プレスリリース - 3 Horse Race Gets Tighter | F3 America

3 Horse Race Gets Tighter | F3 America

Friday saw an almost standard starting grid at Cleveland, for the 6th installment of F3 America, with the Rage squad holding the front two rows and Hansson not far behind. The biggest difference? The front row was occupied by the American Rage drivers, Wheeler and Wayne. Nick Wheeler earned his first pole of the series, and the only pole that hasn't gone to the British side of Rage thus far. Separated by only .006, Bruce Wayne slotted in 2nd, with series leader Drummond Bennett and 3rd overall Brandon Knight slotting in P3 and P4, both inside .041 to the fast lap of Wheeler.

Things turned ugly early for Bennett as he slid wide in Turn 4 on just the 4th lap of the race, sending him down the still tight field to P10. Knight took advantage and marked Wayne, while Wheeler cruised away to more than 2-seconds advantage. After 9 laps, Wayne's mirror was full of Knight, who eventually managed to find a run on the finishing straight, and with 10 to go began chipping at Wheeler's advantage.

The two held steady, as is expected when Wheeler and Knight face off at the front, until Wheeler made a costly mistake entering the fairly harmless 2nd corner, allowing Knight to put his nose to the front with just 4 laps left in the sprint leg of the Cleveland stop. Knight, as expected, held form for the final few laps and Wheeler never recovered to attempt an overtake, giving Knight his 3rd win of the series, and forcing Wheeler to the 2nd step of the podium for the 3rd time as well, but tying him with Bennett for the series leading 8th podium.

Further down the field, the series leader worked his way through 2 drivers to finish 8th, which means Knight and Wheeler have taken a big chunk of Bennett's 44-point starting line lead away. The top 3 of the F3 American series is now only separated by a total of 28 points, with the leader only holding a 23-point advantage over 2nd. The long leg of Cleveland could see a changing of the guard, as Wheeler and Knight will be hard to chase off the front early. Bennett will need to put in some strong work to hold his series lead starting from the P8 spot on today.

Some murmurs of fixing rose up from the media pit as members of the media scrambled to find reason behind the turn 2 mistake from Wheeler. He quickly debunked them with a response to an overheard comment. "Guys, there's no fixing here. Why would I want Brandon to beat me? It's taken me weeks just to gain a small advantage on him in the standings. As you'll see in any cockpit footage, I went to downshift and my hand slipped the wheel. I did everything I could to hold my line, but it was just enough of a window for Brandon to drive through. I obviously didn't prepare well enough and lost my concentration for a split second. That's all it takes in these machines. Just ask Drum. He certainly didn't want to fall down the field Friday. Today will be a good race. It's nice to be off the front in Race 2 with Brandon again. Just like the good ol' Rookie Series last year."

Today sets up to be a barn burner between the young guns who filled the stands during the late season S9 Rookie races. Only this time, there's big stakes and a bigger crowd.