British Formula 3 Championship 2002 preview. Story by Andrew Frampton.
The top national level single seater championship in the country, the British Formula 3 Championship, will be hoping to live up to its success of last season, and the entry list of drivers for the first round at Brands Hatch on the weekend of March 30th - April 1st looks very promising.
Last year saw domination by the Carlin Motorsport pairing of Takuma Sato and Anthony Davidson. Champion Sato has now moved to the Jordan Formula One team, while Davidson is testing for BAR. In an attempt to retain their title, Carlin have signed possibly the three most promising drivers in the field, in James Courtney, Alan van der Merve and Michael Keohane. Courtney was one of the stars of last year's season, and comes to Carlin after the Jaguar Racing Team had pulled the plug on their F3 campaign. Van der Merve arrives with two seasons of Formula Ford racing under his belt, including victory in last year's Formula Ford Festival. Keohane performed well in the Scholarship championship last season, and can't be ruled out for further success in the main class.
His two main rivals from last year, Matt Gilmore, and class victor Robbie Kerr, also step up to the championship class, with Team Avanti and Alan Docking Racing respectively. Also expected to go well are the Promatecme cars of Ernani Judice and Bruce Jouanny who return to the championship, Judice moving up from the Scholarship class. Fortec Motorsport have signed the highly rated Finn Heikki Kovaleinen for the 2002 campaign after taking fourth in the Formula Renault championship last season. Another Formula Renault graduate - the 2001 champion Carl Breeze - lines up with Motaworld Racing, the team who guided him to his success last year. Tom Sisley drives the second car, and like Duma Racing, who are running Robert Dahlgren, the team are using the new Swindon-Ford engine, instead of the proven Opel or Honda powerplants. Manor Motorsport has a background of success in the lower formulae, and will be hoping to take the fight to the Carlin and Alan Docking Racing Teams, with three top drivers. Ronnie Bremer and American Richard Antinucci join one of the championship favourites, Mark Taylor, in a three-pronged attack.
Rivalry in the Scholarship class should be just as intense, with Adam Carroll, Jesper Carlsen and Clivio Piccione expected to lead the way.
Championship Class Entry List as of 28th March 2002:
1 James Courtney AUS Carlin Motorsport Dallara F302 Mugen-Honda
2 Alan van der Merve ZA Carlin Motorsport Dallara F302 Mugen-Honda
3 Mark Taylor GBR Manor Motorsport Dallara F302 Mugen-Honda
4 Richard Antinucci USA Manor Motorsport Dallara F302 Mugen-Honda
5 Fabio Carbone BRA Fortec Motorsport Dallara F302 Renault Sodémo
6 Heikki Kovalainen FIN Fortec Motorsport Dallara F302 Renault Sodémo
7 Robbie Kerr GBR Alan Docking Racing Dallara F302 Mugen-Honda
8 Mark Mayall GBR Alan Docking Racing Dallara F302 Mugen-Honda
9 Stefano Fabi ITA Team Avanti Dallara F302 Mugen-Honda
10 Matthew Gilmore GBR Team Avanti Dallara F302 Mugen-Honda
11 Bruce Jouanny FRA Promatecme UK Dallara F302 Mugen-Honda
12 Ernani Judice BRA Promatecme UK Dallara F302 Mugen-Honda
13 Tor Graves THA Alan Docking Racing Dallara F302 Mugen-Honda
14 Robert Dahlgren SWE Duma Racing Dallara F302 Swindon-Ford
15 TBN Duma Racing Dallara F302 Swindon-Ford
16 Rob Austin GBR Menu F3 Motorsport Dallara F302 Opel Spiess
17 Giandomenico Brusatin ITA Menu F3 Motorsport Dallara F302 Opel Spiess
18 Carl Breeze GBR Motaworld Racing Dallara F302 Swindon-Ford
19 Tom Sisley GBR Motaworld Racing Dallara F302 Swindon-Ford
20 Jesper Carlsen DEN Essencial Motorsport Dallara F302 Swindon-Ford
21 Michael Keohane IRL Carlin Motorsport Dallara F302 Mugen-Honda
22 Shinya Hosokawa JPN Carlin Motorsport Dallara F302 Mugen-Honda
23 Ronnie Bremer DEN Manor Motorsport Dallara F302 Mugen-Honda
24 TBN Valiant Motorsport Dallara F302 Mugen-Honda
25 TBN Valiant Motorsport Dallara F302 Mugen-Honda
Scholarship Class Entry List as of 28th March 2002
51 Mohammed Fairuz MAL Fred Goddard Racing Dallara F301 Renault Sodémo
52 TBN Fred Goddard Racing Dallara F301 Renault Sodémo
53 Richard Goransson TBN Performance Racing Europe Dallara F301 Opel Spiess
54 Justin Sherwood GBR Performance Racing Europe Dallara F301 Opel Spiess
55 Gavin Smith IRL Meritus Racing Dallara F301 Mugen-Honda
56 TBN Meritus Racing Dallara F301 Mugen-Honda
57 TBN Rowan Racing Dallara F301 Toyota
59 Jesper Carlsen TBN Essencial Motorsport Dallara F301 Toyota
61 Adam Carroll GBR Sweeney Racing Dallara F301 Mugen-Honda
62 TBN Sweeney Racing Dallara F301 Mugen-Honda
63 Billy Asaro CAN Sweeney Racing Dallara F301 Mugen-Honda
64 David Clark TBN Team Park Dallara F301 Opel Spiess
65 Stephan Colbert GBR Team Park Dallara F301 Opel Spiess
66 Harold Primat FRA Diamond Racing Team Dallara F301 Mugen-Honda
67 Clivio Piccione MC T-Sport Dallara F301 Mugen-Honda
68 Karun Chandhok IND T-Sport Dallara F301 Mugen-Honda
70 Shane Kelly TBN Hill Speed Racing Dallara F301 Opel Spiess
71 TBN Hill Speed Racing Dallara F301 Opel Spiess
72 TBN Valiant Motorsport Dallara F301 Renault
70 TBN Valiant Motorsport Dallara F301 Renault
74 Diego Romanini ITA Scuderia Etruria Dallara F399 Opel Spiess
77 TBN Diamond Racing Team Dallara F301 Mugen-Honda
78 TBN Lars Sexton TBN Planet Engineering TBN
2002 British F3 season calendar
01/04 - Brands Hatch GP by AF
14/04 - Donington Park Nat by AF
05/05 - Silverstone GP by AF
12/05 - Knockhill by AF
26/05 - Croft by AF
03/06 - Silverstone Int by AF.
23/06 - Castle Combe by AF
30/06 - Brands Hatch Indy by AF
21/07 - Rockingham
18/08 - Oulton Park
01/09 - Snetterton
15/09 - Thruxton
22/09 - Donington Park GP
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