British Formula 3 Championship 2002 Round 20, 21 and 22 review: Snetterton. Story by Andrew Frampton.
Robbie Kerr moved into a commanding championship lead in the British Formula Three championship after winning two of the three races at Snetterton. Despite a first corner clash with rival James Courtney in the opening race, replacing the cancelled Croft race, he fought back with two superb victories to stamp his authority on the 2002 title chase.
The two title rivals, Kerr and Courtney, had started side-by-side on the front row of the grid for the first race, only to collide at the first corner, the damage from which later forced Kerr out of the event, and dropped Courtney to ninth spot at the end. Richard Antinucci and Heikki Kovalainen qualified on the second row on the grid, but moved through to battle for the lead of the race, with the Finn emerging victorious by less than a second. Antinucci took his best finish of the season in second position, with Bruce Jouanny, Fabio Carbone and Ronnie Bremer heading the Scholarship Class winner Adam Carroll.
Kerr got his title-challenge back on track in the second race, with a dominant lights-to-flag victory having started from pole position. Fabio Carbone and Bruce Jouanny had been his main rivals in the qualifying session, lining up second and third, and continued the trend in the race, with Jouanny taking second position after a mistake from Carbone dropped him to the final podium position. Although the battle for the top three positions had been dull, the scrap for fourth position between Kovalainen, Courtney and Alan van der Merve was the highlight of the race, with the position eventually settled in favour of the Finn. Carroll took his second Scholarship Class victory of the weekend after an excellent drive from the back of the field.
The final race of the weekend once again provided another lights-to-flag domination for Kerr. Robert Dahlgren continued the form that saw him take an overall pole position at Oulton Park, with second spot on the grid at Snetterton. Kerr led away, while Dahlgren dropped back behind Jouanny and Kovalainen. The leading trio retained the status quo all the way to the chequered flag in an uneventful race, with Bremer and Stefan de Groot coming through to claim fourth and fifth positions. Courtney finished sixth after fighting his way through from 12th.
It was a dramatic race for Scholarship Class honours, with Dahlgren falling by the wayside, soon to be followed by Karun Chandok and Stephen Colbert who clashed when disputing the lead, allowing team-mate Carroll to come through to take his third win of the weekend. Clivio Piccione's retirement saw Carroll confirmed as the worthy 2002 Scholarship Class champion.
Snetterton Race Results:
Race One Result: (Croft replacement)
1. Heikki Kovalainen
2. Richard Antinucci +0.886s
3. Bruce Jouanny +2.873s
4. Fabio Carbone +4.703s
5. Ronnie Bremer +9.426s
6. Adam Carroll +12.993s
Scholarship Class: Adam Carroll
Race Two Result:
1. Robbie Kerr
2. Bruce Jouanny +0.972s
3. Fabio Carbone +2.187s
4. Heikki Kovalainen +2.970s
5. James Courtney +4.973s
6. Alan van der Merve +5.650s
Scholarship Class: Adam Carroll
Race Three Result:
1. Robbie Kerr
2. Bruce Jouanny +4.498s
3. Heikki Kovalainen +5.718s
4. Ronnie Bremer +7.183s
5. Stefan de Groot +13.844s
6. James Courtney +20.704s
Scholarship Class: Adam Carroll
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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