Luke vows to bounce back from difficult home outing

Luke Browning was left to wonder what might have been after his home round of the FIA Formula 3 Championship season ended in disappointing fashion at Silverstone.

The Autosport BRDC Young Driver of Year went into the weekend with his sights set on pushing for silverware and things looked good in free practice as he topped the times in his Hitech Pulse-Eight car.

A tricky qualifying session saw Luke set the eighth-best time and the mixed conditions continued in the first race, with Luke pushing for a place on the podium in the early stages of the reverse grid encounter.

Mid-race rain led to Luke being one of a number of drivers to pit for wet tyres but when the rain then stopped and conditions on track started to improve, the Williams junior driver found himself shuffled down outside the top ten.

Despite that, Luke remained confident going into the main race in front of a bumper home crowd but contact at the end of the opening lap left him with broken suspension and out of action on the spot.

“It’s always a pleasure to race in front of the BRDC and in front of the British support, but this one hurt,” he said. “However, we’ll keep smiling, take it on the chin and take the lessons from this weekend into Hungary.”