British F3’s Romanian Street Party

09 May 2007

The weekend of May 19th and 20th will see the first overseas races of the season for the teams and drivers competing in the 2007 Lloyds TSB Insurance British F3 International Series. Rounds 5 and 6 will take place on the streets of Bucharest and at nearly 2000 miles, the Vodafone Bucharest Challenge event in the Romanian Capital will be the furthest that the British F3 grid has travelled in the 43-year history of the championship.

With three wins from four races Marko Asmer holds a healthy 34-point advantage over Stephen Jelley and Maro Engel, however all this could change on the streets of Bucharest on the 19/20 May if the young Estonian is forced to miss the event due to his racing commitments in Japan that weekend.

If Asmer misses the Romanian races, the pressure will be on his main rivals to close up the gap at the top of the championship table and with a maximum of 42 points on offer there is every possibility that this could happen.

Maro Engel and Stephen Jelley are tied on 42 points each after the first four races. Engel is the only race winner from the 2006 season to challenge for the 2007 title. His win at Spa Francorchamps last July was matched in the opening round of the 2007 season at Oulton Park in England in a lights-to-flag victory. Stephen Jelley has three podium finishes in four starts but has yet to step onto the top step of a British F3 podium, something he will wish to do in Romania.

Jelley’s Raikkonen Robertson Racing teammate Jonathan Kennard is currently 4th in the championship and 5 points behind Jelley and Engel. The 2004 Formula Palmer Audi champion has scored in every race but, like Jelley, needs to take his first British F3 win to close the gap on the leading trio.

With 32 championship points, reigning UK Formula Renault Champion Sebastian Hohethal is the leading rookie, with the Fortec driver smashing the lap record at Oulton Park in April on his debut British F3 race. A podium finish in Cheshire and another fastest lap at Donington Park in round 4 has marked the young Swede as a driver to watch in the coming months.

Britain’s Sam Bird is currently lying in 6th place in the championship and has been a consistent points scorer in his debut British F3 season. The Formula Renault graduate and 2006 McLaren Autosport Young Driver of the Year Award finalist will be looking for his first podium finish in Bucharest.

Bird’s Carlin Motorsport teammate is the reigning UK Formula BMW champion Niall Breen and is another first year driver adapting quickly to the more powerful Formula 3 race car. The young Irishman held of the forceful challenge of Jonathan Kennard to finish in second at Donington Park and he travels to Romania in joint 7th place, tied with the younger of Nigel Mansell’s two sons Greg. 19-year-old Greg has scored points in every round this season, including a podium finish at Donington Park; the first time a Mansell has stood on a British F3 podium since 1979.

Venezuelan Rodolfo Gonzalez is the highest placed driver using the Mugen Honda engine and the current British F3 National Class Champion is eager to show the type of pace that secured him last season’s title in Romania.

In the National Class Chinese driver Cong Fu ‘Frankie’ Cheng is the current championship leader following two wins and two fastest laps at Oulton Park at Easter. Britain’s Michael Meadows and Mexico’s Sergio Perez are his nearest rivals and a first and second place finishes for both drivers at Donington Park last month has closed the gap to Cheng.

Britain’s Alistair Jackson drove a great race at Donington to secure his first podium of 2007 and Viktor Jensen scored a double podium at Oulton Park at Easter. Bahrain’s Salman Al Khalifa became the first driver from his country to stand on the British F3 podium at Oulton Park after a superb drive from the back of the grid to secure the points.

Sean Petterson is moving up to the Championship Class with Fluid Motorsport in the team’s Mugen Honda powered Lola B06/30. The young South African scored a podium finish in the first race at Oulton Park, finishing second behind ‘Frankie’ Cheng and currently 6th in the National Class with 25 points. Petterson will race in the Championship Class for the rest of the season.

Raikkonen Robertson Racing will be running a Dallara F306 Mercedes for Romanian karting champion Doru Sechelariu. The reigning British F3 championship winning team will be running the car in the Invitation Class against 16-year-old Max Chilton. With the addition of Michael Meadows to the team roster, Raikkonen Robertson Racing will be running a total of seven cars in Bucharest.

This will be the first time that any of the drivers have raced in Romania and will also be the first visit to the country by the majority of the British F3 paddock.

Round 5 of the 2007 Lloyds TSB Insurance British F3 International Series is due to start at 11:55 on Saturday 19th May, with Round 6 getting underway on Sunday 20th May at 10:45.

The Vodaphone Bucharest Challenge features Round 3 of the 2007 FIA GT Championship, with the FIA GT3 Championship and the Dacia Logan Cup also racing in Bucharest.

SRO

See 2007 series calendar for British F3 Championship

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