Arvid Lindblad, Prema Racing
Photo by: Dutch Photo Agency
Red Bull junior Arvid Lindblad moved up to second in the Formula 3 standings with his fourth win of the season at Silverstone in a thrilling feature race.
In mixed conditions that swung between favouring wet and dry-shod runners almost by the lap, the Prema driver reaped the rewards of persevering with slicks he'd fitted at the end of the formation lap.
After disposing of the drivers who had opted for wets, including polesitter Luke Browning, Lindblad had surged up to second before inheriting victory when Callum Voisin (Rodin) was handed a post-race penalty.
A smattering of rain ahead of the start saw all but Voisin and Piotr Wisnicki switch to wet tyres for the formation lap, when a number of drivers including Prema trio Lindblad, Gabriele Mini and Dino Beganovic immediately reverted back to slicks.
Starting in eighth, Voisin assumed the lead after a brief safety car intervention on lap two. But during a further interruption when Sophia Floersch (Van Amersfoort Racing) crashed in avoidance of an out-of-control rejoin from Alex Dunne (MP Motorsport) and heavily delayed Beganovic, the rain returned to flip the picture on its head.
Following the restart, as Beganovic switched back to wets, Voisin, Lindblad and Mini dropped like stones to the rear of the pack as Browning took a commanding lead.
The race was again neutralised swiftly when Dunne and Sebastian Montoya (Campos) crashed heavily after taking avoiding action following a spin for AIX driver Joshua Dufek at Stowe.
With drizzle still falling, an emerging dry line caused the picture to change once again.
Voisin climbed from 22nd to the lead in just two laps, completing the rise with a move on Browning at Chapel, but incurred a 10-second penalty for passing Max Esterson off the track at Village.
Still following Voisin, Lindblad and Mini became the de-facto top two as they both dispatched Browning shortly after.
GB3 champion Voisin led to the line from Lindblad and Mini, but was dropped to third as a result of his penalty.
Mini now takes the championship lead by six points from Lindblad, who is in turn a single point clear of Browning - who tumbled back to eighth as those on dry tyres tore past him.
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Source: Autosport