Epping’s Ayrton Simmons finished off his 2019 British Formula 3 campaign at Silverstone with an impressive first ever F3 win for both him and his team, Chris Dittmann Racing.

The weekend had begun following a challenging round two race weekend at Snetterton which saw Simmons smash the circuit record.

He then gathered some good points but a poor qualifying session meant that no podiums were gained, however a fastest lap proved his pace.

Simmons then arrived to an extremely wet Silverstone and set the fastest lap time prior to qualifying.

After qualifying for race one in second place, Simmons soon dropped to third place behind the experienced American Neil Verhagen.

There was then an incredibly fierce battle between the two drivers where their precision driving going wheel to wheel meant that no contact was made.

Just before the midway point Simmons went around the outside of Silverstone’s famous Stowe corner and overtook Verhagen but was then penalised with a post-race four second penalty, which saw him relegated back to third.

Race two (reversed grid) saw Simmons start second from last in 17th position. He made the very best of this situation, slicing through the field to complete the race with 12 places gained and into fifth.

Simmons started race three in third with Verhagen on pole, while French-Swiss driver Novalak was just in front in second and British driver Hoggard just behind in fourth.

A good start and first part of the race saw the top four easily pull away from the rest of the field.

Just after the midway point, Verhagen and Novalak received warning flags for abuse of track limits and, on lap six, the leader Verhagen was given a five second penalty which was followed two laps later by Novalak receiving the same penalty.

This now meant that although Ayrton was in third position on the track, he was actually leading the race.

Simmons received the signal on his pit board that he was leading and controlled his pace until the chequered flag to take his first ever victory in BRDC Formula 3, again with the fastest lap of the race.

An emotional podium showed what the victory had meant to him and all the Chris Dittmann Racing team.

Simmons remains third in the championship.