1999 Autosport British Formula Three Championship - Round 2 - Silverstone,
March 28th.
Race Report by Stella-Maria Thomas
Still missing were Warren Hughes, Alex Yoong (who should be out from
Round 3 onwards), John Bender (also scheduled to appear for round 3), John
Ingram and the second Rowan Racing runner, rumoured to be Gavin Jones
(both of whom may race from Brands Hatch onwards).
Qualifying:
Weather fine and sunny
In fine, sunny conditions, the first of the two practice sessions for
Round 2 was faster; inevitably perhaps, as the track was relatively clean
and the air was cool. In the afternoon session, the air was far warmer and
it was asking a lot from anyone to see much in the way of improvements. F3
engines just don't like warmer weather that much.
Most of the front-runners didn't appear to be very keen to come out to
play either, leaving the running to the new boys or the less-experienced
teams. For a long while nothing much happened through it was clear that
most of the best times would be set in the morning session if the weather
didn't change. As it was, the front five on the grid remained exactly the
same, with a seemingly revitalised Kris Kolby (Fortec Motorsport) on pole
alongside Marc Hynes (Manor Motorsport), while Luciano Burti (Stewart
Racing) was 3rd, a position he seems far too attached to. To be fair to
him, Stewart Racing seem to have a lot of work to do if they are going o
catch up with Manor Motorsport, and this is testimony to the abilities of
John Booth as a team boss. Manor got the first of the new Dallara's and
made sure they didn't waste the opportunity this offered, getting in
hundreds of miles of Winter testing. With Jenson Button (Promatecme) in
4th and Matt Davies (Fortec) just behind him, it was left to Aluizio
Coelho (Promatecme) to spoil Andrew Kirkaldy's (Stewart) afternoon by
bumping him down a place for 6th even after a small spin. Even so, the
young Scot was far happier than he had been at Donington; the brake
problems that had plagued him there had been cured and he was beginning to
feel he was getting the hang of this F3 business.
Yudai Igarashi (Alan Docking Racing) was getting to grips with his car
after a very late start to his testing campaign, while Narain Karthikeyan
(Carlin Motorsport) was probably praying for rain and wondering why he was
only 9th. Martin O'Connell (Rowan Racing) knew why he was only 10th,
having trailed in at the very start of the first session with a gearbox
that sounded like a bag of loose bolts and cogs. Behind him came the Toby
Scheckter (Speed Sport), slightly bemused by F3 at present, and still
feeling that things were happening too fast for him. A trip into the
gravel at Luffield in the morning hadn't helped him any. Tor Sriachavanon
(Manor) also went off at Luffield late in the first session and was then
unable to make any real progress in the second one. Meanwhile Doug Bell
and Tim Spouge (both with S S Sport) swapped places, the more experienced
Spouge improving enough to just move ahead in the second session. Bringing
up the rear was Warren Carway (SpeedSport) and at the very back, the only
other National Class driver, Jeremy Smith (Jeremy Smith Racing).
