James Winslow rebounded from the possibility of seeing his Australian F3 championship hopes come to a crashing halt with two rounds to go by dominating the penultimate weekend of the season and taking the points lead.
Despite having dominated the previous round at Eastern Creek, the Briton looked set to miss the final two events when his already meagre budget finally ran dry but, having been rescued by a last-minute deal, underlined his title credentials with a fourth win of the season - and his third in as many meetings.
Once again, the reigning Asian Renault V6 champion and 2006 Asian F3 Champion, could have swept the board had it not been for misfortune, but leaves Phillip Island with a one-point lead in the championship and the chance of a third title in as many years.
Finding the budget to compete at the last minute meant that Winslow was unable to take part in the pre-race test, which gave his rivals – who could run all day at the circuit – an early advantage. However, using his natural speed and previous experience at Phillip Island, the Briton leapt to the head of the timesheets in first qualifying, sitting on provisional pole position after just four laps.
Despite holding a three-tenths advantage over the rest of the field, Winslow was denied top spot when a blown engine prevented him from responding to improvements elsewhere and he had to settle for third on the grid. Undaunted, however, the Team BRM pilot showed what could have been by blasting to pole in the second session and setting himself up for a strong weekend.
With the track awash, race one started behind the safety car, denying Winslow the chance to make a trademark getaway but, after three laps at controlled pace, he wasted little time in moving to the front, passing team-mate Nathan Caratti for second place before catching and passing pole sitter Tander to assume the lead.
Although Tander attempted to fight back, enthusiasm eventually led to a spin, allowing Winslow a clear passage to victory and the bonus point for fastest lap in what was the 150th race in Australian F3 history.
The track was still wet when race two rolled around, but the Briton made no mistake at the start and pulled out an early advantage before the safety car made an unwanted appearance. Confident in his machinery, however, Winslow again eased away from the field at the restart and appeared on course for a second victory when, putting a wheel on the wet grass under braking for the Honda hairpin, he lost five places with just two laps remaining.
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Determined to salvage something from the race, Winslow underlined his dominant pace by overtaking no fewer than three of the cars to have passed him while he corrected his mistake, and was right on Tander’s tail as the chequered flag fell. Unsurprisingly, the bonus for fastest lap also went to the Briton as he lapped a full second faster than anyone else.
The combination of a win and second place, along with his bonus points – the highest round score of the season so far - was enough to vault Winslow into the lead of the championship with just the Symmons Plain double-header remaining on the schedule, and he now holds a slim one-point advantage over Tander heading to the Tasmanian showdown.
As has been the case for the previous few rounds, the Briton is far from certain of making the final round, as he again needs to find the backing to keep his seat at Team BRM.
“Making each round at the last minute certainly gets the adrenaline going, but I would rather not have to go through that every time,” Winslow admitted, “I have shown on the track that I am a genuine title contender, even if the luck hasn’t always been with me, and carrying a one-point advantage into the final two races just underlines the potential we have to be champions this season.
“Once again, I have to thank Team BRM for again providing me with great support and awesome car set-up all weekend in very tricky conditions, and without Driving Solutions support once again I wouldn’t of made it to the grid this weekend, a big thank you to everyone who made it possible for me to race – and win – at Phillip Island but, as things stand, I don’t have the money to compete at Symmons Plain. As always, I’m working hard to find it and, once more, I’d appreciate any help I can get. We can’t get this close to the title and see everyone’s efforts go to waste.”
The finale in Tasmania takes place over the weekend of 21 September and anyone interested in helping the potential Australian F3 champion is urged to contact James direct on 0061 450 307860.
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