British Formula 3 Championship 2002 Round 12 and 13 review: Castle Combe. Story by Andrew Frampton.
Robbie Kerr and first time winner Alan Van der Merve were victorious at the latest round of the British Formula 3 Championship, held in front of a huge crowd at Castle Combe.
Alan Docking Racing's Kerr took victory in the first encounter, although he was beaten to pole position in qualifying by the championship leader James Courtney. Kerr was just 0.145 seconds slower and took second on the grid ahead of Promatecme's Bruce Jouanny and the top Fortec car of Heikki Kovalainen. Mark Taylor and Michael Keohane completed the top six, all of whom were covered by less than half a second. Stephen Colbert emerged top of the Scholarship Class in eleventh position overall, ahead of the championship leader Adam Carroll and Karun Chandok.
Manor Motorsport's Richard Antinucci initially led proceedings, but lasted only a lap in the lead before he was called into the pits for his jump start that had seen him gain an advantage before the lights turned green. With the American demoted to the back of the 27 car pack, Kerr inherited the lead having disposed of Courtney as they rounded Quarry for the first time. However, Courtney could not keep pace with the lead car, and Kerr eked out a small advantage, which at the chequered flag had grown to 3.7 seconds. Behind, there was little action in the top six, as they remained in the same order as they completed the first lap, with Jouanny chasing Courtney home for third position, ahead of Kovalainen, Keohane and Taylor. Carroll took an easy victory in the Scholarship Class and also took seventh overall. He finished nearly four seconds ahead of Colbert and Robert Dahlgren.
Courtney was once again on pole position for the second race, with Jouanny joining the Australian on the front row of the grid. Fabio Carbone (Fortec Motorsport) and Van der Merve (Carlin Motorsport) completed the second row ahead of race one winner Kerr and Kovalainen. Colbert was once again fastest of the Scholarship Class runners, in ninth overall, while Chandok was tenth and Carroll fifteenth overall, completing the top three.
Courtney got away well to take the lead from Jouanny and Van der Merve, who passed Kovalainen at Quarry. The South African was really on the pace, and passed Jouanny, who was struggling after picking up a corner bollard, in the same spot on the following lap. By this point, Courtney had stretched out a lead of over three seconds, but the Australian was called into the pits to serve a 10 seconds stop/go penalty for creeping on the grid. This gifted the race lead to Van der Merve, who maintained an advantage of around a second over Keohane, who had also nipped passed Jouanny on the second lap. The Irishman had made the most of a first lap collision at The Esses, which saw Kerr in the barriers and Carbone and Kovalainen drop to the back of the field. The shunt promoted Scholarship runner Colbert to fourth overall until a spin at Camp corner led to a visit to the pits. His delays saw Taylor move into fourth position, ahead of Antinucci, who took fifth from 11th on the grid. Carroll took the Scholarship honours with sixth overall, ahead of team-mate Billy Asaro and Dahlgren.
The next round is at Brands Hatch.
Race One Result:
1. Robbie Kerr
2. James Courtney +3.796s
3. Bruce Jouanny +4.460s
4. Heikki Kovalainen +6.958s
5. Michael Keohane +9.770s
6. Mark Taylor +10.414s
Scholarship Class: Adam Carroll
Race Two Result:
1. Alan Van der Merve
2. Michael Keohane +0.405s
3. Bruce Jouanny +6.969s
4. Mark Taylor +7.386s
5. Richard Antinucci +8.205s
6. Adam Carroll +10.722s
Championship Class Standings:
1. James Courtney 173pts
2. Bruce Jouanny 126pts
3. Michael Keohane 121pts
4. Robbie Kerr 110pts
5. Mark Taylor 102pts
6. Heikki Kovalainen 68pts
Scholarship Class Standings:
1. Adam Carroll 202pts
2. Clivio Piccione 119pts
3. Stephen Colbert 105pts
4. Billy Asaro 86pts
5. Karun Chandok 85pts
6. Mohammed Fairuz 81pts
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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