The team headed to Snetterton in Norfolk last weekend for the fourth round in the 2007 championship.  Snetterton is one of the circuits that F3 drivers are most familiar with, as it’s a regular test venue, so we were feeling pretty confident ahead of the weekend.   

Qualifying for race one was a little frustrating, we didn’t manage to put together a great lap, despite being quick in all sectors.  I caught traffic on my fastest lap and didn’t seem able to get the most out of the car.  I lined up seventh for race one, and unfortunately lost a place on the first lap.  By the end of the race, I’d made up one place and finished seventh. 

Qualifying for race two went a little better; I set the fifth fastest time.  However, that session wasn’t without its dramas, after three laps on new tyres I suffered a puncture on the rear left tyre which had to be replaced with an older tyre.  I felt like I had got the most I could out of the car, and the replaced tyre probably had something to do with that.

I had a great start away from the line in race two, and passed Mustonen to take fourth place.  I had good pace during the race and was able to close in on my team mate Sam Bird in third place.  However, I was suffering from handling difficulties in the dirty air behind Sam’s car and couldn’t get quite close enough to make a clean move to pass him.  I also had to be aware of Stephen Jelley who was quite keen to get past me! 

I held onto my position to cross the line fourth in race two, and take away ten points.  It’s not quite what I was hoping for, it would have been nice to have finished in the top three, but it’s good to get some solid points for the championship.  Most importantly we’re heading in the right direction, having made several improvements since Bucharest. 

It was a great result for the team to get a 1-2-3 finish in race one, and obviously I’m very pleased for my team mates.  Hopefully I’ll be joining them on the podium again soon.  It’s encouraging to see Carlin at the top of the standings as the cars are obviously performing well. 

We have a three week break between races now, before heading to Monza for the next two races on 24 June.  Monza is a fantastic circuit with a lot of history, so I’m really looking forward to racing there.