Harvey pays the penalty after weekend to forget
A Silverstone horror show has left Jack Harvey with a mountain to climb.
The Bassingham-based racing driver will go into the final round of the Cooper Tires British Formula 3 Championships at Donington 21 points behind new leader and Carlin Racing team-mate Jazeman Jaafar.
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Punished: Jack Harvey was hit with two 30-second penalties at Silverstone as his British Formula 3 title hopes suffered a potentially fatal blow
It could have been a very different story for the 19-year-old, who went into the last round at Silverstone with a narrow lead in the title race.
Although the former Lincoln Minster pupil drove to two podium finishes on the track, a number of penalties imposed by stewards relegated Harvey, so the record books will show two eighth places and a tenth.
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Harvey's team is considering an official appeal against the penalties, but if no points are reinstated, it will take a minor miracle for Harvey to win the title.
"I think Donington will be the most aggressive race meeting of the season for me," said Harvey.
"I know it's a cliche, but it will be a case of pedal to the metal. I will probably be going for it in a bigger way than I would have if everything had gone normally at Silverstone. I don't have anything to lose."
Harvey, who qualified for race one at Silverstone in third position, was adjudged to have made a jump start.
Although he finished the race in third place, his 30-second penalty relegated the Racing Steps Foundation-backed driver to eighth.
In race two, Harvey's car was involved in a collision with the car of Pipo Derani and, although finishing the race in second place, another 30-second penalty demoted him to tenth.
Stewards also gave Harvey a five-place grid penalty for the third and final race, which he finished in eighth place.
"It was extremely frustrating, because I had the pace all weekend," added Harvey.
"I felt the penalties were harsh from the stewards, and I believe my team is appealing against them.
"I have only had about three penalties in my whole career and then I go and get all those in one meeting.
"If I don't have my points reinstated, it makes the final round at Donington very tough. I will have to have a perfect weekend.
"Nothing less than two wins and a podium will do and, of course, my main rivals Jaafar and Felix Serralles would have to not score many points.
"I felt I was hard done by. Technically, I didn't actually jump start, because I didn't go out of my box. It's not even as if they were light penalties, they were really stiff."
The final round of the championship is at Donington Park on September 29/30.
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