Dramatic British F3/GT Finale at Brands Hatch

29 September 2003

The final races of the British F3 and British GT Championships delivered action and drama aplenty at Brands Hatch over the weekend (27/28 September) as titles were won and lost. Added to some superb support race action on the challenging Grand Prix circuit, the event proved a fine day's entertainment for the 7500-strong crowd.

The drama was nowhere greater than in the final of the BDRC British GT Championship where accidents eliminated two of the three title contenders and left the way open for Tom Herridge and Rollcentre Racing to claim the championship title.

In the concluding two rounds of the British F3 Championship gripped by AVON Tyres, young Nelson Piquet Junior was in awesome form. Even though he had never raced at Brands before, he dominated both races in impressive style and threw down the gauntlet for his 2004 rivals. "I think we're going to do a good job next year," he promised. "Everything had worked as we wanted it to this weekend; the whole team deserved it." Piquet's stunning performance earned him the 76 Racing Fuels F3 driver of the day award.

Jamie Green bounced back from spinning out of the opening race to finish third in the later race and secured the championship runner-up position from piquet as a result. However, it was a dramatic F3 debut weekend for Lewis Hamilton who was taken to hospital after crashing out of the second race along with Tor Graves. Hamilton was released from hospital on Monday morning with nothing worse than bruising, while Graves will have x-rays done on his wrist.

The F3 races also heralded Ernesto Viso as scholarship champion at the expense of season-long rivals Steven Kane and Karun Chandhok. The matter was settled in the final race when Viso and Kane tangled at Druids and spun out of the race. "It’s a shame we couldn’t win the second race as well, but that’s the way it goes," said the teenager. "I am just so thrilled to be champion and so pleased for the P1 Motorsport team, because it’s been a tough year and everyone has played their part in my success."

The action started early in the 27-car BRDC British GT final when the championship leading Mosler MT900R of Jamie Derbyshire and Shaun Balfe was sent flying into the gravel at Paddock Hill Bend. Then, when the TVR T400R of Shane Lynch/Piers Johnson crashed heavily after contact with a backmarker, Herridge and Martin Short were left to take victory and the title for Herridge. Into a fine second place came the Chevrolet Corvette of Peter Le Bas and Ricky Cole, and young Cole earned the 76 Racing Fuels GT driver of the day award for his performance.

In the GT Cup class, a superb field was headed until the final lap by the Lotus Elise of Chris Yandell/Dean Lanzante. However, a storming drive by Neil Cunningham and Adam Sharpe took the Richard Thorne Motorsport Morgan Aero 8 ahead almost within sight of the flag. "That win took 20 years of experience," said an elated Cunningham after a thrilling contest.

Close finishes were the order of the day across a superb programme of supporting races. In the Carlube TVR Tuscan Challenge, Lee Caroline was crowned as champion in the opening race by finishing third as Chris Stockton beat Philip Keen to the line by four-hundredths of a second! Caroline then celebrated by winning the second race in style from David Mason.

With a £100,000 prize fund at stake, the Holiday Inn SEAT Cupra Super Prix was bound to produce some dramatic racing and that was certainly the case as the final closed the afternoon with a 27-lap race on the Brands Indy circuit. A stunning charge from Stefan Hodgetts earned him the £30,000 winner's prize while Stephen Colbert took second and £25,000 as James Pickford claimed third and £20,000.

The pair of races for the Powertrain Caterham R400 Challenge delivered two unbelievably close finishes. In the first race Dillon Battistini beat Daniel Stilp and Jon Barnes to the flag as just 0.152s covered the three cars! Stilp moved closer to the title in the second race when he beat John Gaw to the line by 0.021s. The title will be decided back at Brands in mid-October.

The Dunlop Mini Se7en and Mini Miglia races supplied typical crowd-pleasing action and wins for Tim Sims and Richard Wager, while Ryan Parouty sealed the BRDC Single Seater Championship title by finishing second to Rei Yamaguchi on Saturday afternoon.

See series calendar for British GT Championship | British F3 Championship

Related Story 19.09.2003 - British F3 Scholarship Showdown at Brands