Pull lights up Silverstone with Podium Hatrick
Showing his speed early on, mastering each corner of the historic British track, James qualified just 0.2 seconds shy of pole position. Lining up 3rd on the grid for Race One, the Hertford based racer had eyes firmly on capitalising on his excellent result at Snetterton two weeks ago. With a strong start, James set after challenging for the race win at the home of British motorsport. With Toby Sowery making the most of clean air, it was a fierce battle for the remaining podium positions between James and his Carlin team-mate, Enaam Ahmed. James hounded the back of Ahmed whilst simultaneously holding off the fight from Callan O’Keeffe, in a controlled run to the chequered flag, with only 0.5 seconds separating second and third. With another podium in the bag and boosted by the performance of his Carlin car, the Singapore-born driver turned his focus onto attack for more podiums in the remaining races.
Starting from 6th in the partially reversed grid for Race Two, the Silverstone crowd were treated to a thrilling charge through the field from Pull as he chased down the race win. Launching into 3rd place relentless in his focus, he began to challenge Manuel Maldonado for 2nd, soon finding his way through after a spectacular move into Copse.
Catching the leader and chasing for the win, with Sowery in third almost 5 seconds back, a brake problem meant James had to change his attention from winning to bringing the car home for valuable points. With the threat from Sowery mounting behind, James more than proved his worth in a supreme exhibition of skill, that saw him defend his position until deep into the last lap of the race when Sowery squeezed past with only a few corners to go. Scaling the podium once more, James looked ahead to Race Three and the opportunity to round the weekend off with a hatrick of silverware.
With just an hour in hand, it was all hands on deck as the outstanding Carlin team fixed the braking issue for the final race. Back on top form, James set about rewarding their hard work shooting his fluro-green liveried car into 2nd place after another storming start from 5th on the grid and a superb battle with Ahmed. In a nail-biting, tense combat, the two Carlin teammates sped around the British Grand Prix track never more than a car’s length apart. Enjoying the inter-team skirmish, James used every inch of the track and his racecraft to his advantage, fighting off Ahmed’s attempts at Stowe and Brooklands to cross the line in 2nd place as the chequered flag fell.
Speaking off the back of a triumphant trio of podium appearances:
“It’s been a really positive weekend, it’s been really good for the team and to score plenty of points to take P2 in the championship is great!. I really enjoyed the battles with Enaam in Race One and Race Three, it was proper racing and we fought hard but fair. It was great for all the team. I’m just really looking forward to getting out at Spa now.”
The BRDC F3 Championship next takes a trip to Europe, for a thrilling round of wheel-to-wheel action at Spa on 7th-8th July. Moving into P2 in the championship, James Pull looks to build on his impressive run of consistency and ramp up his challenge for the lead.