British F3 Who for 2002

[B/Mark]

Testing started last week for championship cars, all new for 2002. So who is going to be champ? Autosport think it will be a walkover for Courtney, " an alien invasion is more likely than Courtney losing" No pressure then!
There are new cars, new engines and new and 2nd year drivers all making predictions difficult. So what do you all think.

[Asp]

Not at all a walkover - at least not by Taku standards. I think that any one out of a number of drivers have a substantial chance: Courtney; Richard Antinuci; Alan van der Merwe; Robbie Kerr; Matthew Gilmore, plus a few more. It's certainly more wide open than lst year!

[B/Mark]

You didn't mention the driver that was quickest at Pembrey last week - Keohane. Did I spell that right? Richard A has two quick team mates as well. The first two races at Brands next month will start to show who is quick but in the meantime does anyone have any testing scuttlebut.

[Asp]

hence plus a few more

[Paul Rayner]

Does anyone know how Mark Taylor's been in testing? He was impressive on occasion last year, along with Spence probably passed more people than anyone else, and improved toward the end of the year. He could have a shot at it.

[AndyF]

Paul - I agree, I think Taylor could be a dark horse, although I still reckon Courtney will do it!

[rlinter]

I have said it before and I will no doubt say it again - Courtney will not walk away with the championship - He may win it eventually however it will be close - as for the likes of the other front runners then my money will be on either Kerr or Gilmore to give skippy a run for his (oops sorry Jaguar's) money.

The Former Formula Renault boys should be up there in contention but don't rule out the likes of Jouanny and Judice given that both came good toward the end of the season.

As for Messers' Talyor and Mayall I would expect that they will go well for them with Talyor possibly gracing the podium just as long as their Dad's keep stumping up the cash.

Kerr, Gilmore or Skippy with Jouanny and Judice making a good showing.

[sgrok]

James will win it. Which will take the shine off the guys who come second thrid fourth in non-carlin machinery... and therefore through their own merit...

Paradoxically, James' actual raw talent will be hard to discern given the globally accepted superiority of the Carlin cars.

But ain't that just the way...

[rlinter]

Exactly the point - best part of 1/2 a million quid can buy you the British F3 title - however the real winner is the 1st non-carlin car in the championship so in that case in 2001 it is Derek Hayes...

But remember Courtney is no where near as emmotionally stable as say Sato,Davidson or Hayes and could throw the whole championship away. which would be a bit of a laff.

[Sid The Manager]

Looking forward to a good titter then.

[Speedworx]

2002 British F3 champion......

Bruce Jouanny

[senses]

For All and answer Paul Rayners question

I can reveal that Mark Taylor has been doing extensive testing in Sunny Spain, and recently returned to the UK

I also believ that he has a good team and chance at the title shot, so keep an eye out for him.

All the best

Matt H

[Francesca]

Welcome to the forum Matt,
I look forward to seeing Mark's site but don't forget to include a link to my site on it!

[senses]

what is your site Francesca?

[Francesca]

well seeing as you asked (I might get told off for blatant advertising though...does that count as advertising!!!)
www.british-f3.com
and
www.formula-renault.com but obviously that's not so appropriate for Mark Taylor

[SCOTT WILLIAMS]

All of you are forgetting the winner of Formula Ford from last season, Robert Dahlgren. Laping Pembrey almost as fast as Sato did when he was in F3, only fractions of a second out, when Robert tested for Duma racing. Robert's time was faster than Courtney's was around Pembery, and Courtney was supposedly in a better car (i.e.Carlin). With the new Ford engine and all of Duma's efforts concentrated on Robert, everyone else better watch out for the cool headed Swede!

[Francesca]

Hi there Scott, welcome to the forum.

I have great hopes for Duma this year, they had a few shining moments last season and with that under their belt I think they'll do well this year - hope they secure a second driver for the whole season though.

[SCOTT WILLIAMS]

Dear Francesca, please tell me what makes you a race offical, others team managers and new comers a rookie. Does the number of emails dictate level, or is it a status awarded by the website?

[Francesca]

Well as far as I know I'm a 'Race Official' because I'm a staff member (and moderate this section of the forum alongside DanFlag). I think the other titles come with the amount of posts you've posted - so if you wanna get rid of the rookie title then keep posting!

[ABHIJIT ABRAHAM]

I H AD NO IDEA THAT BRISTISH-F3.COM WAS YOUR WEBSITE FRANCESA - KEEP UP THE FABULOUS WORK , THAT SITES GOT A LOT OF FANS. UMM CAN WE HERE A BIT MORE AOUT THE SCHOLARSHIP CARS TESTING THIS YEAR

[senses]

Francesca
Just looked at your british f3 site
AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH

Try using tables (i can help if you want) and then you can use raw text, rather then gif's which take an ages to load
this way you site will loud in miliseconds (it took around a minute to complete on mine!)

Regards

Matt

[Tomgreen]

I would love to see Bruce Jouanny. He has exceptional talent. He and Ernani Judice were stand outs from last year.

[mattray]

Originally posted by SCOTT WILLIAMS
everyone else better watch out for the cool headed Swede!

The cool headed Swede? is this the same cool headed Swede that drove Pat Long off the road at Silverstone? and the same Swede that drove Van Der Merve off the road at Knockhill? all when he realised that he was going to lose a place and panicked to the extent of driving into other people?

I agree he will be fast though! But certainly not cool headed.

[MCP CLUB]

My information is that the 2002 Dallara is not as good as might have been expected, and that after much testing in Germany the car is still unstable in fast corners. Maybe the Ralt or a 2001 Dallara in the right hands could make life difficult for the Courtney/Carlin combination.

[SCOTT WILLIAMS]

Matt,
Below are Quotes from the forum last year on the Dahlgren Long incident, as an insider I also know
that the first tussle with Barber resulted in a puncture and it was this that caused Dahlgren,
when accelerating, to not make it round the corner and crash into Long,
What about Longs reply at the Formula Ford Festival when he was infact banned from
the rest of the racing for taking Dahlgren out of the race?


QUOTES
-----------------------------
It would seem that Robert Dahlgren was leading the race with 3 corners to go.
He collided with Westley Barber, crippling Dahlgrens car.
Pat Long, who was only 2 points behind Dahlgren, was about to pass
Dahlgrens car when Dahlgren drove straight into Long putting him
out of the race and giving Dahlgren the title. Fighting in the gravel trap is a bit wide of the mark.

Touches of Schumacher.
paulzinho []
Race Official
30-09-2001 17:31

------------------------------------------------------------------
I was watching from Luffield... Barber tried overtaking Dahlgren round the outside at
Priory but caught the back of his car and spun himself off, though he did regain 9th place.
After the Barber Dahlgren tussle at Priory, Long caught up with Dahlgren
at Brooklands and they connected... I didn't see anything that would indicate
Dahlgren deliberately driving into Long, they just squeezed each other going round
the corner and both ended up paying for it... talk about dramatic end to the championship!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sep 2001

Regards

Scottie