Japanese F3 results

[*formula3*]

race 1
1. Courtney
2. KAtaoka
3. Quintarelli
4. Montin
5. Shibata




race 2:
1. Courtney
2. Kataoka
3. Hosokawa
4. Montin
5. Quintarelli

[climb]

Courtney seems to be the dominant driver this year, do you have info about timesheets?
Did he win easy?

[aussie_f3]

He was almost 3 secs a lap faster than anyone else in the races.

[climb]

How can such a difference be explanied?
James certainly is a good driver, but 3 sec per lap....

And... where did you find race reports?

[Gaz]

Thats why he escaped to Japan. Yeah he is a good driver but look through the list of drivers there's no competition and he's in the best car with the best team. Perhaps one of the other teams should call Robbie Kerr up!

[aussie_f3]

Originally posted by Gaz
Thats why he escaped to Japan. Yeah he is a good driver but look through the list of drivers there's no competition and he's in the best car with the best team. Perhaps one of the other teams should call Robbie Kerr up!

Escaped?....wrong words I think - he went to do a job and he is doing it well.
Send Robbie over, it would make for better racing thats for sure....btw, what is the 2002 British F3 Champion doing this year?...I know he tried to "escape" to Formula Nippon but couldnt get a drive - anyone have any idea?

[racer69]

what is Kerr up to this year?

Top effort by Courtney.

[climb]

Originally posted by Gaz
Thats why he escaped to Japan. Yeah he is a good driver but look through the list of drivers there's no competition and he's in the best car with the best team

I thought the best team was Dome, who won the last three championships

[BennyBoy1978]

well as bob said "the times they are a changing"

[Gaz]

Escaped is right cos if he'd stayed in Europe he would have got annialated again and his career really would be at an end. He goes to Japan and looks good because there's no competition!

Yes Dome was once the top team but they are now running there own car which as yet as proved in the UK isn't developed. TOMS are always there or there abouts at Macau and Korea year after year so of course Courtney's with the top team!

The latest with Robbie is that he's holding out for a seat with Brand Motorsport as their third driver in the F3000 this year. Noticed he was at Donny yesterday.

[aussie_f3]

Originally posted by Gaz
Escaped is right cos if he'd stayed in Europe he would have got annialated again and his career really would be at an end. He goes to Japan and looks good because there's no competition!

Oh ok Gaz...so let me get this right....Robbie went over to Japan as well and couldnt get a drive - so he wasnt good enough to even be in the "no competition" ranks - is his career over? James on the other hand is beating all comers and because he is recognised as being a good driver he gets the top car in the top team - so this is a bad thing?? - btw, when did he get "annialated" (sic) last?

I think the racing world sees Robbie's 2002 Championship win as hollow following Courtney's F1 test accident and subsequent recovery time and therefore the job offers are few and far between....how long will Robbie hold out for a seat...I think we can read this to mean he is wandering around the pits begging for a drive and getting no results - pity because he can drive a bit on his day!

[Gaz]

Yeah the racing world see's Robbie's win as hollow because of James's huge PR rollercoaster which suggests that Courtney only didn't win the title because of his F1 accident.

Robbie wants to stay in Europe and prove he is good enough for the big league unlike Courtney who swans off to Japan racing against very average drivers and so looks good as he annialates them by over 3 seconds a lap! Surely any team boss with half a brain cell can see through this.

I don't doubt he is an OK driver but certainly he aint F1 stuff. Ah Wil Davison, here's another PR hyped up Aussie who seems to be falling already! I see he's been too the Courtney school of excuses reading his PR release! Apparently nothing changed on his car between testing when he was at the front and qualifying but his car just wasn't driveable!Umm...hows that work then? May it just be that everyone that was driving at 80% during testing has suddenly upped their game for the real thing!

[mac]

Originally posted by Gaz
Robbie wants to stay in Europe and prove he is good enough for the big league unlike Courtney who swans off to Japan racing against very average drivers and so looks good as he annialates them by over 3 seconds a lap!

