British Formula 3 Championship 2002 Round 18 and 19 review: Oulton Park. Story by Andrew Frampton.
The latest round of the British Formula Three Championship saw two thrilling races settled in favour of Fortec's Heikki Kovalainen, and the championship challenging Carlin machine of James Courtney. However, the first event was marred by a farcical conclusion, in which Mark Taylor was denied victory when the race was red flagged with several cars off the track, having been caught out by a sudden change in the weather.
Kovalainen notched up pole position for the first race, with the Scholarship machine of Adam Carroll lining up in second position - the Sweeney Racing driver having taken advantage of a cooler session for the year-old cars. His team-mate Robert Dahlgren had done likewise to line up fourth - the two Scholarship cars sandwiching Courtney. Fabio Carbone and Mark Taylor filled the third row, while championship-leader Robbie Kerr would start only eleventh.
Kovalainen converted his pole position into the race lead, while Carbone made an excellent start, and was soon harrying Carroll for second spot. The positions remained static for the opening laps before the safety car was deployed when Karun Chandok spun his Scholarship Car out at Island. The laps behind the Safety Car changed the race entirely, with a heavy downpour soaking the track, resulting in several drivers pitting to change to wet tyres. The tricky conditions didn't suit many of the drivers, including Carroll and Dahlgren who slid off the road soon after the restart.
Capitalising on the mistakes of others, Mark Taylor fought through from eighth when the race restarted to challenge for a podium position. He was soon on the tail of Carbone, slotting through into second, before a wild moment from Kovalainen promoted him through into the lead. However, with several drivers caught out by the conditions and their cars abandoned in dangerous positions, the race was stopped early and the results declared at the end of the previous lap, dropping leader Taylor back to fourth position. Although he had been only seventh when the race was stopped, Kovalainen was awarded the victory on count-back, with Carbone completing an unlikely Fortec 1-2. Courtney took third position, clawing back some of Kerr's championship advantage, with his rival claiming seventh position, despite having crashed off just before the race was stopped. In the Scholarship Class there was a similarly bizarre race conclusion, with Clivio Piccione and Billy Asaro classified first and second despite the fact both had crashed out, dropping Stephen Colbert back to third.
History was created in the qualifying session for the second race, with Dahlgren taking the first ever overall pole position for a Scholarship machine. Taking advantage of a favourable separate session from the Championship Class machines, he took pole position by just one thousandth of a second from Courtney, with Piccione taking third spot. Kovalainen lined up fourth, with Asaro the third Scholarship runner in the top five. Kerr once again had a disappointing qualifying session, lining up only sixth.
Courtney made a good start from second position, and with Dahlgren struggling on the damp side of the track, moved into a lead he would never relinquish. The Scholarship driver did not have the pace to challenge the Carlin machine and had to fend off the attentions of the fast-starting Kerr. The order remained the same throughout the race, despite the introduction of the Safety Car, with Kovalainen and Piccione taking fourth and fifth positions. However, Dahlgren's joy in securing his first podium finish was soon wiped out when his car was excluded for technical irregularities. This promoted Kovalainen to his second podium finish of the weekend, with Piccione claiming the Scholarship Class honours with fourth overall. Matt Gillmore and Shinya Hosokawa completed the top six positions.
Oulton Park Race Results:
Race One Result:
1. Heikki Kovalainen
2. Fabio Carbone +0.190s
3. Mark Taylor +1.368s
4. James Courtney +9.817s
5. Alan van der Merve +11.595s
6. Ronnie Bremer +12.691s
Scholarship Class: Clivio Piccione
Race Two Result:
1. James Courtney
2. Robbie Kerr +0.941s
3. Heikki Kovalainen +1.601s
4. Clivio Piccione +2.071s
5. Matthew Gillmore +3.886s
6. Shinya Hosokawa +7.454s
Scholarship Class: Clivio Piccione
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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