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| RD5: Perez Storms through to Win from 14th on Grid |
 Sergio Perez won the best race of the year so far with a brilliant drive from 14th on the grid to take the chequered flag 4.2 seconds ahead of Brendon Hartley and Oliver Turvey. Hywel Lloyd became the first driver to break Andy Meyrick's strangle hold on the National Class, taking a win after his fellow Welshman spun out of the race.
FULL REPORT TO FOLLOW SHORTLY
ROUND 5 - Provisional Result
1 - 9 - INT - Sergio PEREZ - MEX - Dallara F308 Mugen Honda - 31:17.244 - 17laps
2 - 3 - INT - Brendon HARTLEY - NZL - Dallara F308 Mercedes HWA - +4.238s
3 - 17 - INT - Oliver TURVEY - GBR - Dallara F308 Mercedes HWA - +6.220s
4 - 2 - INT - Walter GRUBMULLER - AUT - Dallara F308 Mercedes HWA - +6.319s
5 - 24 - INT - John MARTIN - AUS - Dallara F308 Mercedes HWA - +6.454s
6 - 18 - INT - Sam ABAY - AUS - Dallara F308 Mercedes HWA - +7.427s
7 - 8 - INT - Marcus ERICSSON - SWE - Dallara F308 Mercedes HWA - +7.454s
8 - 4 - INT - Jaime ALGUERSUARI - ESP - Dallara F308 Mercedes HWA - +12.808s
9 - 71 - INV - Matteo CHINOSI - ITA - Dallara F308 Mugen Honda - +18.460s
10 - 14 - INT - Philip MAJOR - CAN - Dallara F308 Mercedes HWA - +27.091s
11 - 52 - NAT - Hywel LLOYD - GBR - Dallara F306 Mugen Honda - +33.637s
12 - 51 - NAT - Stefan WILSON - GBR - Dallara F306 Mugen Honda - +34.352s
13 - 12 - INT - Ricardo TEIXEIRA - ANG - Mygale M-08F3 Mercedes HWA - +37.442s
14 - 5 - INT - Viktor JENSEN - ISL - Dallara F308 Mugen Honda - +39.500s
15 - 72 - INV - Federico LEO - ITA - Dallara F308 Mugen Honda - +39.868s
16 - 55 - NAT - Craig REIFF - GER - Dallara F306 Mugen Honda - +49.004s
17 - 11- INT - Esteban GUERRIERI - ARG - Mygale M-08F3 Mercedes HWA - +2 LAPS
Not Classified
56 NAT Andrew MEYRICK GBR Dallara F305 Mugen Honda
54 NAT Kristjan EINAR ISL Dallara F305 Mugen Honda
57 NAT Salman AL KHALIFA BHR Dallara F307 Mugen Honda
50 NAT Jay BRIDGER GBR Dallara F307 Mugen Honda
16 INT Michael DEVANEY IRL Mygale M-08F3 Mercedes HWA
28 INT Nick TANDY GBR Mygale M-08F3 Mercedes HWA
26 INT Atte MUSTONEN FIN Dallara F308 Mercedes HWA
1 INT Max CHILTON GBR Dallara F308 Mercedes HWA
7 INT Sebastian HOHENTHAL SWE Dallara F308 Mercedes HWA
6 INT Henry ARUNDEL GBR Dallara F308 Mercedes HWA
53 NAT Steven GUERRERO COL Dallara F307 Mugen Honda
FASTEST LAPS
11 - INT - Esteban GUERRIERI - Mygale M-08F3 Mercedes HWA - 1:47.378 - 120.68mph - 194.21kph
56 - NAT - Andrew MEYRICK - Dallara F305 Mugen Honda - 1:48.876 - 119.02mph - 191.54kph
72 - INV - Federico LEO - Dallara F308 Mugen Honda - 1:48.725 - 119.18mph - 191.81kph
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| Round 6 Qualifying: Chilton Claims Maiden Pole Position |
Qualifying for Round 6 of the 2008 British F3 International Series was decided on the second fastest lap recorded during today's 30-minute qualifying period. 17-year-old Max Chilton becomes the youngest ever pole position holder, ahead of Matteo Chinosi, Atte Mustonen and Michael Devaney. Andy Meyrick claims his 6th National Class pole of the season in 7th overall.