So why did Robbie try so hard to land a Nippon drive, if Japan is such a wasteland? You still haven't answered this.

Ah Wil Davison, here's another PR hyped up Aussie who seems to be falling already!

You've given him one race!!!!!

Apparently nothing changed on his car between testing when he was at the front and qualifying but his car just wasn't driveable!Umm...hows that work then?

I sure as hell don't know. Let's ask the expert, Gaz - Gaz, firstly how much experience in F3 cars do you have?

[corkholio]

The newest F3000 entry list has Kerr driving for Den Bla Avis.

[AussieGuns]

Gaz - Do you know anyhting about racing at all....or are you just a one eyed idiot with no knowledge of motorsport at all???

Robbie Kerr is a very good driver, however, don't slam Courtney for winning easily! And if you knew anything...you would know that James has won easily in everything he has put his bum into....including British F3....before his accident!! And if you think all those apparent excuses weren't logical.....you crash a F1 car at 290km into a tyre wall......then you can slag him off!!

As pointed out by Mac....you have given Will one race....

Get off his back you complete idiot.....Maybe you can convince the British press that Davison is no good....because they seem to think he is something special!! Go figure.

Now....how about you reply when you have some knowledge of motor racing...oh and a brain!!!

[Extra Rib]

Seems to me like you guys suggest that you have to make a decision who you like - surely it's possible to admire several drivers. JC did a terrific job here in the UK and has now gone on to have success in Japan. Is that a crime?

[gomick]

go james - formula nippon champ in 2004 honda F1 driver in 2005.....

[JR Ewing]

What is Courtney supposed to do?
He's got no budget to do anything in Europe and he's offered employement in Japanese F3 for which he doubtless gets paid!
He can dominate this series and maybe do very well in Macau etc. and it may, or may not, lead on to something else but without the cash it's better than sitting at home and whining

[Gaz]

Anyboby who doubts what I'm saying about Davison go to crash.net and read his PR release from Donington. It states how it was a 'stunning' debut I think. Man, if Davison's debut was stunning what was Green, Piquet etc's. The guy qualified at the bottom of the top 20 and then just managed to get himself into the top 10 thanks to people being thrown out and crashing out. It's just excuses and PR rubbish that get to me. To anyone at Donington he told the commentators there that it was just his fault he hadn't qualified well and then suddenly in his PR release the car has mysteriously changed from being a frontrunning one to undriveable without anyone touching it! I'm willing to give anyone a chance but excuses, I don't go for them that's another reason why Courtney got on my back. Anyone that stands up and says yeh, I'm not quick but it was down to me, respect, but it's people that have to resort to excuse after excuse that I can't bide with.

Yeah the British press built him up but they also built Courtney up last year and look what happened. Robbie was getting on top before Courtney's crash remember. Didn't he win at Silverstone and win at Castle Combe. And considering he still managed to win at Oulton Park on his return from injury there's no excuses. He just bottled under the pressure. Every time he came into a battle with Robbie on the track when it counted towards the end of the year he lost it. Thruxton comes to mind.

I also think that if Robbie can raise the budget for F3000 then James sure could. Remember who his manger is, a certain Mr Alan Gow. Now if this guy can't raise sponsership for anyone no one can.

I answered my question about Robbie not going to Nippon before. And anyway Nippon is proven more competitive than Japanese F3. If Courtney had gone there it wouldn't have been quite so bad but going to Japan to race a THIRD year of F3 just because he knew that he would wip everyone in site because any decent F3 driver comes to Europe is not on. Look through recent years, Matsuura, Sato etc. Any decent Japanese driver on the F3 ring on the ladder comes to Europe.

[cos]

I can't say I know much about Japanese F3, but it does seem a lot less competitive than FNippon. The cynical side of me says that JC has just gone there to look good against a mediocre field. On the other hand, money counts for everything, and if he can't find the budget to do F3000 or similar....

[aussie_f3]

Did James kick your dog or something Gaz????

