Ukyo Sasahara takes dominant opening victory in Shanghai

Japans Ukyo Sasahara has strengthened his championship lead with a sixth season victory in the F3 Asian Championship opener in Shanghai.

Sasahara led lights-to-flag, unchallenged by the field behind, while Daniel Cao was challenged by Australian Jack Doohan in the early stages of the race.

Doohan struggled to keep up with Cao and quickly feel into the clutches of New Zealander Brendon Leitch, who dispatched Doohan on the long back straight of the Chinese circuit.

The battle between the two antipodean drivers gave Cao breathing space and the room to close the gap to Sasahara, but the Japanese driver’s lead was never challenged.

Sasahara said “My thanks to the team. We were going flat out, but obviously the tires degraded a lot more than I expected. I knew that Cao was much quicker than me, but in the end I managed to get the win so I’m happy. This win is for [F2 driver] Anthoine [Hubert] and his family. Also, I wish a speedy recovery for [fellow F2 driver] Juan Manuel [Correa] as he’s now in the hospital.”

Further back, Australian Jackson walls battled closely with Irish driver Jordan Dempsey, but Dempsey was able to hold firm and keep his fifth-placed finish.

Australian Tommy Smith finished P9.