Jamie Caroline converted pole position into a dominant victory in race one at the Brands Hatch Grand Prix circuit, as Carlin's supersub delivered the goods once more in BRDC British F3.

Caroline had a great first lap and built a big gap of over three seconds in the first half of the race, and headed home championship leader Linus Lundqvist. The Swede gained two positions off the line to claim second and therefore extended his championship lead over Nicolai Kjaergaard who claimed third.

On his local circuit, Billy Monger secured fourth place ahead of Carlin team mate Sun Yue Yang in fifth. Kush Maini claimed sixth for Lanan Racing ahead of Double R Racing's Krishnaraaj Mahadik, with Manuel Maldonado eighth for Fortec Motorsports.

Tom Gamble and Sasakorn Chaimongkol completed the top-10.

Caroline's strong start meant he held a lead of almost two seconds after the first lap, while Lundqvist starting fourth threaded his way through Monger and Kjaergaard on the run to Paddock Hill to hold second place. Lundqvist came under heavy pressure from the Carlin pair in the opening laps, allowing Caroline to build his sizeable lead.

In the second half of the race though, Lundqvist, on older tyres than the Carlin quartet, was still able to demonstrate his pace, setting a number of fastest laps and trimming the lead slightly in the process, with the gap down to around two and a half seconds on the penultimate lap. Kjaergaard was always close behind though, and the Dane ended the race with the fastest lap on the final tour, potentially giving him pole for race three on Sunday afternoon, and finishing just half a second behind the championship leader.

Monger in fourth kept the lead trio honest in the opening exchanges, but faded slightly as the race went on and came under heavy pressure from team mate Sun Yue Yang, with the Chinese driver just 0.374s behind at the chequered flag.

Maini in sixth was nearly six seconds behind at the end of the race, but comfortably clear of Mahadik, who had Maldonado for close company for much of the race, the Venezuelan driver surviving a lurid slide exiting Graham Hill Bend on lap one. Gamble lost a place compared to his grid position to claim ninth on his first visit to the Brands Hatch Grand Prix circuit in a single seater, but finished well clear of Chaimongkol, who had to fend off his team mate Jusuf Owega for the final spot in the top-10, the pair separated by half a second at the end of the race.

The top-three drivers in the race were presented with their trophies on the podium by Formula 2 racer and BRDC Rising Star Arjun Maini.

Ben Hurst, who finished 16th in the contest will start tomorrow morning's race from pole position, while podium finishers Caroline, Lundqvist and Kjaergaard will look to carve their way through from the back of the field.

BRDC British F3 Championship, Brands Hatch Grand Prix, race one result:

1. Jamie Caroline, Carlin, 14 laps

2. Linus Lundqvist, Double R Racing, +2.958s

3. Nicolai Kjaergaard, Carlin, +3.529s

4. Billy Monger, Carlin, +9.473s

5. Sun Yue Yang, Carlin, +9.847s

6. Kush Maini, Lanan Racing, +15.744s

7. Krishnaraaj Mahadik, Double R Racing, +16.845s

8. Manuel Maldonado, Fortec Motorsports, +17.529s

9. Tom Gamble, Fortec Motorsports, +20.450s

10. Sasakorn Chaimongkol, Hillspeed, +28.277s

11. Jusuf Owega, Hillspeed, +28.815s

12. Jamie Chadwick, Douglas Motorsport, +36.635s

13. Pavan Ravishankar, Double R Racing, +36.772s

14. Arvin Esmaeili, Douglas Motorsport, +40.793s

15. Josh Mason, Lanan Racing, +49.469s

16. Ben Hurst, Hillspeed, +55.740s