Round 6 QUALIFYING
1 - 1 - INT - Max CHILTON
2 - 71 - INV - Matteo CHINOSI
3 - 26 - INT - Atte MUSTONEN
4 - 16 - INT - Michael DEVANEY
5 - 7 - INT - Sebastian HOHENTHAL
6 - 11 - INT - Esteban GUERRIERI
7 - 56 - NAT - Andy MEYRICK
8 - 4 - INT - Jaime ALGUERSUARI
9 - 8 - INT - Marcus ERICSSON
10 - 17 - INT - Oliver TURVEY
11 - 3 - INT - Brendon HARTLEY
12 - 18 - INT - SAm ABAY
13 - 24 - INT - John MARTIN
14 - 9 - INT - Sergio PEREZ
15 - 28 - INT - Nick TANDY
16 - 6 - INT - Henry ARUNDEL
17 - 12 - INT - Ricardo TEIXEIRA
18 - 2 - INT - Walter GRUBMULLER
19 - 14 - INT - Philip MAJOR
20 - 54 - NAT - Kristjan EINAR
21 - 50 - NAT - Jay BRIDGER
22 - 53 - NAT - Steven GUERRERO
23 - 55 - NAT - Craig REIFF
24 - 51 - NAT - Stefan WILSON
25 - 57 - NAT - Salman AL KHALIFA
26 - 5 - INT - Viktor JENSEN
27 - 52 - NAT - Hywel LLOYD
28 - 72 - INV - Federico LEO
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| Rounds 5 Qualifying: Italian Pole Position at Monza |
Matteo Chinosi will start at the front of 28 car field for Round 5 of the 2008 British F3 International Series ahead of Max Chilton, Sam Abay and Atte Mustonen after a rain hit session ended with a number of laps being disallowed for cutting the Monza chicanes.
Andy Meyrick, whose fastest time, which had given him overall pole position, had been disallowed, still heads up the National Class ahead of Salmon Al Khalifa and Kristjan Einar.
Qualifying positions for Round 6 are still being worked out by the officials and will be issued shortly.
Round 5 Qualifying
1 - 71 - INV - Matteo CHINOSI - 2:05.472
2 - 1 - INT - Max CHILTON - +1.432s
3 - 18 - INT - Sam ABAY - +1.833s
4 - 26 - INT - Atte MUSTONEN - +2.225s
5 - 11 - INT - Esteban GUERRIERI - +2.480s
6 - 4 - INT - Jaime ALGUERSUARI - +2.694s
7 - 16 - INT - Michael DEVANEY - +2.800s
8 - 7 - INT - Sebastian HOHENTHAL - +2.808s
9 - 17 - INT - Oliver TURVEY - +2.833s
10 - 8 - INT - Marcus ERICSSON - +2.943s
11 - 6 - INT - Henry ARUNDEL - +2.958s
12 - 56 - NAT - Andy MEYRICK - +3.013s
13 - 3 - INT - Brendon HARTLEY - +3.060s
14 - 9 - INT - Sergio PEREZ - +3.515s
15 - 24 - INT - John MARTIN - +3.576s
16 - 2 - INT - Walter GRUBMULLER - +3.737s
17 - 12 - INT - Ricardo TEIXEIRA - +3.879s
18 - 28 - INT - Nick TANDY - +3.889s
19 - 5 - INT - Viktor JENSEN - +4.582s
20 - 57 - NAT - Salman AL KHALIFA - +4.750s
21 - 14 - INT - Philip MAJOR - +4.887s
22 - 54 - NAT - Kristjan EINAR - +5.057s
23 - 50 - NAT - Jay BRIDGER - +5.637s
24 - 51 - NAT - Stefan WILSON - +5.647s
25 - 53 - NAT - Steven GUERRERO - +5.753s
26 - 55 - NAT - Craig REIFF - +5.764s
27 - 52 - NAT - Hywel LLOYD - +6.505s
28 - 72 - INV - Federico LEO - +7.827s
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| Tander does the rain dance whilst McFadyen loves the dry in a day of changes at Mallala |
 Two vastly different sessions have produced two vastly different starting orders for tomorrow's Kumho Tyres Australian Formula 3 Championship races, after an action packed day today at Mallala raceway.
