Jewiss claims first British F3 victory
17-year-old Kiern Jewiss recorded his most successful BRDC British Formula 3 weekend to date, as he claimed his first victory in the series, along with an additional second-place podium at his home track, Brands Hatch.
Kiern had a weekend to remember at Brands Hatch as the BRDC SuperStar claimed the most amount of points out of anyone in the British F3 field at Brands Hatch en-route to lifting the winner's trophy for the first time this season.
With family, friends and sponsors, FM Conway, in attendance at his local race, Kiern impressed immediately by setting the second-fastest time in the morning's practice and laying a strong foundation to build on in the weekend's qualifying.
Kicking off qualifying, Kiern sat in the middle of the pack before the session was red-flagged due a competitor falling off the circuit. However, once the green light was given, Kiern set to work on delivering rapid lap times. On lap eight he set his best effort – a 1:20.975s, which secured him a slot on the front row of the grid in P2 for the opening race of the weekend and his second fastest time rewarded him the same spot for race three.
Race One
On Saturday afternoon, the stage was set for Kiern to have a shot at the podium. Getting off the line strongly, the Morgan Bros-sponsored driver maintained his second place as the field finished the first lap.
As the race progressed, he was put under pressure by Clement Novalak who was eyeing up Kiern's second place. Unperturbed by this, Kiern put his head down and set about building a gap to his competitor.
By the final laps of the race, Kiern had opened a comfortable margin to Novalak and was now able to pile the pressure onto Hoggard. With one lap to go, Kiern was less than one second behind the race leader but not close enough to attempt an overtake.
In the end it came down to the wire, with Kiern crossing the line just 0.626 seconds behind Jonathan Hoggard to collect second place and more silverware.
Race Two
With a sterling effort from Kiern in the first outing, the second instalment of action was set to be more challenging for the youngster as he started from P15 in the reverse grid race. Despite the tough circumstances and limited overtaking opportunities, Kiern pushed race-long to come home without incident after an occurrence at the start forced two of the front-runners to retire and a penalty was handed to a competitor which promoted Kiern from 12th to 11th to claim another nine championship points.
Race Three
When the time came for race three, Kiern knew if he was to come away with the victory he would need to pass Hoggard at the start of the race.
As the lights went out, Kiern made a phenomenal start off the line and swept around the outside of Hoggard at Paddock Hill Bend to take the lead into the first corner and had opened out a 0.469s gap as they crossed the line to complete the first lap.
Kiern continued to push hard, and drove phenomenally well against a charging Hoggard. With Hoggard not easing off, Kiern demonstrated a prime example of what to do when under pressure, as he defended his position.
With his supporters watching on with absolute delight, Kiern held his nerve and crossed the line in first, to mark his maiden win in the highly-competitive BRDC Formula 3 Championship.
Testament to his sensational performances across the weekend, Kiern picked up an incredible 73 points to make him the top-scoring driver at Brands Hatch and moved himself up to fourth in the driver's championship standings.
"FINALLY!" Kiern said after the weekend. "It feels absolutely amazing to have taken my first F3 win. It has been a challenging season but I am so ecstatic with this result for myself and the team, this win is deserved for all the hard work the team have been putting in. There was plenty of pressure from Jonathon (Hoggard), so I just kept my head down and cracked on with it to get the job done…and what a feeling it was!
"The weekend as a whole was exceptional and I am delighted to have had two trips to the podium. A big thank you has to go to all of the team and to my supporters for all of their support. To win my first race in front of the FM Conway team made it all the more special."
Kiern's penultimate round of the 2019 BRDC F3 season will take place at Silverstone on the weekend of 17-18 August.