest of the duo in qualifying with the seventh best time, Chadwick just missing out on the top 10 by a mere 0.031 seconds, but the Brazilian’s hopes for race one went awry on lap one following contact.

After pitting for repairs, he rejoined a lap down and ultimately took 14th place but there was better news for Chadwick who climbed into ninth as a result of Samaia’s dramas and the first-year F3 driver remained there for the 10-lap duration.

Ahead of the start of round 11 on Sunday morning, dramas befell Samaia with a spin on the green flag formation lap. Recovering back onto the circuit, the Brazilian mistakenly re-assumed his original grid position of 14th place which resulted in a 10 second time penalty.

After a strong race performance, and a good battle with Chadwick, he went on to finish in ninth but with the penalty he dropped back to 13th position in the classification. Chadwick, who had started in ninth, was edged back to 11th by lap six but moved up into the top 10 following Samaia’s penalty.

Samaia began the final race from 10th and after a tangle for two rivals at Luffield on the opening lap, he moved up into the top eight. Taking seventh place on the second tour, he stayed there to the flag but a false start penalty moved him back to eighth. From 15th on the grid, Chadwick’s hopes of more were dashed due to a puncture on lap two. After pitting, she rejoined a lap down and finished 15th.

British F3 resumes at Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium on Friday, 7th July, and Saturday, 8th July, while British F4 now enters a summer break with the next rounds at Snetterton on 29th/30th July.

2017 British F4 Championship Standings

3rd Linus Lundqvist, 152.5pts; 10th Karl Massaad, 46pts; 14th Daniel Cao, 7pts

2017 BRDC British F3 Championship Standings

10th Jamie Chadwick, 121pts; 15th Guilherme Samaia, 87pts; 17th Harry Hayek, 51pts