British Formula 3 Championship 2002 Round 16 and 17 review: Rockingham. Story by Andrew Frampton.
The ninth round of the British Formula Three championship saw Robbie Kerr move into the lead of the championship, taking victory in the second race, after Shinya Hosokawa had caused a major upset to win the first race at Rockingham. Kerr mow leads the championship standings by nine points with second placed James Courtney unable to race at Rockingham after receiving slight injuries in a testing shunt for the Jaguar Formula One team.
In a damp but drying qualifying session for the first race, Heikki Kovalainen continued his impressive recent form for the Fortec team, taking pole position ahead of Carlin Motorsport's Derek Hayes, brought in as a late replacement for Courtney. Hosokawa put in his best performance of the season to take third, ahead of Fabio Carbone (Fortec) and Stefan Hodgetts. The American Richard Antinucci lined up seventh, ahead of Frenchman Bruce Jouanny and South African Alan Van Der Merve. Championship contented Kerr was only tenth fastest, while Adam Carroll led the Scholarship runners, in 18th position overall, nearly two seconds ahead of his nearest challengers Adam Jones and Billy Asaro.
It was Hosokawa who made the best start to the race, sweeping through on the inside line to take the lead at the first corner, with Kovalainen falling to second ahead of Hodgetts and Hayes. Although it was the first time that the Japanese had held the lead of an F3 event this season, he kept calm, holding off the continued pressure of Kovalainen, extending his advantage to over half a second within the first lap. Hayes was pressurising Hodgetts for the final podium position, making a move into the Tarzan Hairpin on the fourth lap when he collided with the Motaworld machine, and launched it into a roll. The Safety Car was deployed to clear the wreckage, closing up the field. Hosokawa retained his lead when the race resumed five laps later, opening up a gap to Kovalainen, consistently around half a second.
Race One Result:
1. Shinya Hosokawa (Carlin)
2. Heikki Kovalainen (Fortec) +0.876s
3. Derek Hayes (Carlin) +1.798s
4. Bruce Jouanny (Promatecme) +5.988s
5. Fabio Carbone (Fortec) +6.527s
6. Robbie Kerr (Alan Docking) +8.037s
Scholarship Class: Adam Carroll (Sweeney)
Race Two Result:
1. Robbie Kerr (Alan Docking)
2. Heikki Kovalainen (Fortec) +4.349s
3. Derek Hayes (Carlin) +5.229s
4. Ronnie Bremer (Manor) +11.033s
5. Adam Carroll (Sweeney) +17.154s
6. Michael Keohane (Carlin) +17.426s
Scholarship Class: Carroll
Championship Class Standings:
1. Robbie Kerr 200pts
2. James Courtney 191pts
3. Bruce Jouanny 152pts
4. Michael Keohane 142pts
5. Mark Taylor 106pts
6. Heikki Kovalainen 106pts
Scholarship Class Standings:
1. Adam Carroll 274pts
2. Clivio Piccione 151pts
3. Stephen Colbert 120pts
4. Karun Chandok 118pts
5. Billy Asaro 108pts
6. Mohammed Fairuz 96pts
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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