Kimball and Parente Take Poles in Accident Plagued F3 Qualifying at Castle Combe

25 June 2005

The first qualifying of the British F3 International Series at Castle Combe was punctuated by two big accidents, both of which caused the session to be red-flagged.

Team SWR's Nick Jones, in the nr 41 car, lost control over his Dallara F304 Mugen-Honda coming out of Camp Corner and went straight into the tyre barrier at high speed. Jones had a lucky escape and walked away from the car.

The second incident involved Carlin Motorsport's Christian Bakkerud in the no 4 car, who went into the tyres coming out of Tower. Steven Kane (Promatecme) also lost control of his Lola seconds later and wasn't able to avoid the Carlin car. Kane crashed straight into Bakkerud and nearly went over the top of the barriers. Both drivers were uninjured after this big accident.

Bakkerud's team-mate, Charlie Kimball, topped the timing sheets and secured pole position for race one with a time of 59.100 seconds. He was followed by Dan Clarke (Raikonnen Robertson Racing) who was 0.115 seconds behind the American. Alvaro Parente came third with a time of 59.269.

Mike Conway (Fortec Motorsport), Ryan Lewis (T-sport), and James Walker (Fortec Motorsport) completed the top six in the Championship Class. New entry for Alan Docking Racing and Castle Combe winner in 2004, Danny Watts, finished his first qualifying session in seventh position.

Salvador Duran from P1 Motorsport was fastest in the National Class, setting a lap time of 1:00.219 minutes. Charlie Hollings (Promatecme) finished in second position with a time of 1:00.255, followed by Jonathan Kennard (Alan Docking Racing, third with 1:00.281.

National Class leader Barton Mawer set the fifth fastest time with a lap of 1:00.395.

The second qualifying was brought to an end three minutes before the official ending due to another big accident which involved Carlin Motorsport's Christian Bakkerud. Just like in the first qualifying session, Bakkerud lost control of his Dallara in Tower and had a big crash into the tyre barriers. He escaped from the car unhurt.

Alvaro Parente (Carlin Motorsport) set the fastest time of 58.994 in qualifying two, which will see him on pole position for race two on Sunday at Castle Combe. Mike Conway from Fortec Motorsport finished in second place, only 0.060 seconds behind Parente. Parente's team-mate Charlie Kimball set the third fastest time of 59.070 seconds.

Ryan Lewis from T-sport, Dan Clarke (Raikonnen Robertson Racing), and Championship leader Marko Asmer from Hitech Motorsport completed the top six.

Charlie Hollings from Promatecme secured pole position in the National Class, setting a time of 1:00.102. Barton Mawer (T-Sport) set the second fastest time, only 0.005 seconds slower than Hollings. They were followed by third-placed man Jonathan Kennard, who set a time of 1:00.210.

Salvador Duran (P1 Motorsport), new entry Ben Clucas from Fluid Motorsport, and Josh Fisher (Team SWR) finished in the top six in the National Class.

SRO

See 2005 series calendar for British F3 International Series

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