Qualifying one was held on a wet racetrack that dried as the 20-minute session progressed, whilst the afternoons second session was a thriller with the lead changing several times in the first truly dry conditions the F3 cars have experienced this weekend.
Leanne Tander topped the first session by a massive one-second margin over Nathan Caratti (Team BRM), whilst Neil McFadyen withstood the attacks of several drivers to score pole for race two – his fourth for the season.
In qualifying one Tander timed her lap perfectly to score the top spot by over a second, ahead of Caratti and South Australian driver Nick Percat (#4 Walkinshaw Performance Team BRM F307 – Mercedes).
The track started fully wet however a drying surface as the session entered its last five minutes ensured a dramatic end to the session with times quickly dropping – until Tander was able to bank her lap within the last minute to score her third pole position of the year.
National class driver Karl Reindler was an astounding fourth outright in his R-Tek Motorsport Dallara F304 Spiess, finishing ahead of Stuart Kostera, Mat Sofi, Neil McFadyen and rookie John Magro – with Chris Gilmour the next of the National Class runners in ninth.
Qualifying two turned into a shootout for pole – the top spot changing hands with free abandon before Neil McFadyen was able to turn a last-ditch lap to score the top spot in his Piccola Scuderia #27 entry.
Caratti was again second, ahead of Nick Percat, Sofi and Kostera.
The top four cars were covered by just .18s, setting up a tantalisingly close battle for the outright honours in race two tomorrow.
Karl Reindler held off Lee Farrell to score his second F3 National Class pole position of the day in the second session, though Farrell was importantly ahead of championship rival Chris Gilmour - who was able to extend a clear lead over his season long rival at Oran Park three weeks ago.
Behind the leading contenders, Gold Star championship leader James Winslow struggled badly today in his Astuti Motorsport Dallara – struggling to rebound from a short day testing on Wednesday this week.
Winslow will start 11th in race one and 9th in the second.
Andrew Mill topped local driver Jesse Wakeman in both Trophy class sessions.
”It was one of those sessions where the track was slippery so we had to bank a lap when we had clear track in front,” Neil McFadyen said.
“Getting heat into the tyres was important to go and get a lap time. It was good to get onto the front row and give us the best chance for tomorrow.
”We were aiming for a dry setup in race one but the rain came before the session started to we were a bit caught out and that was the end result. I’m pretty confident that we have the speed - so if we have that we can pass and get to the front.” He said.
Leanne Tander said her race one effort was one of appropriate timing.
”I’m really happy, the car was great,” she enthused.
”I was pretty confident that we were able to do it – things went to plan. Wet sessions are all about right place, right time and I was able to time my lap at the right point and get pole position.
”I was a bit disappointed with qualifying two because the car was capable of getting pole position but I didn’t quite make the most of it.
”We are third on the grid which isn’t too bad – I’m pretty confident that we will go well in the race.” She said.
National class polesitter Karl Reindler said that he was praying for rain tomorrow.
”We really only have a hope of racing the outright cars if it rains in the races,” Reindler said of his National class, F304 specification Dallara.
”It’s great to be back in these cars – they are fantastic to drive and are great fun. We’re having well but we need rain to compete with the 07 cars.”
Two, 14-lap races will contest round four of the 2008 Kumho Tyres Australian Formula 3 Championship for the CAMS Gold Star.
James Winslow leads the race for the 52nd Australian Drivers Championship ahead of Neil McFadyen, Nathan Caratti and Leanne Tander.
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| Torrential Rain Forces Qualifying to be Postponed |
Qualifying for Round 5 of the 2008 British F3 International Series had to be abandoned after torrential rain made the circuit at Monza unsafe from the drivers to run at speed on.
