British F3 at Silverstone!

[macsport]

I don't like starting threads on 'my' championships but I wanted to remind anyone who wants to spectate this weekend at Silverstone that due to the long drive to Romania next week the British F3 races will be on Saturday, with qualifying on Friday. The 2-Hour British GT race will be on Sunday as normal.

Preview and timetable here

Jeff

[UNiiQU3]

Cheers. I will be going just the Saturday then.

[JamesRamone]

What do you mean by your championship ?

[OJB]

Apologies if I am writing something that has already been mentioend in another thread, but Sebastien Hohenthal has pulled out of the championship because he doesn't think he can win the title now.

That's a bit of a lame excuse in my opinion and that can't help his future prospects because he looks a tad unreliable. I wonder if he's annoyed at being upstaged by his younger Swedish team-mate Ericsson...??

http://www.crash.net/motorsport/f3/n...m_f3_seat.html

[Alex K]

No mate, reality is different and harsh and the answer is simple. That's money decision, he wasn't about to start at Spa-Francorchamps because of budget hole, he's started but he ain't got money to further the season.

If he's annoyed than because of Marcus taking all headlines in Sweden and sponsorship with him...

[OJB]

Maybe, but why not say as much then? Running out of money is a common problem in motor racing, its hardly something to be ashamed of.

Still, I can see what he means when he says he'd rather spend his money on something more worthwhile, but wouldn't finishing 3rd or 4th in Brit F3 be more beneificial than risking just slipping off the radar completely?

[wannab-aracer]

Qually set up perfectly for the title race !

Turvey takes pole for race 1 with Hartley in 2nd and championship leaders Alguersuari and Perez alongside each other in 5th and 6th. Mustonen in 7th has it all to do to keep himself in with a chance of the title.

Good runs fom Ericsson and Martin in 3rd and 4th.

Wilson takes pole in NC

[El_Gibleto]

Maybe Seb is deciding to make the best use of his funding to investigate other options for his career.

He most definitely is NOT unreliable and he has been very loyal to the Fortec team. Remember this is a combination that has won races and was on the podium several times this season. the easy option would have been to end the season in F3 probably with a string of top 6 finishes. to decide to move onto the next stage of his career is a brave and difficult choice.

[Alex K]

AFAIK he couldn't finish season because of financial woes. What radar do you think of OJB? If you don't have money to continue you can't continue.

[gomick]

Good to see John Martin bring the car home in both races (6th & 7th) for some good points

[Go_For_Pole]

In fact, Martin looks every bit as fast as Mustonen lately.

[strider]

Since Ali Jackson left, he's being engineered by 'Boyo' Hieatt, which seems to have helped, together with a new resolve from John himself.

[Go_For_Pole]

Thanks for that Strider, credit to all involved. I hope the lad has backing to progress, Aussies normally strugle and it would be a shame to lose him after the promise he is showing.

[macsport]

Originally Posted by JamesRamone

What do you mean by your championship ?

I'm the Press & PR Manager for British F3 and British GT and as such I tend not to comment on either British F3 or British GT threads unless I can offer advice or information.

Jeff

[chunterer]

Ok, so who was there, who saw the races....

what happened then?!!!!

[strider]

I was there. As I'm feeling lazy, you can find a detailed report of race one here and race two here.

The gist of it all is that Oliver Turvey dominated and has taken a 9 point lead in the title chase, which is the biggest margin there has been for months. Sergio Perez is still second with Jaime Alguersuari dropping back to third. Oliver also dominated at Spa, apart from an engine failure on the grid in race two, so suddenly he's looking like the red-hot favourite. Brendon Hartley had race one in the bag until he was pressured into a small mistake by Turvey on the penultimate lap. He was also on pole for race two, but made an abysmal start, allegedly because the car was actually in neutral when he thought it was in first. Silverstone is such a useless circuit for overtaking that he could only recover to 9th. Oh, and Nick Tandy took another excellent podium in race two. JTR are doing a great job in my opinion.

Although the National Class winners were Stefan Wilson in race one and Hywel Lloyd in race 2, Jay Bridger continued to rack up the points and is close to clinching that title.

Points tables are here and here.

And so to Bucharest next weekend. The trucks are on their way now because they have to park up at midnight on Wednesday. Brilliant timing.

[Gaz]

I'm very impressed with Oliver Turvey and the way he's been consistent all season and hit red hot form just at the right time. The fact he's British is also very appealing! The Racing Steps Foundation is really showing its worth already, without them Oliver would never be in this position. We'll see how adept he is at dealing with pressure now though as expectations have suddenly risen and he rather than Perez/Alguersuari is now the championship favourite. If he can prove he can handle it then his future looks very bright indeed.

An understandable decision by Seb in the light of saving some cash that can be better used to further his career. Its a good job every driver doesn't think like that though otherwise we'd only have 3-4 on the grid by the end of the year! He's been very much upstaged this year and it would be interesting to know why. Its the first year since he's raced in the UK that he hasn't performed to the level expected. Its a shame because he comes across as a decent character and I'd like to see him achieve higher up the ladder.

Theres a heck of a gap between Bucharest and the final round at Donington, it seems pretty daft to me. I wouldn't like to be a championship contender during that period, talk about itchy feet!

[bella]

the gap between bucharest and donington isn't so bad for us bobblehatters. it's a dry run to get used to the off season

i wonder whether the red bull drivers would be at turvey's current level of competitiveness without the whole red bull scenario?

[Gaz]

What do you mean by the Red Bull scenario Bella? I've been out of the ten-tenths circle for a while so may have missed something. Do you mean the general pressure their drivers are under to perform due to their cut throat policy?

Good point on the dry run, nothing beats a cold winter day at Donington....for a test of commitment!

[bella]

yeah, i mean the way the drivers are obviously under a lot of pressure to pull their fingers out and keep them out - the situation seems to suit certain drivers, but hartley in particular seems to have made quite a few errors this year. would turvey be doing the same if he was within that structure or indeed would hartley be making the same errors if he wasn't?

[strider]

Interesting point that, bella. I watched the MotorsTV programme from Spa on telly the other day and in race 2 Hartley was everything you would want a young F3 driver to be (okay, maybe not the looks ), yet he threw a race away at Snetterton and dropped from the lead to 2nd at Silverstone when under pressure from Turvey.

Alguersuari seems to take a more measured, points-mean-prizes approach, but if I had to pick which one I think will go further, it would be Hartley.

But Turvey may go further than either of them if he continues to have the backing. Since he stopped his uni studies he's been like a different driver.