Douglas Motorsport scored a sensational one-two finish in the British F3 iRacing Championship last night (24th May), with Ulysse De Pauw taking a brilliant victory at home circuit Spa-Francorchamps ahead of team-mate Harrison Scott.
After both drivers suffered double misfortune in the opening rounds at Oulton Park a week prior, they hit back in style at the world-famous Belgian circuit with front-running pace throughout the event against a competitive field.
The Douglas Motorsport duo make a statement of intent during the one-hour free practice session as Scott led De Pauw at the top of the times. In qualifying soon after, third for De Pauw and fifth for Scott put them both in a good position to start race one.
The long, flowing nature of the Spa circuit traditionally produces fantastic slipstreaming racing and that was certainly the case in the opening encounter, with the Kemmel Straight in particular hosting some of the key moments of the race.
Strong starts saw De Pauw and Scott emerge from a frenetic opening corner in second and third respectively, and while Scott briefly got ahead on the first run down Kemmel, by the end of the opening tour his Belgian team-mate had sneaked back ahead.
Scott particularly excelled on that stretch of tarmac though and moves on consecutive laps got him past De Pauw and then the race leader, though on lap four he got a taste of his own medicine as his team-mate slipped past with the key move of the race.
Crucially breaking the tow soon after, De Pauw produced an exemplary drive from there to lead the remainder of the race and take a richly deserved win, while Scott was hot on his heels throughout to make it a top two lockout for the team.
With the whole 25 car grid reversed for the second race, they faced an uphill challenge to enjoy further success and sadly both found themselves caught up in a first lap incident out of their control. After each taking a pitstop, Scott came back to 10th with De Pauw 13th.
Post-race though a number of drivers were disqualified for track limits infringements, which resulted in both Douglas drivers being promoted five places in the final result. That means that following Spa, Douglas Motorsport now sit third in the Teams Championship, while De Pauw and Scott lie fifth and eighth respectively in the Drivers’ standings.
“We’re absolutely over the moon to have picked up a one-two finish in the British F3 iRacing Championship. Both Ulysse and Harrison richly deserve the result after showing great pace throughout the series so far.
“Both drivers wanted to win and they pushed each other hard, showing tremendous respect to each other which is exactly what you want within a team. It’s a brilliant result and we’re determined to enjoy some more success next time out.”
The full broadcast of the British F3 iRacing Championship races at Spa can be watched back on YouTube here: https://youtu.be/u6lqukuZJQE
Photo from Jakob Ebrey Photography
