Petru Florescu took his first victory in the Ford MSA Formula today and headed an all Carlin podium at Brands Hatch with Max Fewtrell and James Pull completing the top three.  The Carlin trio were line astern for the duration of the race, with Fewtrell coming out on top of an opening lap tussle with Pull.  Devlin DeFrancesco struggled to recover after losing out at the start despite race long pressure on the cars ahead.

After a successful qualifying session this morning, Florescu lined up on pole with team mate Pull alongside and Fewtrell starting from third.  DeFrancesco started his first MSA Formula race from seventh.

As the lights went out, it was Fewtrell who made the best start, briefly challenging Florescu for the lead and passing Pull for second.  Pull fought back though, with the pair almost side by side on the first run into Druids.  By the end of lap one, Florescu was leading, Fewtrell had held onto second, Pull was third while DeFrancesco was 10th.

Keen to make up places after the start, DeFrancesco was putting Zane Goddard under pressure for ninth, lap after lap almost finding a way past around Druids and down into Graham Hill Bend.

Florescu looked completely in control at the front, with a lead of 2.1 seconds on lap 11 from Fewtrell who in turn was 1.2 seconds ahead of Pull.  The safety car bunched up the field later though, as marshal’s cleared a car from the gravel at Druids.

Florescu did well to respond to the safety car lights suddenly going out at Clearways, quickly bunching up the field before streaking away to keep the lead.  Fewtrell and Pull had little chance to form an attack but both defended their own positions while DeFrancesco also continued in 10th.

Just a lap later the chequered flag was shown with Florescu taking the victory ahead of Fewtrell who claimed second on his first every MSA Formula race.  Pull completed the podium for the Surrey based squad as DeFrancesco took 10th.

A delighted Florescu said, “The start wasn’t great but I managed to keep Max behind me and then pulled away.  I wasn’t sure if the race was going to restart again after the safety car but I was ready for it and pulled away again to take my first win.  I’m really happy.”

Speaking about his first MSA Formula race, Fewtrell said, “I was really happy with that. I was a bit nervous about the start, but made a good getaway.  I just concentrated on getting to the finish and not making any mistakes.  I started to pull away from James a bit but then the tyres started to go off a bit so I had to change my style, change my line a little bit.”

Pull added, “It’s always good to start with a podium but I’m a bit annoyed with the start as that really cost me that second place, but fair play to Max he made a good start.  But third is still good.