Kiern Jewiss celebrated a fantastic end to his maiden BRDC British Formula 3 season with two front-row starts, followed by two second-place finishes at Donington Park – as well as a fifth-place finish from 14th in the reverse grid race.

Kiern Jewiss headed to Donington Park GP Circuit for the second time in 2019 as he looked to continue the fine form that had seen him collect five podiums from the seven previous races.

With two days practice to get up to speed, Kiern showed his intent as he topped the timesheets in the final session of the day to finish Thursday’s action second in the combined classification, with his best time just 0.007-seconds off fastest man Ayrton Simmons.

Kiern continued this trend into Friday when he was against second quickest through the days running, this time falling just 0.074-seconds short of Johnathan Hoggard.

With the stage set for a thrilling weekend, Kiern got to work in the 20-minute timed session. As times tumbled, it was in the very closing stages that Kiern set his best time of 1:24.783s to put him second fastest on the timing screens.

One lap later, Kiern went almost a tenth quicker to record his fastest lap time and meant that he would start from the front row of the grid in races one and three with Hoggard for company.

“I’m glad to get it on the front row, we can race from there,” Kiern said. “I was worried about the guys in fourth to eighth as it’s very close and it’s very easy to be in that group and it makes the racing very hard. So very happy to be on the front row for both races, as it will hopefully keep us out of the danger zone a little bit.”

The first of the three races at Donington saw Kiern start from second position. Away from the line, the BRDC SuperStar had a clean start to the race and maintained his position as the field raced towards the first corner.

After the first few laps, it was clear to see Kiern and Hoggard were in a class of their own as they pulled away from the rest of the pack. Despite following in the dirty air, Kiern was able to match Hoggard’s lap times as the pair traded fastest sectors and fastest laps.

Pushing hard to find a way through, Kiern made a slight mistake at the final chicane and ran over the sausage kerbs, losing time and dropping to 1.5-seconds behind Hoggard.

However, Kiern fought back in the late stages of the race, but still couldn’t find a way past and crossed the finishing line just 0.607-seconds behind as the chequered flag waved – with third place more than four seconds behind Kiern.

“Hoggard was very quick and we were matching each other’s times in the first half of the race,” Kiern said. “I made a little mistake through the chicane and that’s why the gap stretched out a bit but I managed to come back at him. I was pushing hard enough to try and get some pressure back and try and force him into a mistake, but he drove a perfect race. But I’m happy with some big points.”

With an excellent first race in the bag, Kiern started Sunday’s first race from 14th position in the reverse grid round – just one place from the back of the field.

Kiern had a fantastic start and was able to capitalise on the drama that unfolded in front of him as he kept his nose clear and made up six places on the opening lap. On lap two, he further improved and went from ninth to eighth as he passed Manuel Maldonado.

Next in front of Kiern was Hampus Ericsson and the Morgan Bros-sponsored driver set about closing the gap to the man in front. On lap three the deficit was 0.8 seconds and this had reduced to 0.4 on the following lap but Kiern chose not to fight as the pair caught up to the front runners.

Unable to pass Ericsson, Kiern crossed the line in seventh position but due to post-race penalties being handed out to two of his competitors, Kiern was promoted to fifth place.

“I am very happy with my performance in this race,” Kiern said. “It was scrappy at the start and the guys in front were all over the place so I just had to keep out of any trouble and picked them off when I could. I knew a couple drivers ahead had penalties, so it wasn’t worth risking good points at the end of the race and just sat behind Ericsson.”

For the final British F3 race of the year, Kiern lined up in second position on the front row. With the championship title now mathematically out of reach, Kiern was still in contention to finish third in the standings if he finished second or higher and Ayrton Simmons had failed to finish.

Away from the line, Kiern maintained his second place as Hoggard in front held the lead from pole position. Kiern knew the move on Hoggard would have to be made swiftly to avoid harming his tyres. Kiern put his head down and closed the gap to just 0.2 seconds at the end of lap three.

Edging ever closer, the FM Conway-sponsored driver made an overtake attempt at Goddards. Unfortunately, Hoggard fended him off and Kiern remained in second place. Continuing to push, Kiern set the fastest lap of the race as he continued to apply the pressure.

For the final time of the season, Kiern crossed the line in his Douglas Motorsport Formula 3 machinery. Less than a second behind Hoggard, Kiern earnt another very respectable second place to mark his ninth podium finish of the year.

“The second half of the year has been very, very strong and I’m happy,” Kiern said. “We certainly struggled in the first half, with pace but also with luck, I didn’t have much luck and it cost us a lot of points. To come back now on the podium nearly always in race one and three, it shows how much we’ve developed with the car as well. So I’m very happy and hopefully people can see how much we’ve come on throughout the year.

“I think I had my nose in front for about a hundred metres but I was on the outside so I couldn’t really hold it. But I gave it a good go while I had the chance but I enjoyed the race. Finishing on the podium is all I could have done in the race so I’m happy.

“A huge thank you has to go out to FM Conway and Morgan Bros for their support this season in helping me get out on track. Also to my family, MB Partners, the BRDC and Douglas Motorsport who have fought my corner all year and helped me massively across the season. Without any of their support, none of this would be possible.”

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