Kane splashes to success
Ulsterman Jonny Kane claimed his first ever British Formula 3 Championship win at Snetterton August 11. The Paul Stewart Racing driver was victorious in a rain-shortened round 11 which was stopped when the leaders had completed only six laps. The rain didn't let up for the rest of the afternoon and, with conditions showing no signs of improvement, round 12 was abandoned.
It began raining 15 minutes before the start of round 11, easing by the time the lights turned green. Kane made a good start from pole, but Spain's Angel Burgueno made an even better one, squeezing between the cars of Juan Pablo Montoya and Guy Smith to pursue Kane into the first corner, Riches. Burgueno then dived inside Kane to take the lead, only to hand it back at the next corner when he spun off. Kane proceeded to pull away from Smith over the next two laps.
But the weather conditions worsened and, when Montoya spun off, the Clerk of the Course stopped the race. 'It was the right decision to stop,' said Kane. 'We were aquaplaning on the straight and it was difficult to keep it on the track.
RESULTS FROM SNETTERTON, 11/8/96
1 Jonny Kane Dallara-Mugen 7m 02.70s 83.12mph 2 Guy Smith Dallara-Mitsubishi +5.72s; 3 Juan Pablo Montoya Dallara-Mitsubishi +6.71s; 4 James Matthews Dallara-Renault +7.20s; 5 Darren Manning Dallara-Mugen +9.02s; 6 Ralph Firman Dallara-Mugen +11.57s.
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