F3: Dennis wins again in final Spa race

Jake Dennis took his second win of the weekend in a superb but sometimes wild and woolly Formula 3 European Championship race at Spa.

Dennis started from pole, but lost the advantage at the start to front-row partner Mikkel Jensen. Jensen led the first two laps, before the race went under caution for one lap due to a clash at La Source between Arjun Maini and Raoul Hyman that left Hyman stranded with deranged suspension.

Jensen stayed ahead of the threatening Dennis for one more lap, but then the Racing Steps Foundation-backed Prema Powerteam man attacked into Les Combes. Dennis locked up, but managed to retrieve it so the two ran side by side through the first element, but the Dane then spun into the barriers at the left-hander that follows.

Dennis stayed ahead only briefly, as Tatiana Calderon had gambled on wet-weather rubber on the slippery circuit, and completed a rise from 27th on the grid to grab the lead. The battle ebbed and flowed on the drier and wetter parts of the course before Calderon's tires wilted, and she was eventually forced in for a change to slicks.

By now Dennis had a 1.6-second advantage over championship leader Charles Leclerc, who had picked his way through from ninth on the grid. Dennis extended his lead slightly, but over the last couple of laps the Van Amersfoort Racing man slashed the gap to 0.885s at the flag.

"The last two or three laps I froze a little bit.  I was determined not to make mistakes and he was catching me a little bit," said Dennis. "But I knew he was thinking of the championship and he wouldn't do anything stupid, and anyway he was never quite close enough."

Felix Rosenqvist's battle for third with Markus Pommer featured wheel-banging at Les Combes and prompted irate fist-waving from the Swede. Pommer was awarded a drive-through penalty, but moments later locked up and nerfed Rosenqvist into a spin at La Source, for which the aggressive German was black-flagged from the race.

Antonio Giovinazzi now moved up to third, but he had damaged his front wing when his closing speed on Calderon through Eau Rouge caught him out and there was contact. The Italian was given a black-and-orange flag, dropping him out of the points.

Carlin duo Callum Ilott and George Russell had fought behind, and Ilott's straight-on moment at Les Combes promoted Russell onto the podium after a fine drive from 21st on the grid. The recovering Rosenqvist took fifth, followed at a distance by Brandon Maisano, Alessio Lorandi and Maximilian Gunther.

Despite starting from the back of the grid, and having an early spin after a clash with Sam MacLeod, Alexander Albon claimed ninth, with Pietro Fittipaldi, also starting from the back, completing the points scorers.

Originally on Autosport.com