Kiern Jewiss suffered two unfortunate results in the third round of the BRDC British Formula 3 Championship at Silverstone before bouncing back in the third and final race of the weekend to take fourth position.

With Kiern heading into the weekend in an optimistic mood after a challenging outing at the last round at Snetterton, a weekend of potential podiums turned into an ultimately frustrating result for the youngster as his weekend was hindered by a number of racing incidents.

Saturday morning’s qualifying session proved a difficult one for the Kent-based driver in very wet weather conditions as the team and Kiern battled with set-up and tyre choice. Ultimately, the FM Conway sponsored driver set his best lap time of 2:18.710s on his final flying lap to record the eighth fastest time of the session. The youngster’s second fastest time was only enough to record a P10 starting position for the weekend’s final race.

With a penalty handed to a starter in front of him, Kiern was promoted to seventh for race one. The Douglas Motorsport driver had a fantastic start from the grid, and made up three places on the opening lap to put him fourth – only 2.9 seconds off the race leader. Kiern worked hard to close the deficit to the podium runners, and by lap eight third position was just over half a second away.

While Kiern was closing the gap to the man in front, Hampus Ericsson behind was planning his assault. Kiern had successfully defended his position a number of times, and entering the final lap Kiern was still in front.

On the final lap of the race, Ericsson tried a move up the inside of Kiern at the loop, and the Swedish driver made contact with Kiern. Subsequently, Kiern suffered damage and crossed the line in tenth after being in contention for a podium was the best he could do.

After the race, Ericsson was handed a penalty for the incident which promoted Kiern to ninth position.

The second instalment of action yielded further bad luck for the 2018 FIA British Formula 4 champion. Starting from ninth, the Morgan Bros-sponsored driver once again made light work of the competitors in front of him and he overtook three cars on the first lap.

On lap two it was Josh Mason’s turn to be overtaken by a charging Kiern. Now in fifth, the race leader was only 3.5 seconds in front.

On the third lap disaster struck Kiern as he was left with a puncture after contact with Kris Wright. Wright had run wide at Copse and then re-entered the track immediately behind Kiern. As a result, Wright made contact with the rear of Kiern’s car, giving him a puncture.

Despite the damage caused, Kiern pitted for new tyres and rejoined the field to finish the race in 16th place.

After two promising displays had yielded two heartbreaking results, it was time Kiern received some good fortune. Thankfully, this came in the final race of the weekend. The 16-year-old started from 10th, and performed incredibly well to finish fourth.

On the opening lap Kiern had climbed two places, and on the third go around he made light work of Sasakorn Chaimongkol.

Kiern’s impressive lap times continued, and he was running in sixth when he crossed the line for the final time at Silverstone. With two of the front-runners being handed penalties, Kiern was promoted to fourth.

After a difficult weekend with situations beyond his control, Kiern fought back to claim a solid haul of points in the final outing.

Speaking after the weekend, he said: “I’m disappointed to be walking away from the weekend without a podium. I know the potential was there for myself and the team to have a really strong weekend. Qualifying didn’t quite go to plan, but the opening of the first race showed that my pace was there and the car set-up was good.

“It was basically the same story in the second race. I was running really well when something beyond my control happened. While I was disheartened, I quickly bounced back to try and get a strong finish in race three. Thankfully, that is what happened! It has been a tough weekend but I know that everything is in place for a positive weekend at Donington in a couple of weeks.”

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