- Nico Varrone scores fourth victory of the virtual season to wrap up the Drivers’ crown at Donington Park.
- Trademark charge through the field with Kieran Vernon in reverse-grid race helps wrap up the Teams’ title for Tewkesbury-based CDR.
- Focus now shifts to winning real-world series, which begins at Oulton Park on 01-02 August.
Chris Dittmann Racing celebrated their first titles of the 2020 season after being crowned Drivers and Teams’ Champions in the British F3 iRacing Championship at Donington Park.
Nico Varrone stormed to another pole position around the 2.4-mile Leicestershire circuit, clocking a best time of 1:21.583 to put himself in the pound seat for the Drivers’ crown with nearest rival Piers Prior in fifth.
With the Tewkesbury-based team also charging hard to close the gap at the top of the Teams’ standings, Kieran Vernon and Josh Skelton put themselves in position to score good points in 7th and 18th respectively.
When the lights went out, Varrone went unchallenged, streaking clear to establish a healthy lead as the Argentine sealed a fourth win of the campaign by 5.2 seconds.
That victory proved enough to seal the crown, capping off a fantastic display for the 19-year old as he once again cemented his status as the class of the field.
With the Drivers’ crown secured, the attention turned to the Teams’ stakes, with Kieran Vernon rising through to fifth in the opening race to move CDR into first place, but with Douglas Motorsport and Lanan Racing close behind.
Skelton had been charging on the opening lap and up as high as 11th, but was yet again taken out in another driver’s incident at Coppice and forced to pit for repairs; he eventually recovered to 19th.
That put the Maryport driver at the head of CDR’s charge in the reverse-grid race, with Vernon and Varrone down in 20th and 25th and in need of another trademark drive through the field.
The pendulum looked to have swung away from the trio after Skelton was again caught up in a multi-car collision at Redgate on the first lap, and with Douglas set to score heavily at the front of the field with a double podium.
Varrone and Vernon are well-versed in picking their way through the chaos in race two, and they did so again, eventually securing fourth and fifth to kick start the celebrations, CDR’s eventual winning margin standing at 20 points.
With both virtual titles now safely stowed in the cabinet, the focus shifts to the opening four races of the real-world series, which is currently set to kick off at Oulton Park on 01-02 August.
Quotes:
Chris Dittmann, Team Principal:
“Firstly, congratulations to Nico on being crowned Drivers’ champion. He’s been the class of the field at every event, turning up with tremendous pace and showing he has the race craft to match, so it’s no surprise to me he’s ended up with the trophy, it’s well deserved.
“I also have to pay tribute to Kieran and Josh. Both have suffered more than their fair share of bad luck over the last five race nights, but they’ve regrouped well on every occasion to score plenty of valuable points, and the Teams’ title is a just reward for everyone’s efforts.
“Thanks must go to everyone at the BRDC British F3 Championship for their hard work in putting the series together, and now our focus turns just as quickly to the real-world series. It’s very much two titles down, two to go as far as we’re concerned!
“We’re very excited to see what Josh and Nico can achieve in the real car, and we’ve still got another seat available if any interested drivers would like to get in contact.”
Nico Varrone, Drivers’ Champion:
“I’m really happy to have won the championship. A lot of hard work went in behind the scenes with all the CDR team to have the pace at every race and take both championships.
“Congratulations to everybody on putting such a fantastic series together. I want to thank CDR, iZone Driver Performance and all the people we competed against for joining in. Now we move on to the real one!”
Kieran Vernon:
“I’m very pleased with my final round of the British F3 iRacing Championship at Donington Park.
“Two strong top-five results helped us win Chris Dittmann Racing the Teams’ Championship, and congratulations to Nico on winning the Drivers’.
“We did what we needed to do in a tough second race and personally, I feel very satisfied after some bad luck at Spa and Silverstone to still finish 8th in the points.
“Thank you to everyone who put the championship together and I look forward to being back competing in the next one!”
Josh Skelton:
“It was a difficult night for me tonight, I was struggling for pace.
“I made a good recovery drive in the second race as I found a little time. Well done to Nico for taking the Drivers’ Championship, and to Kieran for solid results throughout the season and helping bring home the Teams’ title.
“I’m looking forward to hopping back in the car in the real world, it can’t come soon enough!”