The start of the session was delayed but was red flagged after just six minutes after many cars were spinning in the treacherous conditions. Qualifying will be decided in the second session due to take place tomorrow at 11:40 (10:40 BST), with the fastest lap time counting for Round 5 and the second fastest time counting for Round 6.
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| Alguersuari Fastest in Monza Free Practice |
Spain's Jaime Alguersuari was the fastest driver in the two free practice sessions today at Monza, 0.086 seconds faster than fellow Red Bull / Carlin driver Brendon Hartley. Esteban Guerrieri was two tenths behind the lead driver; the Argentine looking for the first F3 win for Mygale and Ultimate this weekend.
Max Chilton was the quickest driver in the morning session and his lap time of 1:46.640 was good enough for 4th in the combined time sheet, 0.002 faster than Round 3 winner Sergio Perez.
Andy Meyrick continued his National Class steamroller, clocking a 1m47.064 second lap in the afternoon session.
Missing from the session was Salman Al Khalifa, a problem with his visa delaying his travel plans, and Alistair Jackson, who will be absent from the Double R lineup this weekend.
All eyes will be on the first qualifying session at 17:05 (16:05 BST) today to see who can claim pole position for Round 5 of the 2008 British F3 International Series.
CLICK HERE for times from Free Practice 1
CLICK HERE for times from Free Practice 2
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| Unpredictable results make Friday practice a lottery at Mallala |
TORRENTIAL Downpours have made opening practice for the fourth round of the Kumho Tyres Australian Formula 3 Championship a battle to merely stay on the track itself.
Greasy conditions in first practice and completely saturated conditions in the second have also made the form guide for this weekend even less clearer, several surprise names appearing at the pointy end of the time sheets today.
Piccola Scuderia driver Neil McFadyen topped the first session ahead of Leanne Tander whilst Scud Racing’s Stuart Kostera topped the saturated afternoon practice in his Dallara F307 Mercedes.
Whilst McFadyen’s time of 1m07.29s represented a greasy, yet not completely wet track in P1, Kostera could only manage 1m24.88s in the second session in conditions that turned to the ribbon of Mallala tarmac into a ribbon of water more that looked more like a river, than a racetrack.
Surprises came in the form of National class drivers – and rivals for the 2004 championship fight – Karl Reindler and Chris Gilmour.
Whilst Gilmour was third fastest in the first session, 2004 champion Reindler took his R-Tek F3 Dallara F304 Spiess Opel to second overall in practice two, using his vast experience gained from years in Australian & British F3, and A1GP competition to score the strong result.
Team BRM and F3 rookie John Magro (#3 Rockstar Energy Drink Dallara F307) used that he could also factor if the rain remains – as forecast – this weekend after scoring the third quickest time in P2.
South Australians Nick Percat and Jesse Wakeman both missed todays running; Percat due to existing testing commitments interstate whilst Wakeman – who has more miles at Mallala than any other track – was confident enough after Wednesday’s shakedown of his rebuilt car to save his running for qualifying tomorrow.
Session two fast-man Kostera said that whilst he was pleased to see the #35 car on top of the timesheet, today's results meant little in the long run.
”I guess we won the Friday Puddle Splashing contest!,” The affable West Aussie said.
”It’s nice to be fastest but it doesn’t mean a lot. It’s hard to judge wether we have made any progress with this car, compared to where we were before the round, until we get some dry running.
”If it stays wet we may have a shot, but none of the guys further up (the championship) order did many laps in the wet session so it’s pretty hard to work out who’s where.”
Such was the unpredictability of the second session, the top five results were made up of two championship class cars, two National class cars and the impressive Trophy class entry of Andrew Mill.
The Property Solutions Group racing driver was fifth in P2 – just 1.1 seconds from the ultimate pace.
Heavy rain, hail and winds are forecast for the remainder of the weekends activities at Mallala raceway, the unpredictable results that have centred around F3 this season set to continue.
Earlier this season race two at Eastern Creeks’ season opener was cancelled after a massive downpour prior to the start flooded the track to an extent where it was judged unsafe for cars to compete.
