It was a thrilling battle in the Australian Formula 3 round at Phillip Island. We take a look back at the weekend’s action…

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Jon Collins took both the races at Phillip Island, both after thrilling battles

 Race 1

JON COLLINS has held out Ricky Capo to win the opening race in round two of the Australian Formula 3 Championship after a sensational last-lap battle for the lead.

Collins led the race from pole position and held off Capo in an early battle before a lengthy mid-race Safety Car slowed proceedings.

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Ricky Capo was battling hard in his Mygale but couldn’t overcome Collins

Racing resumed with three laps remaining and Collins again showed strong pace on cold tyres, however Capo quickly closed in and was in a position to attack on the final lap of the race – which he did.

A bold lunge down the inside at turn four was followed by a side-by-side battle through Siberia, Collins holding sway as the pair raced towards Lukey Heights and the passing zone at MG.

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Capo again dove down the inside at the tight right-hander but Collins firmly shut the door, holding onto the race lead. Capo towed up behind the leader on the long run to the finish line however fell just 0.1 seconds short after a Formula 3 thriller.

Luke Spalding completed the top three in his Bestjet.com Gilmour Racing Dallara with Dennie Rumble and Nathan Kumar completing the top five.

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Race 2

JON COLLINS has stormed to his maiden Australian Formula 3 Championship round victory in emphatic fashion, leading lights-to-flag in the 14-lap Phillip Island feature race on Sunday.

Ricky Capo finished second and Luke Spalding third in the trophy race that saw McDonald’s Gilmour Racing driver Collins establish an early lead on the opening lap and build the margin relentlessly from there.

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Capo settled for second and Spalding backed up his strong opening round result with another strong result at Phillip Island, also taking home the Formula 3 National Class in the process.

Earlier, Collins withstood another withering attack from Capo in the morning sprint race, the pair once again duelling for the win in a similar style to the way they went at it during race one on Saturday.

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Collins lead a majority of the race before Capo was able to attack on the penultimate lap, slicing past into the lead with a bold move down the inside at the turn four hairpin.

Collins remained in close company and was able to re-take the lead from Capo on the run into turn one on the final lap of the race.

Spalding again finished third in his bestjet.com Gilmour Racing entry in race two.

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Photos By Sam Tickell, May 2015

Words by PR

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