Maiden F3 Win for Grundtvig at Donington Park

Go Motorsport Management driver Mikkel Grundtvig claimed a maiden BRDC British F3 victory in a scintillating final race of the weekend at Donington.

The Dane started third on the grid, which was formed by the reverse of the qualifying order, but took the lead after a safety car period with a smart pass on Chris Dittmann Racing’s Max Marzorati.

Marzorati made the best start of the front runners, going from second on the grid to the lead after passing polesitter Reema Juffali on the run down to Redgate and Grundtvig followed him through.

The real drama came on lap two as title contenders Zak O’Sullivan (Carlin) and Reece Ushijima (Hitech GP) collided exiting the Esses, with Ushijima going into the barriers and O’Sullivan parking up at the Melbourne Hairpin with broken suspension. With both cars stranded at the side of the road, the safety car was deployed. As the safety car pitted starting lap five. Marzorati made a good restart to rebuild his lead, while teammate Ayrton Simmons, who started fourth, applied big pressure to Grundtvig, and survived a major wobble through the Craners. With the pressure relieved, Grundtvig began chasing Marzorati, and was just two tenths behind starting lap six. Grundtvig went up the inside of Marzorati at Redgate, and the pair went wheel to wheel through the Craners before the Danish driver completed the move at the Old Hairpin.

Simmons then fancied a run at second, but while attempting a move around the outside of his teammate at McLeans, was edged into the gravel and dropped down the order.

That battle allowed Grundtvig to pull out a reasonably comfortable lead of just over a second from Marzorati, which extended further to almost three seconds by the penultimate lap as Marzorati fended off Alvarez, who had climbed from seventh on the grid.

Grundtvig ultimately claimed his first British F3 win by just under two seconds from Marzorati while Lebbon’s hard charge from 10th ended in a maiden podium after Alvarez’s penalty was applied.

Mikkel Grundtvig, Fortec Motorsports: “It was an amazing race, and I think it was a really good performance from my side, especially from our first race at Brands Hatch where I started third and I ended up fifth. So I knew this time I had an extra shot to do it and when I was in P1 I was just fully focused on driving it safely home. It’s just amazing. When I was P2 I was getting closer and closer. It was a good overtake [on Marzorati] but also well driven from both sides.