[The Nobody Guy]

Hi, I'm a long time reader, first time poster!

I have to agree with Gaz on the overhyped PR. So far this year we've seen a lot of hype for Will Davison (and Will Power, the other Australian). Just as an example, there's a whole lot of Australians sitting on this forum writing over exhuberant c**p about those two drivers (I remember some posts two months ago that predicted them to be 1st and 2nd in the drivers championship at the end of the year!).

When they don't perform, everybody attacks the drivers, when the drivers are probably battling trying to do their own thing. Maybe its better to stay quiet while they come up to speed. Let their results speak for themselves because hyping up backrunners is just embarrasing.

And I have to say, from what I've heard about Piquet, he really was targeted by some horrible people - they even measured every dimension thinkable on his car the day before to ensure it was legal, and then the next day the brake ducts turned out to be a MINOR technical infringment (although one wonders why they weren't standard parts).

[aussie_f3]

Welcome Mr Nobody Guy....and thankyou for your intelligent post.

I think 6 race meetings will provide the necessary base on which to make a fair assessment of any drivers abilities - thats my opinion anyway - I know Gaz wont agree with me but thats the way it goes!!

[The Nobody Guy]

For sure, 6 race meetings will give a good idea. But don't just look for race wins. Placing in the top 5 by the end of 6 races shows good potential, as long as its accompanied by strong qualifying.

I also believe you have to show some aggressive passing (without crashing), and an ability to finish strongly in the wet. (keep in mind that drivers who aren't from Europe aren't as experienced in the cold & wet conditions, so they are less likely to star in the wet)

[Gaz]

My problem with Courtney as it looks will be the same with Davison this year is that themselves and all there little people that manage and do there PR for them make they out to be superstars, talk of them being better than anyone else and how they’re going to walk it and then when it comes to them actually producing the goods on the circuit they can’t! Simple as, F1 crash or no F1 crash apparently James was meant to walk it last year and win every race according to all his hype yet before his accident Robbie was getting on top and after it we all know what happened. Even if he’d been present at Rockingham and won both races he still wouldn’t have won the title and as above he seemed well enough to still win on his return at Oulton. If he and his PR people had kept shut last year and he hadn’t won then not a lot would have been said and perhaps his F1 crash would be more of a valid excuse but the way they where talking he should have had the title wrapped up by then anyway!

As with Davison the same, built up and up because of his pre-season test pace gets to the opener and he’s miles off where he should be according to all his hype. And then when he doesn’t succeed and his PR still says it was a ‘stunning’ debut then I’m sorry but it just makes me laugh. Anybody that just gets on with it I’m willing to give a chance to. If his PR release and what he’d said at the circuit matched up which was as above that it was his fault that he’d been off the pace rather than blaming his car for becoming undriveable without anyone touching it then fair enough. We’ll see with him anyway but I think in this years championship he’s out of his depth. There’s a lot of much bigger fish in there than him that have proved themselves on the race track rather than just talked it off it. I don’t see Jamie Green needing to send PR releases out saying how ‘stunning’ his debut was. His debut was exactly that and he is a real star but what he did on the circuit at the weekend said it all, he doesn’t need it shoved in everyone’s face by some bum boy who knows nowt about racing. Even Piquet the king of PR is starting to prove that what is being said about him is right.

I don’t know what it is with you Aussie’s. You seem to think that every driver of yours that comes to Europe is the next Schumacher or Ayrton Senna and they’re going to annialate every driver under the sun. Granted only Mark Webber out of any of the recent cast are worthy of being talked up as we stand at the moment. Courtney was well off the pace in his opening season signed for the best Formula Ford team in Van Diemen and won the title mainly thanks to the fact that the Van Diemen was marginally better than the Mygale that year. Granted he is a good driver but not this superstar you lot make him out to be. If Davidson was in a Van Diemen that year I think it would have been a different story. Same with Power and Davison this year although with Power I’m still undecided as he is hampered by running that Ralt. I suppose Mandelson’s gonna walk the Euro Series as well?