Hat-Trick in Sepang for Doohan
Jack Doohan has closed the gap in the standings to 15 points at Round 4 of the F3 Asian Championship in Sepang, claiming both pole positions and all three race wins on his way.
Race 10 - Position 1
Doohan made a blinding getaway from pole position on the drying Sepang track, straight away pulling clear of the driver alongside him on the front row and flying away from the rest of the pack.
Doohan, still on wet tyres, broke away and widened the gap from the other drivers, crossing the line with a winning margin of more than two seconds. T
he win was the 17-year old's third of the season and further closed the gap to the Championship leader to 41 points.
"I had a good start so I was able to stay in front, I tried to save the tyre as much as I could when I pulled away from the pack. I had to push on the last two laps thinking about the starting position for the next race but I didn't have any tyre to do anything quicker, but luckily we still hung in there for the win."
Race 11 - Position 1
Starting the second race from P3, Doohan had another great start, immediately moving into P2. Doohan ran side by side race leader and title competitor Joey Alders from turns 1-3 but ran wide on turn 4 and dropped into P3.
The Red Bull Junior's drop in position didn't last long as he took back P2 on the next turn and resumed his hunt for the race lead. Doohan took the lead from Alders on lap 4 and broke away for the race win.
"Winning the second race is just really good points. This race was really just about getting out front and managing the tyres as the degradation was really high and keeping everyone behind me. "
Race 12 - Position 2
Doohan began the final race at Sepang from pole and much like the opening race, had magnificent start and pulled away from the pack right from the green light.
The Australian took another light to flag victory with a 3.7 second lead, claiming a hat-trick of wins at the penultimate round of the Championship.
Doohan's exceptional weekend means he still remains second in the overall standings and has closed the gap to just 15 points behind series leader Joey Alders.
The Championship will come down the wire next weekend across the final round with three races at Chang International Circuit, Thailand, where Doohan will be vying for the 2020 title.
"It was a great weekend, we came here with a job to do to win all three races and be on pole for most of them. We were able to get everything done that we had to do to close the gap in the Championship."
CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS
- 1 - Joey Alders, Blackarts Racing - 215 points
- 2 - Jack Doohan, Pinnacle Motorsport - 200 points
- 3 - Nikita Mazepin, Hitech Grand Prix - 164 points
- 4 - Devlin Defrancesco, Absolute Racing - 101 points
- 5 - Sebastian Fernandez, Pinnacle Motorsport - 96 points