British Formula 3 Championship 2002 Round 7 and 8 review: Knockhill. Story by Andrew Frampton.
James Courtney, the 2002 championship favourite, finally broke his duck by taking a double victory in Scotland, and as Robbie Kerr faltered, he moved right back into contention at the head of the table. With the twisty and narrow track only able to take a limited number of cars, the Scholarship Class had a separate race for the first time this season, with Stephen Colbert and Adam Carroll taking victories.
Championship Class:
Qualifying for the first event saw Courtney take pole position from the Dane Ronnie. Heikki Kovalainen and Bruce Jouanny completed the second row, ahead of the championship leader Kerr, and Fabio Carbone, who had shown well at the previous round at Silverstone. Courtney got the jump at the start to lead Bremer in Duffus Dip, but behind, Mark Mayall and Richard Antinucci made contact, launching the latter into a roll. With the stranded car on the edge of the track and the American having aggravated on old back injury (which would rule him out of the second race), the Safety Car was brought out.
Three laps later the Safety Car withdrew and Courtney disappeared into the distance, as Bremer fought off Kovalainen to hold third. Courtney extended his lead unchallenged to record his first victory, as Bremer and Kovalainen took distant second and third positions. Jouanny took fourth, but had to fight to stay ahead of a battle between Kerr and Taylor, which eventually put both drivers out of the race when they collided at Duffus Dip. There was more incident behind, as Michael Keohane and Carbone touched at McIntyres, collecting the following Ernani Judice. This allowed Alan Van Der Merve through to fifth, ahead of Robert Dahlgren, Rob Austin and Shinya Hosokawa.
The second race saw more of the same from Courtney, as he made his second excellent start of the day from pole position to score a comfortable win. Bremer had once again started alongside, with Jouanny, Keohane, Kerr and Taylor completing the top six on the grid. As Courtney once again led away, Keohane slotted into second, but by this time, his team-mate was long-gone. His victory run was interrupted at half distance, when the Safety Car was brought out to rescue Tor Graves' stranded car. However, this was no threat to the Australian, who extended his lead to four seconds by the end of the race. Keohane comfortably took second, while Jouanny was promoted to third when Bremer was forced out with gearbox problems two laps from the end. Van de Merve put in another impressive performance to take fourth, ahead of Hosokawa and Dahlgren.
Scholarship Class:
Stephen Colbert took his first Formula Three race win in the opening encounter, after starting from pole position. Colbert took the lead from his pole position, holding off his Meritus Motorsport team-mate Gavin Smith and Adam Carroll, as Justin Sherwood was spun into the pit-wall, delaying the chasing pack. On lap six, Smith spun out of second, bringing out the Safety Car, and allowing Carroll to close the gap to the leader. However, Colbert held his lead after the Safety Car withdrew, taking victory from Carroll, and Clivio Piccione, who had started last on the grid. Mohammed Fairuz, David Clark and Billy Asaro completed the top six.
After his disappointment at taking only second position in the first race, Carroll led from start to finish in race two. He had lined up on pole position, and led away from the grid, holding off the challenge of Colbert and Smith. The two Meritus driver's battle for second came to an end on lap three, when contact at the hairpin forced them both into the pits. By this time Carroll was well clear, and cruised to victory from Fairuz, Karun Chandok, Harold Primat, David Clark and Sherwood.
Championship Class Race 1 Result:
1. James Courtney
2. Ronnie Bremer +3.818s
3. Heikki Kovalainen +11.591s
4. Bruce Jouanny +12.816s
5. Alan van der Merve +24.846s
6. Robert Dahlgren +25.326s
Championship Class Race 2 Result:
1. James Courtney
2. Michael Keohane +3.837s
3. Bruce Jouanny +7.154s
4. Alan van der Merve +17.805s
5. Shinya Hosokawa +18.040s
6. Robert Dahlgren +18.889s
Scholarship Class Race 1 Result:
1. Stephen Colbert
2. Adam Carroll +1.101s
3. Clivio Piccione +3.946s
4. Mohammed Fairuz +8.148s
5. David Clark +11.592s
6. Billy Asaro +12.446s
Scholarship Class Race 2 Result:
1. Adam Carroll
2. Mohammed Fairuz +11.931s
3. Karun Chandok +17.362s
4. Harold Primat +23.752s
5. David Clark +26.536s
6. Justin Sherwood +30.306s
Championship Class Standings: 1. Courtney 113pts; 2. Robbie Kerr 84pts; 3. Jouanny 81pts; 4. Keohane 74pts; 5. Mark Taylor 54pts; 6. Kovalainen 45pts.
Scholarship Class Standings: 1. Carroll 132pts; 2. Piccione&Colbert 63pts; 4. Chandok 59pts; 5. Asaro 58pts; 6. Fairuz & Jesper Carlsen 51pts.
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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