British Formula 3 Championship 2002 Rounds 10 and 11 review: Silverstone. Story by Andrew Frampton.
Mark Taylor and James Courtney emerged victorious from the latest rounds of the British Formula Three Championship, held at Silverstone over the Jubilee Weekend.
Courtney, the championship leader coming into the Silverstone round, led the way in the opening qualifying session, lining up 0.3 seconds ahead of Robbie Kerr's Alan Docking Racing machine. Mark Taylor took third, ahead of Manor Motorsport team-mate Richard Antinucci, with Matt Gillmore in fifth for the Promatecme team. Heikki Kovalainen, Fabio Carbone, Bruce Jouanny completed the top eight on the grid.
Kerr made a good start, and although Courtney led into Copse for the first time, Kerr squeezed into the lead at Maggots, with Antinucci in pursuit after an excellent start. However, the American spun at Brooklands on lap two, dropping down the order, and allowing Kerr and Courtney to pull clear of the chasing pack. The leading duo battled it out at the front, changing positions several times, until lap four when Courtney made another move for the lead after Kerr had made a small mistake. The Australian pulled alongside through Bridge but was forced on the outside line into Priory, and the two cars clashed - Courtney struggled back to the pits, but his car was too damaged to continue.
With Courtney out of the way, Kerr continued to extend his lead and took a dominant victory. However, the stewards were less than happy with the Alan Docking Racing driver's defence of his lead, and he was excluded from the result. This left Taylor to inherit the win, having fended off the challenge of Carbone, who took second. Gillmore took an excellent third, ahead of Jouanny, Michael Keohane and Bremer. Although Adam Carroll had been the fastest Scholarship driver in qualifying, lining up ninth overall, Clivio Piccione took his first victory of the season, after Carroll spun down to fourth in class. Piccione, who also took eighth overall, finished ahead of Stephen Colbert and Karun Chandok.
Race one winner Taylor had secured pole position for the second event, qualifying just 0.07 seconds ahead of Courtney. Carbone lined up an excellent third, ahead of Antinucci, Kerr and Jouanny.
Although Courtney had been unable to make a break in the first race, Kerr's poor start to the second race, which saw him drop to seventh, allowed Courtney to pull clear of the field. Carbone retained his second position off the line and gave chase for the first couple of laps, but he didn't have the pace of the Carlin machine, and he dropped back to a comfortable second position. Mark Taylor took third, after losing two places at the start as he got too much wheelspin. Antinucci made up for his first race disappointment with fourth place, finishing ahead of Jouanny who made his way through the field at the expense of team-mate Kovalainen, who dropped to eighth. Kerr recovered to take sixth, finishing ahead of Keohane.
Billy Asaro was unable to take his pole position in the Scholarship Class after his clutch failed, allowing Carroll to take an easy victory. His team-mate Robert Dahlgren took second in his first meeting for his new team, finishing ahead of Justin Sherwood and Colbert.
Race One Result:
1. Mark Taylor (Manor)
2. Fabio Carbone (Fortec)
3. Matt Gilmore (Promatecme)
4. Bruce Jouanny (Promatecme)
5. Michael Keohane (Carlin)
6. Ronnie Bremer (Manor)
Race Two Result:
1. James Courtney (Carlin)
2. Fabio Carbone (Fortec)
3. Mark Taylor (Manor)
4. Richard Antinucci (Manor)
5. Bruce Jouanny (Promatecme)
6. Robbie Kerr (ADR)
Championship Class Standings:
1. James Courtney 156pts
2. Bruce Jouanny 102pts
3. Michael Keohane 98pts
4. Robbie Kerr 90pts
5. Mark Taylor 86pts
6. Heikki Kovalainen 58pts
Scholarship Class Standings:
1. Adam Carroll 160pts
2. Clivio Piccione 99pts
3. Stephen Colbert 88pts
4. Karun Chandok 85pts
5. Justin Sherwood 75pts
6. Mohammed Fairuz 73pts
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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