British F3 International Series Ready to Roll

22 March 2005

There is not long to go now before the eagerly awaited opening round of the 2005 British F3 International Series, which will take place at Donington Park on April 2/3. The 2005 season looks likely to be one to remember; with the teams and drivers pulling together one of the strongest grids the Championship has seen in several years, despite the difficult economic climate.

As ever, the grid is a multinational field, with drivers from all around the world - Brazil, Japan, USA, Denmark, Estonia, Mexico, Finland, Angola and Macau to name just a few countries. There are also some familiar names returning, who raced in 2004. The Scholarship class winner of last year, Ryan Lewis, has moved up into the Championship class with T-Sport, as has his close contender from 2004, Stephen Jelley, who races with Menu F3 Motorsport this year. James Walker switches to Fortec Motorsport, whilst Danilo Dirani moves to P1 Motorsport, but Marko Asmer stays with Hitech Racing.

One name that will undoubtedly stand out from the crowd this year is that of the nephew of the late Ayrton Senna, Bruno Senna, who joins the Series with yet another famous name, the new team formed by F1 star Kimi Räikönnen and his manager, Steve Robertson - Räikönnen Robertson Racing.

Also in 2005, for the first time ever in the history of the British Formula 3, there will be two female drivers on the starting grid. 22-year-old Susie Stoddart, who was fifth in the UK Formula Renault Championship last year with Comtec, and a finalist in the McLaren Autosport BRDC Young Driver of the Year Award, is racing for Alan Docking Racing. Whilst Carlin Motorsport has signed up former model Keiko Ihara from Japan, who is 31 years old and has in the past scored points in the French F3 Championship.
Amongst the new names to look out for are those of the reigning UK Formula Renault champion, Mike Conway (Fortec Motorsport), whose pre-season testing form has marked him out as a potential Championship contender, the reigning UK Formula BMW champion, Tim Bridgman (Hitech Racing) and the reigning Formula Palmer Audi champion, Jonathan Kennard (Alan Docking Racing). Bruno Senna's team-mate will be Dan Clarke, who won the prestigious Formula Ford Festival at the end of last season, whilst the Finn, Valle Makela, who was the UK Formula Ford Champion, is another possible runner in the National Class.

Series Co-ordinator Jeremy Lord said: "At this stage it's almost impossible to predict a likely Champion. Compared with last year, there are many new faces and we just don't know who will adapt best to F3. The grid is looking good already, but I'm hopeful that there may be one or two additions before the first race."

When not running with British GT, the series will support the Le Mans Endurance Series events, and as such will visit the prestigious Formula One circuits at Spa-Francorchamps (Belgium), Monza (Italy), Silverstone (Grand Prix Circuit) and the Nürburgring (Germany). Due to including three European races in the 2005 calendar, the title name has changed from British Formula 3 Championship to British Formula 3 International Series. The title of the Scholarship Class has also changed to the National Class. A control Mugen-Honda engine, supplied by Neil Brown Engineering, together with strict cutbacks on testing and the number of new tyres that can be used have given this class a fresh and affordable new look. This in turn has attracted several new teams and drivers to British F3.

One of the Championships new partners is the Internet portal Crash.Net, which will take Internet coverage for the Championship to a new level. Following the deal, the Championship will receive increased in-depth coverage on www.crash.net, Crash.net Radio and, through Crash.net, syndicated online and offline media destinations.

British F3 International Series - Entries:

CHAMPIONSHIP CLASS
No. Driver Nat. Team/Entrant Chassis/Engine
1 Danilo Dirani BRA P1 Motorsport Lola B05/30 Mugen-Honda
2 James Walker JER Fortec Motorsport Dallara F305 Opel Spiess
3 Ronayne O'Mahony IRL Fortec Motorsport Dallara F305 Opel Spiess
4 Christian Bakkerud DEN Carlin Motorsport Dallara F305 Mugen-Honda
5 Keiko Ihara JPN Team Ivy with Carlin Dallara F305 Mugen-Honda
6 Charlie Kimball USA Carlin Motorsport Dallara F305 Mugen-Honda
7 Susie Stoddart GBR Alan Docking Racing Dallara F305 Mugen-Honda
9 Stephen Jelly GBR Menu F3 Motorsport Dallara F305 Opel Spiess
11 Tim Bridgman GBR Hitech Racing Dallara F305 Mugen-Honda
12 Marko Asmer EST Hitech Racing Dallara F305 Mugen-Honda
26 Mike Conway GBR Fortec Motorsport Dallara F305 Opel Spiess
27 Daniel Clarke GBR Räikönnen Robertson Racing Dallara F305 Mugen-Honda
28 Bruno Senna BRA Räikönnen Robertson Racing Dallara F305 Mugen-Honda
69 Ryan Lewis GBR T-Sport Dallara F305 Mugen-Honda

NATIONAL CLASS
No. Driver Nat. Team Chassis/Engine
31 Barton Mawer T-Sport Dallara F304 Mugen-Honda
33 Charlie Hollings GBR Promatecme F3 Lola-Dome F106/4 Mugen-Honda
34 Ricardo Teixeira ANG Carlin Motorsport Dallara F304 Mugen-Honda
35 Juho Annala FIN Alan Docking Racing Dallara F304 Mugen-Honda
36 Jonathan Kennard GBR Alan Docking Racing Dallara F304 Mugen-Honda
38 Cheong Lou Meng MAC Edenbridge Racing Dallara F304 Mugen-Honda
39 TBA Edenbridge Racing Dallara F304 Mugen-Honda
40 Josh Fisher GBR Team SWR Pioneer Dallara F304 Mugen-Honda
41 Nick Jones USA Team SWR Pioneer Dallara F304 Mugen-Honda
42 Salvador Duran MEX P1 Motorsport Dallara F304 Mugen-Honda

INVITATION CLASS
No. Driver Nat. Team Chassis/Engine
71 Michael Herck BEL Junior Racing Team Dallara F305 Opel Spiess

SRO

Images from the SRO Media Day are now available here.

See 2005 series calendar for British F3 International Series

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