The cars and stars from the Kumho Tyres Australian Formula 3 Championship will contest two qualifying sessions tomorrow – in advance of two 14-lap races to be held Sunday.
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| Oakes to miss Monza to Challenge at Rockingham |
Oliver Oakes has opted to miss next weekend’s (18 May) British F3 International Series round being held at Monza in Italy.
The decision has been taken in order to catch up on the development of his Eurotek Motorsport run Dallara/Mercedes in preparation for the second half of the season.
Speaking from the team’s Norfolk base, the 20-year old said: “It seems like the sensible thing to do. Not doing Monza gives us time to prepare for the race at Rockingham (26 May). In terms of the Championship, we’re on the back-foot now and I think we’d simply be making up the numbers if we went to Italy.”
After an encouraging F3 debut at Croft in April, Oakes is now hoping to be able to compete for victories as the season progresses.
“The team did a great job at Croft. I finished 12th from 17th on the grid and beat several of the bigger teams but I don’t want to be aiming just for finishes – I want to be winning.”
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| Four races - three winners |
 With two race weekends contested it still is difficult to identify a favourite for the 2008 ATS Formula 3 Cup season. After all, the current leader, Italy’s Matteo Chinoso, lies just ten points ahead of sixth placed Brazilian Rafael Suzuki. Hence, every race and every single point scored may turn out to be crucial, in the future. Particularly Gerhard Tweraser, Sebastian Saavedra and Frédéric Vervisch will give their very best to give the Italian championship leader a hard time. Still, they also should keep an eye on Johnny Cecotto. The Venezuelan entered the Formula 3 Cup only on the Whitsun weekend but secured the win in the second round of the weekend and leaped up to seventh championship position right away.
The two races held in the Magdeburger Börde region again proved to be thrilling and exciting, with none of the drivers succeeding in securing back-to-back wins. Following an amazing start into the Saturday round, Austrian Gerhard Tweraser prevailed in superior style. Laurens Vanthoor finished runner-up on the Volkswagen home circuit, thus securing his best result in the season to date, and Sebastian Saavedra came third. The winner of the Sunday round, however, had to work clearly harder to prevail. Only in the penultimate lap, Johnny Cecotto passed Frédéric Vervisch for the lead to cross the finish line as race winner. While Matteo Chinosi finished third. Still, the Italian came close to losing his championship lead, at the Motorsport Arena Oschersleben. In the first race of the weekend, he received a stop-and-go penalty for a false start but didn’t come in and consequently was shown the black flag. Therefore, Tweraser temporarily could take the championship lead. In the second round, however, both the Austrian and Saavedra failed to score, thus offering Chinosi the chance of regaining the top position in the championship.
The first two laps of the fourth ATS Formula 3 Cup round proved to be disastrous for many favourites. Saavedra made a poor start and Laurens Vanthoor took the lead, followed by Gerhard Tweraser. With a win, Vanthoor could have compensated for his poor start into the season but in turn one of lap two, his hopes for a great race result came to a sudden end. Vanthoor and Tweraser made contact and jointly spun off the track. While the Dutchman could rejoin the race to chase the field, his opponent was forced into early retirement. Vanthoor, however, displayed fantastic fighting spirit and passed car by car to finish eighth and score a point, in the end.
The only similarity between the Hockenheim and Oschersleben weekends: the starts of Sebastian Saavedra. It’s true, in the first of the two rounds, the Colombian succeeded in getting away from his grid position - but lost two places, nevertheless. “I just focused on the start itself,” he revealed after the race, “And didn’t bother if it would be a good or a bad one.” On the grid of the second round, however, it was back to normal: engine stalled and dropped back to a midfield position. And later, a collision made a sudden end to his race. The 17-year old must be careful to not be left behind, by his competitors. At least, he succeeded in scoring three extra points for his two pole positions and a fastest race lap.
