BRDC F3: How can the Title be Won?

With this weekend marking the #DoningtonDecider for the BRDC British F3 Championship, Motorsport Radio takes you through the results each driver needs to clinch the title.

Coming into the weekend, Clement Novalak leads the charge on 463 points, having collected 2 wins this year. His nearest rival Johnathan Hoggard is 52 behind on 411 points, while F4-vice champion Ayrton Simmons is 61 behind Novalak on 402 points.

The field has been to Donington Park once before this season, where Novalak picked up three 4th places, the only time this season he’s left a weekend without silverware. Meanwhile Hoggard secured two victories, though only closed in 8 points after a crash in the second race with Simmons. BRDC F3’s unusual points system, which includes 35 points for a win in Races 1 and 3 and bonus points available for overtakes in race two will mean that lots of care will need to be taken this weekend.

BRDC British F3 Points System

[table id=30 /]
*Bonus point awarded for each position gained from your starting position in Race Two only

How Can Novalak win the Title?

The Carlin driver has less victories than his rivals this season, but his key to success has been consistency, finishing inside the top ten in every race this year. He only has two wins to Hoggard’s five, but has gained at least five places at every reverse grid race this season. In total this means he’s gained 48 points from overtaking in race two’s, to Hoggard and Simmons’ 29 and 27 respectively.

With 105 points available, Novalak needs to watch the long game, instead looking for points goals. Retirements will be dire for the Swiss-born Brit with points for every finishing position.

“It would obviously be an amazing feeling managing to win a championship in which you’ve put a lot of hard work to perform in, in the first place. But with another three races to go, we’ve just got to focus on doing the job.” – Clement Novalak

Novalak’s Current Points Gap – 52 points to Hoggard / 61 points to Simmons
After Race 1, he needs – 71pts gap

For Novalak to win the Title after Race 1, see table

[table id=29 /]

After Race 2, Novalak needs a 36pts gap

The inclusion of overtaking Bonus points, coupled with the fact a win is only worth 20 points in this race will make the calculations more difficult and also relies upon the result of race one, but it’s fair to say that if neither Hoggard or Simmons reduce the gap by at least 20 points after the first two events, their chances of being in contention for race three are very narrow.

How can Hoggard or Simmons win the title?

For both of these drivers the equations are harder to predict. Though on average, Hoggard will need to close the gap by 17.3pts a race, with Simmons needing 20.3pts extra a race.

Hoggard’s best weekend came at Brands Hatch in August. If he can repeat his feat of 72 points and Novalak repeats his worst weekend (last round at Silverstone), Hoggard will only close the gap by 15 points. Nowhere near the 52 he needs.

For both the Fortec Motorsport’s and Chris Dittmann Racing drivers, a retirement for Novalak in either the first or third races is virtually essential for their title challenges. A retirement for the championship leader in race one, would also force Novalak to start at the back in a reverse grid race two, alleviating any advantage he’d recieve from just a poor result in the opening race.

It looks likely that Novalak will take the crown after the second race, providing he stays out of trouble. However, dramatic results can happen in BRDC F3, as proven in 2016 when Matheus Leist came from behind to beat long-time points leader Ricky Collard in the final round.

“My mindset going into Donington is just the same as any other race weekend. There is a reasonably big gap to Clement, however I won’t be giving up until the chequered flag falls on race three. The points scenario is what it is, so I will just have to do my best.” – Johnathan Hoggard

Can anyone else win it?

BRDC F3’s generous points system means that Kiern Jewiss is also within contention, sitting 103 points behind Clement Novalak. His chances are extremely slim though and would require him to win all three races, with Novalak not scoring more than 1 point.

Instead, Jewiss will be far more invested with challenging for the runners-up spot. Sitting on 360 points, he is 42 points behind Simmons and 51 behind Hoggard. He has not finished outside the top two in the feature races for the last two rounds and has been one of series stars of the second half. With Hoggard, Simmons and Jewiss all in line for the Aston Martin BRDC Award, a strong conclusion will be vital for their continuation.

Finally, it’s worth a note that coming into the final round, only one driver (Kris Wright) has yet to step on a podium this year, with all but four (Wright, Ravishankar, De Pauw and Verhagen) yet to record a race win.

The series has already broken its record for most winners in a season, but with De Pauw sitting fifth in the standings, Verhagen collecting five podium this year and Ravishankar’s best result coming here at Donington three months ago, British F3 could yet add to its 13 winners.

Qualifying takes place at 11:15 British time on Saturday.