Joey Alders extends F3 Asia lead after Jamie Chadwick penalised for false start

Joey Alders has taken Race 8 of the 2020 F3 Asian Championship after Jamie Chadwick, who crossed the line first, received a post-race penalty which demoted her to P8. Ukyo Sasahara was second, with Devlin DeFrancesco in third.

2019 W Series Champion Jamie Chadwick started on pole at Yas Marina, but was quickly under pressure from Australian Jack Doohan, who emerged from Turn 1 with the early lead of the race.

Doohan was ordered to give the place back, as he had left the track to complete the move, but before he could allow Chadwick to pass, a collision between Tatiana Calderón and Australian Tommy Smith saw the race neutralised behind the safety car. Calderón received a five-place penalty for her efforts, to be served in Race 9 later that afternoon.

Doohan used the safety car break to hand the lead back to Chadwick without relinquishing any ground to the chasing pack. Behind him, Ukyo Sasahara held third ahead of series leader Joey Alders.

The order stayed constant after the restart, with Alders passing Sasahara on Lap 7. Two laps later Doohan was forced to retire with a technical issue, promoting the Dutchman to second.

With Doohan out, Jamie Chadwick now held a comfortable gap, taking the chequered flag by more than four seconds. Alders finished second, with Sasahara completing the podium.

Chadwick was judged to have made a false start, gifting Alders the race victory. Sasahara was promoted to second with Devlin DeFrancesco taking third.

With Sasahara as a guest driver, and ineligible for points, DeFrancesco and all drivers who finished lower were rewarded with the championship points of one position higher.

Alders said “the start was OK – not bad, not good – I just kept third place.”

“And then Sasahara came by before the safety car and then I took him back. From there, it was just managing the pace. I saw Jack had a problem. It’s a shame unfortunately. It’s extended my gap in the championship but it’s not the way you want to win. I saw in the end Sasahara behind. In the beginning he was a little bit faster, but he’s not competing for the points so I didn’t try much defending, just focussed on the exits. In the end I had a better pace.”

Both Australian drivers failed to finish the race.