First Session Times:
1st - No 4 - Kristian Kolby, Fortec, F399 Mugen-Honda, 1:15.466, 107.28
mph
2nd - No 17 - Marc Hynes, Manor, F399 Mugen-Honda, 1:15.701
3rd - No 1 - Luciano Burti, Stewart, F399 Mugen-Honda, 1:15.895
4th - No 6 - Jenson Button, Promatecme, F399 Renault, 1:15.912
5th - No 3 - Matt Davies, Fortec, F399 Mugen-Honda, 1:16.114
6th - No 2 - Andrew Kirkaldy, Stewart, F399 Mugen-Honda, 1:16.369
7th - No 9 - Toby Scheckter, SpeedSport, F399 Mugen-Honda, 1:16.482
8th - No 7 - Yudai Igarashi, ADR, F399 Mugen-Honda, 1:16.487
9th - No 5 - Aluizio Coelho, Promatecme, F399 Renault, 1:16.565
10th - No 18 - Tor Sriachavanon, Manor, F399 Mugen-Honda, 1:16.699
11th - No 12 - Narain Karthikeyan, Carlin, F399 Mugen-Honda, 1:16.713
12th - No 14 - Michael Bentwood, Carlin, F399 Mugen-Honda, 1:16.740
13th - No 16 - Doug Bell, S. S. Sport, F399 Spiess-Opel, 1:16.917
14th - No 15 - Tim Spouge, S. S. Sport, F399 Spiess-Opel, 1:17.063
15th - No 10 - Warren Carway, SpeedSport, F399 Mugen-Honda, 1:17.576
16th- No 75 - Jeremy Smith, JSR, F398 Spiess-Opel, 1:18.588
17th - No 51 - Martin O'Connell, Rowan Racing, F398 TOM'S-Toyota, 1:30.518
Combined Times:
1st - No 4 - Kristian Kolby, Fortec, F399 Mugen-Honda, 1:15.466, 107.28
mph
2nd - No 17 - Marc Hynes, Manor, F399 Mugen-Honda, 1:15.701
3rd - No 1 - Luciano Burti, Stewart, F399 Mugen-Honda, 1:15.895
4th - No 6 - Jenson Button, Promatecme, F399 Renault, 1:15.912
5th - No 3 - Matt Davies, Fortec, F399 Mugen-Honda, 1:16.114
6th - No 5 - Aluizio Coelho, Promatecme, F399 Renault, 1:16.285
7th - No 2 - Andrew Kirkaldy, Stewart, F399 Mugen-Honda, 1:16.369
8th - No 7 - Yudai Igarashi, ADR, F399 Mugen-Honda, 1:16.409
9th - No 12 - Narain Karthikeyan, Carlin, F399 Mugen-Honda, 1:16.415
10th - No 51 - Martin O'Connell, Rowan Racing, F398 TOM'S-Toyota, 1:16.473
(National Class pole)
11th - No 9 - Toby Scheckter, SpeedSport, F399 Mugen-Honda, 1:16.482
12th - No 14 - Michael Bentwood, Carlin, F399 Mugen-Honda, 1:16.669
13th - No 18 - Tor Sriachavanon, Manor, F399 Mugen-Honda, 1:16.699
14th - No 15 - Tim Spouge, S. S. Sport, F399 Spiess-Opel, 1:16.780
13th - No 16 - Doug Bell, S. S. Sport, F399 Spiess-Opel, 1:16.917
15th - No 10 - Warren Carway, SpeedSport, F399 Mugen-Honda, 1:17.573
16th- No 75 - Jeremy Smith, JSR, F398 Spiess-Opel, 1:18.588
Race:
Weather fine, sunny but windy
Marc Hynes (Manor Motorsport) made the most of his front row slot, moving
slightly just before the lights changed though not actually crossing the
line and therefore not jumping the start. It gave him one hell of an
advantage when the lights went green though. Pole man Kristian Kolby
(Fortec Motorsport) looked like he was asleep in comparison and was well
and truly demoted to second before the field got anywhere near Copse
corner. Luciano Burti (Stewart Racing) settled into his slot as the Third
Man and was never to get on terms with the top two again. He was
unchallenged from behind either and settled in to score more points. The
only flaw with what appears to be his plan to win the series is through
consistency is that Hynes will insist on finishing ahead of him.
Further back, Kolby's team mate Matt Davies had moved across on a
Promatecme car that he thought was Jenson Button's. It wasn't, it was
Button's team mate Aluizio Coelho, another driver who had made a storming
start. In Little Al's case it didn't help as Davies came close to shoving
him into the wall and he had to back off. Afterwards, the stewards would
have things to say about the manoeuvre, handing out a warning not to
repeat the offence to the young Englishman. In his own defence all Matt
could say was that he was sorry but he really hadn't seen the other car.
He was not given a penalty.
Button had seemingly not been awake at the start either and was dropped to
an unaccustomed 12th place after the excitement died down. He promptly set
about hacking his way back through the field, a drive that would earn him
a trip to the stewards office too after an aggrieved Doug Bell claimed the
new superstar had pushed him out of the way. Like Davies, Button was
warned to behave in future but no penalty was imposed. The main interest
of the race was probably the battle between Button and Toby Scheckter
(SpeedSport), the South African's performance suggesting that he will be a
hard man to beat once he gets comfortable with F3. He's certainly at least
as tough as his father ever was and it took Button a very long time to
pass him. Jenson went on to hack past anything that got in his way (Andrew
Kirkaldy - Stewart Racing - for example) to finish 6th overall, 5th in
class.
