British Formula 3 Championship 2002 Round 9 review: Croft. Story by Andrew Frampton.
An event that ultimately saw James Courtney extend his lead in the championship standings will be remembered for the dreadful conditions that saw mayhem in the opening races, and the combined race canned altogether as the weather deteriorated further.
Courtney had taken pole position for the first Championship Class race, qualifying 0.222 seconds ahead of the American Richard Antinucci. Heikki Kovalainen took third on the grid, from Alan Van der Merve, Robbie Kerr and Fabio Carbone - the top six covered by just over half a second. Courtney led the field away in dreadful conditions, with Antinucci holding station in second place and Michael Keohane carving his way up to third at the first corner, having started only 8th. However, at the end of the first lap the safety car was called out after Mark Taylor collected Robbie Kerr's spinning car at Tower, while Mark Mayall's spin at the same spot once racing had resumed resulted in the safety car being deployed once again.
Despite having his advantage cut by the safety car on both occasions, Courtney was able to stay focussed, and edge out a lead once again, with Antinucci and Keohane holding second and third positions to the flag. The Fortec pairing of Heikki Kovalainen and Fabio Carbone took solid fourth and fifth place finishes, ahead of Rob Austin's Menu Motorsport machine. He came out on top after a battle with Bruce Jouanny and Ronnie Bremer, who later clashed, forcing Bremer out of the event, and dropping Jouanny to eighth behind Tom Sisley. Stefano Fabi was the final classified finisher in ninth position.
Adam Carroll continued his domination of the Scholarship Class in qualifying for the first, stand-alone race. The Sweeney Racing driver took pole position by 0.214 seconds from Gavin Smith, whose Meritus team-mate Stephen Colbert lined-up alongside Justin Sherwood on the second row. The Canadian Billy Asaro and Malaysian Mohammed Fairuz completed the top six. Although Carroll jumped into a commanding lead, the race would be short-lived, with torrential rain sweeping across the track and with the cars on slick tyres, the organisers were forced to red flag the event. However, no sooner had they done so, the rain stopped, and although the track was strewn with puddles, many of the drivers decided to take the restart with slick tyres.
Carroll once again led the pack away, but spun at Tower and was collected by Harold Primat. With both cars out of the race, Sherwood, one of the few drivers to run on wets, assumed control, and ran away to his first win of the season. This left the Monegasque driver Clivio Piccione and Fairuz to battle over second position, while Asaro was closing in the on the pair before the race was halted to remove the stranded car of David Clark. Gavin Smith and Karun Chandok completed the finishers, while Colbert was excluded for yellow flag infringements.
The worsening conditions coupled with a track covered in oil from a previous race led to the cancellation of the combined race, which will be re-run at some point during the season, possibly as early as the next round at Silverstone this weekend, but as yet an announcement has not been made.
Championship Class Race Results:
1. James Courtney (Carlin) 17laps
2. Richard Antinucci (Manor) +12.472s
3. Michael Keohane (Carlin) +23.679s
4. Heikki Kovalainen (Fortec) +30.249s
5. Fabio Carbone (Fortec) +32.265s
6. Rob Austin (MenuF3) +40.239s
Scholarship Class Race Results:
1. Justin Sherwood (Performance Racing) 13 Laps
2. Clivio Piccione (T-Sport) +20.052s
3. Mohammed Fairuz (Fred Goddard R'ing) +20.334s
4. Billy Asaro (Sweeney Racing) +20.871s
5. Gavin Smith (Meritus Racing) +1m08.272s
6. Karun Chandok (T-Sport) +1m19.271s
Championship Class Standings:
1. James Courtney 134pts
2. Michael Keohane 86pts
3. Robbie Kerr 84pts
4. Bruce Jouanny 84pts
5. Heikki Kovalainen 55pts
6. Mark Taylor 54pts
Scholarship Class Standings:
1. Adam Carroll 132pts
2. Clivio Piccione 78pts
3. Stephen Colbert 72pts
4. Billy Asaro 68pts
5. Mohammed Fairuz 64pts
6. Karun Chandok 63pts
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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