Am I lame or was there not F3 at Rockingham this weekend?

[mercy_dees]

Sorry, having a blonde moment, where the F3's out this weekend? Or did they all get caught in the traffic heading passed Knebworth up the A1?

[alonso11]

It seems that they managed the full distance of both races:

http://www.mst-group.co.uk/meeting.a...03&event=33105

[paulzinho]

Yep Nelsinho won race one and came 2nd in race two after reeling in Green, just ran out of laps!

[mercy_dees]

Cool thanks for that, I always seem to be one step behind on what happens, oh the joys of restricted net access at work! If any one is going to Spa I am considering making the trip but seem to be bam boozled by all the hotels etc on the web. Anyone got some hints? It will be my first driving trip abroard and I am trying to rule out potential blonde moments before I get there!

[rdjones]

and if you weren't there u missed 2 cracking races - i'm by no means an F3 fan, but I have to say I enjoyed both races.

[ghinzani]

Camp in the forests and live on frites with mayonaise is my top tip for Spa. Oh and dont take so much pro-plus to keep you awake for the drive back to the ferry terminal that you then spend the entire sea-crossing wide awake, only to fall asleep as soon as you hit england and then have to take another load to drive back home... its not fun.

[PaulSands]

gotta disagree about race one..i thought it was a bit of a snooze-fest

[bella]

they were good for f3 though, especially the first. felt so sorry for will power after he was mugged by van der merwe in race 2 though!

[paulzinho]

Hows the points standings now then?

[Mathias]

Jeepers! You Nelsinho fans are as blind as Scummi fans!

I mean: "Yep Nelsinho won race one and came 2nd in race two after reeling in Green, just ran out of laps!"

REELING IN GREEN? Green was storming away, and the little greasy haired feller only caught up with him thanks to the safety car. Gimme a break.

[Mathias]

Originally posted by mercy_dees
Cool thanks for that, I always seem to be one step behind on what happens, oh the joys of restricted net access at work! If any one is going to Spa I am considering making the trip but seem to be bam boozled by all the hotels etc on the web. Anyone got some hints? It will be my first driving trip abroard and I am trying to rule out potential blonde moments before I get there!

Mercy, mate,

If you don't want to slum it in the campsites (and I'm with you on that) and you're driving, you want to check out some of the nearby small towns and villages, mamy of which are full of little b&b's and "logis". The logis are generally reasonably priced too, and they have a comprehensive website on www.logis.be - which is helpfully in several languages - you can search using a map or a drop-down list of towns. My advice is don't go with the obvious Spa, though. Try the little places like Stavelot or Malmedy.

Maybe see you there!

dotdotdotcomma
(Sorry, we're having some problems with our server at the moment...,)

[Mathias]

PS the points standings are: Alan Van-Swerver is STILL ****ing the pants of everyone else.

[sgrok]

Katherine Legge provided the best F3 entertainment I've seen in a long time.

Plenty of drivers went flying off that nasty chicane kerb and plenty of damage was done, but Katherine went that bit further. The girl is very very lucky she didn't land on her head.

Question is, will rockingham do something about that kerb?

[PaulSands]

lose it...let them take turn 1 full pelt, that will increase the spectacle

[bella]

no because in the end the black bit belongs to the drivers and they're not to use the rest. the cones are there to stop them doing the launching thing and if they choose to flatten the cones they deserve what they get.

but what do they do instead? they're not allowed to use that corner so what can replace that chicane?

we had this discussion after the formula renaults but i think with the f3 cars doing a little bit more damage it's worth raising again.

[PaulSands]

it wasnt just the F3's the TVR's and SEATS suffered from hitting them too

[bella]

yeah but the f3's split tubs and all sorts of things. single seaters tend to launch better where as seats etc just take out sumps and get damage from hitting the cones, right?
(except the clios but they fly at any available opportunity)

[PaulSands]

why can't they use turn 1 as is?

[Muttley]

It's to do with using 2 consecutive corners on an oval when the cars aren't designed for oval racing.

[bella]

because there's some law about only using 1 corner of the oval per lap or something?

[PaulSands]

excepting the start of course...who's law MSA?
I thought that the organisers at Rockingham had been trying to encourage the F3's run a full oval race

[piquetfan]

Originally posted by Mathias
Jeepers! You Nelsinho fans are as blind as Scummi fans!

I mean: "Yep Nelsinho won race one and came 2nd in race two after reeling in Green, just ran out of laps!"

REELING IN GREEN? Green was storming away, and the little greasy haired feller only caught up with him thanks to the safety car. Gimme a break.

Well, that's not what I read.

from crash.net

Race two proved to be a real thriller for the massive crowd, with two safety car periods and a dramatic finish.

A startline tangle between Adam Carroll and Danny Watts produced the first safety car period, but that didn't faze Green who got away superbly well to take the lead. In contrast, Piquet was slow away from the other front row position and was bundled down to fourth at the first corner behind Power and Piccione.

While Green consolidated his lead, Piquet set about fighting back into contention and dived ahead of Piccione into Deane on the eighth lap. A lap later the safety car was back out after Katherine Legge had a massive incident at the chicane, flicking the car high in the air over the kerbs. The car stood on its gearbox before crashing back to the ground and spinning out. Although she was unharmed, the safety car was scrambled as the emergency crews attended.

Green once again kept his cool at the re-start, but behind him the pack was incredibly tightly bunched into Deane as Piquet tried to grab second from Power. Two laps later, Piquet finally made his move on Power at the same corner and with three laps left he set off after Green. The gap came down quickly and Piquet closed to within half a second as they dashed over the line.

But as you said, AVDW has the title in his pocket - and he deserves it. But Nelsinho's six poles (some in unknown circuits) and his results overall are impressive, like Green's performances (another rookie).

[Little]

Originally posted by PaulSands
why can't they use turn 1 as is?

The reason is because of licencing issues. The international licence only allows them to use one banked corner at a time. (Thats why the chicane is in place). They could use the oval course, but it would be under a different licence, for an oval track so Rockingham would have to apply to use the different track with that series. In effect, everytime the track changes they need to re-apply to the MSA for a licence for the changes to meet the specification of the different licences.

Hope that makes sense!

Liam

[mark ch]

Rockingham is a good circuit for good drivers, the SEAT drivers were idiots and lucky they didn't seriously harm themselves.
Rockingham bites that's why the floppy markers are there. If the cars don't slow at turn 1 the speeds would be horiffic, cars would need to be stronger, costs go more though the roof.
there's a good photo on the SEAT webpage of two cars all wheels off the trackby yards, my feeling is those drivers are cheating by cutting the corner and not using the track. and should have there licenses endorsed. and rewarded with TV time.
The F3 flying incident was also caused by not using the track. I flagging on the outside of the oval. Her stupidity could have caused a worse accident. F3 cars aren't designed for rallycross so don't use them as such.
Seems strange nearly all GT's for 75 mins got though ok.
If those floppy marker were truck tyres I bet the F3 would all get though too, as one touch would mean end of race

[littleman]

The F3 boys (and girls) are taking that chicane in 6th gear with little more than a slight lift. They will always drive the car to the limits it's just that the kerbing is ruthless if you make a small mistake. Either tighten it up or get rid of it.The pit exit road also comes out virtually on the racing line - that can't be right.I must say that for the first time this year Piquet really did catch my eye -he was sensational and might actually be as good as all the hype suggests.