In the ATS Formula 3 Trophy, Bernd Herndlhofer also successfully defended his lead but having finished fourth and second, he failed to open a gap on his chasers. While Marco Oberhauser and Denis Swart were the race winners of the weekend. In the second round, Swart even seemed to be on the way to secure points for the overall rankings but in the closing stages of the race, he was passed by Vanthoor and had to settle for finishing ninth. At the same time, Shirley van der Lof once again delivered in fine style. The fast Dutch girl came second and fourth to secure fifth position in the Trophy ranking.
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| Following the footsteps of Häkkinen, Räikkönen and Rosberg |
 In the first four rounds of the 2008 Formula 3 Euro Series season, Mika Mäki (Mücke Motorsport) succeeded in making a truly impressive debut. The Finn already has celebrated two race wins and despite having been forced into retirement, once, he currently holds the championship lead in the planet’s most competitive young-driver series.
With these successes, Mäki is following the footsteps of Finland's greatest racing drivers, Mika Häkkinen, Kimi Räikkönen and Keke Rosberg. All the three Fins won the Formula One World Championship - and that‘s the title Mäki and every other young gun also dreams about winning.
20-year old Mika Mäki joined the Formula 3 Euro Series this winter as reigning Italian Formula 3 Champion. Team Mücke Motorsport was the ideal choice for him as team Principal Peter Mücke loves to work with rookies - and does so successfully. This was proven by the Berlin based squad for the first time back in 2003. Then, they finished runner-up in the maiden Formula 3 Euro Series season with rookie Christian Klien. Germany’s up-and-coming Formula 1 ace Sebastian Vettel and Sébastien Buemi, Switzerland’s biggest motor-racing hope, are further examples of Mücke’s successful work with Formula 3 newcomers.
The fact that Mika Mäki raced for two years in the Formula BMW Germany before making the step to the Italian Formula 3 Championship also proves to be helpful, now. Having done so, he already knows most of the Formula 3 Euro Series venues and hasn’t to learn the tracks.
With two wins under his belt, the hopeful young racer from Tampere has won 50 percent of the races contested to date and holds the championship lead. And he even could have added some more points to his tally. In the Sunday race of the Hockenheim weekend, he and Jean-Karl Vernay collided while battling it out for fifth position. So, he has scored 19 points, just as the current runner-up, Edoardo Mortara (Signature-Plus).
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| Karl Reindler Joins R-Tek for Mallala and Formula 3 return |
 West Australian Karl Reindler is to re-join Formula 3 at Round 4 of the Kuhmo Tyres sponsored Australian Championship to be held at the Mallala circuit this weekend (May 16-18).
Reindler, regarded as one of the best talents in Australian motor sport in the past decade, was the 2004 Australian Formula 3 Champion at the tender age of 19 and since that time has continued to excel both nationally and internationally in a vast variety of cars and championships.
Reindler has driven in Europe in Formula 3, has stood on the podium for Australia in A1 GP, competed at Macau, and this year has a full season in the Fujitsu V8 Supercar Championship in addition to competing in the 2008 Daytona 24 hour classic.
His return to the Formula 3 ranks will re-unite him with his 2004 Championship winning race engineer Ian Richards, now the owner of Adelaide based R-Tek Motorsport Services.
‘We will be running Karl in the national class in one of our Dallara F304 Spiess powered chassis and I have no doubt that he will well and truly ‘put the cat among the pigeons’ among the outright Championship contenders. He is that good’, Richards added.
Reindler had his first Formula 3 race at the Clipsal 500 Adelaide meeting in 2003 and went on to win the Championship the next year.
He is currently in 8th position in the 2008 Fujitsu Championship after two rounds in his first season in V8 Supercars.
Commenting on his return to 2008 Kumho Tyres Australian Formula 3 Championship Karl Reindler said:
“Running in Formula 3 again as well as campaigning the Howard Racing V8 Supercar has got to be a good thing. Naturally a main game V8 Supercar drive is a path I am pursuing, but I’ve always enjoyed open-wheelers, and want to maintain the particular skills to drive them.”
It will be great to be back with Ian (Richards) and to race at Mallala again, where I had my first ever Formula 3 test back in 2003’.
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