Kimball Takes British F3 Championship Pole at Monza

27 June 2005

A heavy thunderstorm in the early hours of the morning was followed by heavy rain, drenching the 5.793 km Monza circuit. The qualifying session started off in the heavy rain, but it eased during the allotted 30 minutes, nearly stopping by the end.

Charlie Kimball, at the wheel of the nr 6 Carlin Motorsport Dallara F305 Mugen Honda, claimed pole position for the first of the three races scheduled for this weekend at Monza. In tricky, drying conditions, he set his best time of 2:03.295 as the chequered flag fell, deposing his team-mate Alvaro Parente from the lead. "I knew the last lap was going to be the fastest and the best," Kimball said afterwards. "I didn't think my time would stick, so it was a very long cool-down lap. The team worked really hard to get the car ready." This is Kimball's fourth pole position of the season; his team-mate Parente has claimed six poles, giving Carlin Motorsport ten out of the thirteen poles. Kimball starts alongside Parente, with the second line being shared by Ryan Lewis (T-Sport) and Marko Asmer (Hitech Racing), followed by James Walker of Fortec and the second Hitech car driven by Tim Brigdman.

Experience of Monza in the rain was beneficial for Salvador Duran of P1 Motorsport, who set the fastest National time in the session in his Dallara F304 Mugen Honda on pole for the National class for today's round 13. However, the car failed the rear wing test after scrutineering, meaning that the Mexican driver lost his times, and will therefore start from the back of the grid. Josh Fisher, who had been trading fastest laps with Duran for most of the session, therefore inherited pole and 11th position on today's starting grid. Fisher (Team SWR) leads Jonathan Kennard (Alan Docking Racing), with the Lola-Dome cars of Ben Clucas (Fluid Motorsport) and Charlie Hollings (Promatecme) third and fourth among the National drivers.

SRO

See 2005 series calendar for British F3 International Series

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