- Tewkesbury-based team on form once again to stay in the hunt for Drivers’ and Teams’ honours.
- Varrone adds a second win of the campaign, Skelton and Vernon unlucky to get caught up in other incidents.
- Penultimate event at Brands Hatch (GP) this Sunday (5th June).
Nico Varrone starred once again as Chris Dittmann Racing underlined their British F3 iRacing Championship title credentials at Silverstone.
The Argentine took a second pole position of the virtual campaign, clocking a best time of 1:52.121 around the 3.6-mile Northamptonshire circuit.
A frustrating session for team mates Kieran Vernon and Josh Skelton left them 18th and 24th respectively, the latter suffering from connection issues throughout qualifying, and with the prospect of another charge through the field ahead.
Varrone made no mistake from the front, breaking the all-important tow in the opening exchanges and powering clear to a lights-to-flag victory, the eventual margin of victory some 3.4 seconds as he reclaimed the points lead.
Both Vernon and Skelton were unlucky to get caught up in other incidents at the start and had to pit for repairs; both returned to add to their respective points tallies in 16th and 19th, with a better starting slot for the reverse-grid race.
For the second time, Vernon’s race was compromised with contact at the start; Skelton showed great pace to run inside the top ten throughout, before being taken out by a back marker with just one lap remaining.
Both recovered, but with time running out could only make it back to 13th and 14th at the flag.
As at Oulton Park and Spa, Varrone stayed cool amongst the chaos to move through the field, rising from 25th to finish 6th and open up a 13 point advantage in the Drivers’ standings.
The efforts of all three drivers helped keep CDR in the hunt for Teams’ honours, with the gap to top spot now just 27 points with four races remaining.
The British F3 iRacing Championship heads next to Brands Hatch’s iconic GP circuit on Sunday 5th June.
Quotes:
Chris Dittmann, Team Principal:
“First of all, congratulations to Nico on a second win of the season – and a fourth podium from the opening six races. He’s back in the lead of the Drivers’ standings now, and it’s richly deserved.
“Commiserations to both Kieran and Josh. It’s fair to say the results tonight don’t reflect their pace. Josh had to contend with connection issues from the get-go, and both got caught up in other people’s incidents over the course of the evening, but that’s racing.
“The focus now switches to Brands Hatch this weekend. We’re still in the hunt for both titles, so we’ll be pushing to take as much from the last four races as we can.”
Nico Varrone:
“It was a great night for me in Round 3 of the British F3 iRacing Championship at Silverstone. I managed to take pole position and a lights-to-flag win in Race 1.
“That meant starting in P25 for the reverse grid race. I managed to avoid the incidents and finish P6 to once again take the championship lead.
“We also managed to secure good points for CDR in the Teams’ championship, so we’re in good shape heading to Brands Hatch!”
Josh Skelton:
“It was a difficult night for me, technical issues with the connection to the server in practice and qualifying meant I couldn’t post times.
“Starting from the back in Race 1, I got caught up in an incident, resulting in damage. I was running in the top ten in Race 2 before being taken out by a lapped car with one lap remaining. I’ll come back out fighting next week at Brands Hatch.”
Kieran Vernon:
“I’m disappointed not to come away with two strong finishes after being crashed out of both races, but I’m really enjoying the opportunity to race for Chris Dittmann Racing again and I’ll be back next weekend ready to fight for more podiums.”
