British F3: Krishnaraaj Mahadik claims double Top 5 finishes at Snetterton

Krishnaraaj Mahadik continued his development season in 2017 as he took part in the BRDC British Formula 3 championship’s Snetterton round.

Following on from his maiden British F3 win in the last round, Mahadik started the penultimate weekend of the season finishing sixth, third, ninth and 11th in the four test sessions on Friday.

The Double R Racing driver looked solid with his lap times, and continued the momentum in Saturday’s damp qualifying, where he finished an impressive third.

The Indian was a mere 0.407s behind the pole-sitter Carlin’s Enaam Ahmed, with Lanan Racing’s Toby Sowery slotting in at second for the first race of the weekend.

“It was a great session for us and a very intense qualifying. It's a good way to start for the first race,” said the Kolhapur-born driver.

“Third place is a great place to start from and getting a good start will be really important because Enaam and Toby ahead of me have really good pace and so a good start is top of my list.

“It was a very tricky session because there were so many wet patches on the track even towards the end, but then the track was still getting quicker and quicker because the racing line was almost dry and we were all finding lots of time on each lap.

“It wasn't a good start for me in the session but I put my fastest lap in four minutes from the end of the session which was a good way to end and I was pleased to find the limits on the track and do the best I felt I could do and it's put me third which I'm happy with and I hope I can do as well in the race.”

Race 1

It was not the best of starts for Mahadik in Race 1 on Saturday afternoon, after he lost couple of places to Carlin’s James Pull and Fortec’s Ben Hingeley in the opening lap.

Despite the gap pulled in by the leaders, the Indian stuck on the rear of Pull and Hingeley to sneak through at the given opportunity - while he was being chased by Carlin’s Cameron Das.

Eventually, the win went to Ahmed by just 0.942s from Sowery, with Pull a distant third – who broke away from the battling duo, Hingeley and Mahadik.

It was close in the end, but Hingeley managed to keep his nose ahead to take fourth place by a mere 0.296s from Mahadik, who showed sound composure after a troubled start to the 10-lap race.

Race 2

It was a steady start for Mahadik in Race 2 on Sunday morning, with the Indian keeping his fourth position intact from rivals around.

But the Double R Racing driver soon came under tremendous pressure from Sowery, and eventually lost the place to the British driver on the second lap.

He was then being chased by Ahmed, but managed to fend off the British driver for a handful of laps, before having to give up on Lap 7.

It was then keeping teammate Jamie Chadwick behind to finish sixth, as Douglas Motorsport's Jordan Cane took the win after overtaking pole-sitter Guilherme Samaia on Lap 2.

Behind, Hingeley completed the podium positions in the 10-lap race, after the British driver had a rocketing start to third from fifth on the grid.

Race 3

The final race of the weekend had Mahadik starting from seventh on the grid, with Ahmed on pole from Sowery and Cane.

The Indian made a super start to move up to fifth in the order, while upfront it was Ahmed leading the way from Sowery and Cane.

Despite the strong start, Mahadik wasn't able to catch fourth placed Douglas Motorsport's Steve O'Keefe, but instead had Hillspeed's Chase Owen on his rear.

The Kolhapur-born driver had to defend hard from Owen to keep him at bay, to claim a fifth place finish - with the American only 0.347s behind over the line.

A win for Ahmed sealed the 2017 title in his name, with a round still to spare, as Sowery and Cane rounded off the Top 3 positions.

After seven rounds, Ahmed has 575 points in his kitty, while Mahadik pops up in 17th place with 104 points - already beating his points haul of 103 from 2016, where he did a full season with Chris Dittmann Racing.

[Image courtesy: BRDC British F3] #BF3 #BritishF3 #BRDC #Snetterton #Motorsport #smalltribesrule