Rinus Veekay crowned Asian F3 Winter Series champion after thriller

Rinus Veekay Asian F3 Winter Series Hitech GP

Rinus Veekay won the Asian F3 Winter Series title after a thrilling last race with more than one twist that saw Eshan Pieris take his first win.

Veekay’s main title rival Yifei Ye was on a hot streak coming in to the final race as the Chinese driver won the first and second race this weekend in a dominating fashion. He reduced the gap to the Dutch leader to only twelve points and would start the final race in Sepang from pole position.

Asian F3 Winter Series Round 9 Start

First corner drama

Jack Doohan started right beside Ye and overtook the Absolute Racing driver directly after the start. Veekay was on the outside of Yifei Ye in the first corner and the two slightly touched dropping them both down the order; Ye to third and the Dutch Hitech GP driver was left down in seventh.

Crash

Ye quickly overtook Eshan Pieris for second and hounded one off driver jack Doohan lap after lap. Rinus Veekay meanwhile fought his way up to fifth as in the closing stages, the race took a dramatic turn. In an attempt to overtake Doohan, Ye and the Australian touched and both had to retire. That effectively meant Veekay was champion.

Asian F3 Winter Series Round 9 Podium

Celebration

Eventually Pieris won the final race and in the process being the first Sri Lankan to ever win an Formula 3 race. Veekay made it to the podium in third and was thus able to celebrate his well deserved title in fashion. The Dutchman who will compete in Indy Lights this season, had another reason to celebrate: his team won the Team’s Championship.

Asian Winter Series
Results – Race 9

Pos # Name Nat Team Time
1 15 Eshan PIERIS LKA Absolute Racing 30:51.871
2 11 Victor MARTINS FRA Pinnacle Motorsport +2.095
3 21 Rinus VEEKAY NLD Hitech Grand Prix +3.123
4 1 Alessandro GHIRETTI FRA Hitech Grand Prix +4.926
5 2 Pavan RAVISHANKAR GBR Hitech Grand Prix +13.530
6 81 Tomoki TAKAHASHI JPN Super License +15.862
7 29 Akash NANDY MAL Pinnacle Motorsport +17.086
8 38 Charles LEONG MAC BlackArts Racing +29.435
9 23 Joey ALDERS NLD BlackArts Racing +29.974
10 7 Vivien KESZTHELYI HUN BlackArts Racing +35.629
11 85 Miki KOYAMA JPN B-Max Racing Team +36.326
12 13 Motoyoshi YOSHIDA (M) JPN B-Max Racing Team +1:17.422
13 16 YE Yifei CHN Absolute Racing 11 Laps
14 17 Jack DOOHAN AUS Hitech Grand Prix 0.003
DNF 31 Christian LUNDGAARD DEN Pinnacle Motorsport
DNF 28 Tairoku YAMAGUCHI (M) JPN B-Max Racing Team

Fastest lap : Ye Yifei/Absolute Racing/2:02.037/Lap 5

Asian Winter Series Final Driver Classification

Pos # Name Nat Team Points
1 21 Rinus VEEKAY NLD Hitech Grand Prix 184
2 16 YE Yifei CHN Absolute Racing 155
3 1 Alessandro GHIRETTI FRA Hitech Grand Prix 106
4 81 Tomoki TAKAHASHI JPN Super License 80
5 2 Pavan RAVISHANKAR GBR Hitech Grand Prix 73
6 15 Eshan PIERIS LKA Absolute Racing 67
7 29 Akash NANDY MAL Pinnacle Motorsport 62
8 65 David SCHUMACHER GER Pinnacle Racing 43
9 27 Dan TICKTUM GBR Hitech Grand Prix 38
10 88 Amaury CORDEEL BEL Pinnacle Motorsport 22
11 17 Max FEWTRELL GBR Hitech Grand Prix 20
12 38 Charles LEONG MAC BlackArts Racing 20
13 7 Vivien KESZTHELYI HUN BlackArts Racing 13
14 13 Motoyoshi YOSHIDA JPN B-Max Racing Team 11
15 28 Tairoku YAMAGUCHI (M) JPN B-Max Racing Team 7


Asian Winter Series Final Team Classification

Pos Team Nat Points
1 Hitech Grand Prix GBR 316
2 Absolute Racing CHN 222
3 Pinnacle Motorsport IRL 113
4 Super License JPN 44
5 BlackArts Racing HKG 29
6 B-Max Racing Team JPN 18
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