Martin O'Connell (Rowan Racing) was also making steady progress, passing
Coelho on lap 9 and shortly thereafter Davies, through it's fair to say
that neither of them tried too hard to stop him. Neither one of them
wanted to lose points battling with a National class runner so it was
safer to move aside and let him claim fourth place on the road. Coelho
only lasted another lap anyway, going off at Priory on oil left behind by
Tim Spouge (S S Sport). The same oil claimed Tor Sriachavanon (Manor) a
lap later. The young Thai's only consolation was watching the Opel-Spiess
engine blow up properly 5 laps later and take Spouge out of the race.
Kolby, meanwhile, was having what those of us who watched him closely last
year have come to know as a Kolby moment. It usually involves something
very odd happening to him for no good reason, and sure enough it happened
about halfway through the race. The powershift button, which allows the
driver to change up through the gears without lifting off the throttle,
had been switched off. Kris tried to switch it back on, only to have it
come away in his hand. After he got over that and realised he would have
to drive normally, he set about chasing Hynes down, while the latter
steadily lost traction and fell back into the Dane's clutches. Given a 23
lap race instead of 22, it seems likely that Kolby would have translated
his first ever pole position in the series into victory but he had to
settle instead for one of the closest finishes in F3 in a very long time.
Afterwards, Hynes was relieved to have got a second victory but didn't
think it would be quite so easy in future. Even so, he's beginning to look
like a potential champion and he has a very smart outfit behind him. Two
in a row is not bad going for a new team and added to John Booth's
pleasure on the same day that two out of three of his Formula Renault
drivers (Antonio Pizzonia and Rob Austin) had utterly dominated the first
round of the Formula Renault Eurocup series. Certainly the other teams
must raise their games if they are going to stop Manor Motorsport from
taking over where Stewart Racing left off.
Results:
1st - No. 17 - Marc Hynes - 28:12.036 105.37 mph
5th - No 4 - Kristian Kolby - Gap 0.217
3rd - No 1 - Luciano Burti - Gap 15.517
4th - No 51 - Martin O'Connell - 28:30.085, 104.26 mph (National Class
winner)
5th - No. 3 - Matt Davies - Gap 23.662
6th - No 6 - Jenson Button - Gap 24.061
7 - No 2 - Andrew Kirkaldy - Gap 29.735
8th - No 16 - Doug Bell - Gap 31.213
9th - No 7 - Yudai Igarashi - Gap 35.418
10th - No 9 - Toby Scheckter - Gap 39.932
11th - No 10 - Warren Carway - Gap 55.455
12th - No 75 - Jeremy Smith - Gap 1:14.655
Not Classified:
No 15 - Tim Spouge - Lap 17 - Engine failure
No. 18 - Tor Sriachavanon - Lap 10 - Spun off on oil from Spouge's car
No 5 - Aluizio Coelho - Lap 9 - Spun off on oil from Spouge's car
No 14 - Michael Bentwood - Lap 2
No 12 - Narain Karthikeyan - Lap 2
Fastest laps:
Championship Class - No. 4, Kristian Kolby, 1.16.111, 171.19 kph, 106.37
mph (Lap 7)
National Class - No. 51, Martin O'Connell, 1.16.932, 169.36 kph, 105.24
mph (Lap 5)
Championship Standings:
Championship Class
1st - Marc Hynes - 41 points
2nd - Kristian Kolby/Luciano Burti - 24 points
4th - Jenson Button - 23 points
5th - Matt Davies - 12 points
6th - Narain Karthikeyan/Doug Bell - 10 points
8th Andrew Kirkaldy - 8 points
9th - Michael Bentwood - 4 points
10th - Aluizio Coelho/Yudai Igarashi - 3 points
12th - Toby Scheckter/Tim Spouge - 1 point
13th Warren Carway - 1 point
National Class
1st - Jeremy Smith - 35 points
2nd - Martin O'Connell - 22 points
Next Round:
Thruxton - April 11th
