The Unluckiest Driver in British F3 2011

October 6th, 2011

Right now, with one meeting and three races to go at Silverstone this weekend in the 2011 Cooper Tires British F3 International Series, Kevin Magnussen is lying third in the points, just one point away from being the runner-up with six race wins to his name. It may sound silly to say that he is the unluckiest driver in the Series, but he trails Felipe Nasr, who has already secured the title, by 107 points and that in no way reflects their respective abilities.

This is what Bruce Jouanny, himself a British F3 race winner and now a respected TV commentator and driver coach, had to say during the meeting at Paul Ricard: “Magnussen is really fast,” said Jouanny, who coaches Magnussen’s team-mate, Jazeman Jaafar. “For me he’s the fastest driver in the team. He changes direction really well and his downshifts are always the latest, but also so smooth and calm. If you watched at Turn 14 [the left-hander at Tour] it is just beautiful.” All three drivers race for Carlin, who have three other cars as well and pretty much dominate the Series. It was in anticipation that the season would develop as it has done that I wrote a previous article, The Special Ones.

What happened in Paul Ricard that weekend was the season in microcosm. In free practice on Friday Nasr was fastest in the first session, but then Magnussen went quicker still in the second session. Qualifying on Saturday morning saw Kevin set pole position for both the main races, with Felipe right behind. A poor start in race one later that day saw Kevin drop back to 7th, from where he recovered to 4th at the flag. Nasr took full advantage of the opportunity and led all the way although closely followed by guest driver, Antonio Felix da Castro. Magnussen was also 4th in race 2, which is a strange, short race with a partly reversed grid. Da Costa was 3rd, but Nasr was back in 16th after incurring a penalty.

The most important one is Race 3, which is the feature race. Magnussen made no mistake about the start this time and led almost all the way, chased first by Nasr and then by da Costa, who had come into the Series to recover from a disappointing GP3 season. He was supposed to be behaving himself, but all that was forgotten on the last corner of the last lap, when he lunged down the inside the inside of Magnussen and knocked the Dane clean off the road. Nasr came through to take another win. Da Castro was 2nd on the road, but the inevitable penalty dropped him back to 9th. Nothing, however, could restore Magnussen’s lost win and 20 points. In contrast Nasr picked up 20, when he should have been 3rd and scored 12. If you work it out, Magnussen should have come out of the race with 8 points more Nasr, but instead was 20 behind, so there was an overall loss of 28 right there.

There had been more heartbreak for Magnussen in the previous meeting at the Nürburgring. Once again dominance from the outset and two pole positions for the main races and this time he converted the one Race One into a comfortable victory. There was a tight battle with Nasr, but Kevin always had the edge. In the relatively unimportant Race 2, both started from well back with Nasr taking 4th and Magnussen 6th, but no-one pays much attention to this race unless it gives someone the chance of a win who would not have otherwise get one. In that respect it works very well and Jack Harvey took a maiden win.

The 40-minute feature race 3 is the one that matters and Kevin made a good start again and led the way from Felipe until just three laps from the end when his Volkswagen engine lapsed into what was becoming a familiar power-starved gurgle. He could do nothing to avoid a drop to 5th by the flag, whilst Nasr raced ahead to take his fifth win of the season and extend his Series points lead by a further 10 points, when it should have been reduced by 5, and instead of Kevin taking a fourth win to match Felipe, he dropped behind by five to three.

One weekend where everything did go right for Magnussen was at Snetterton in May, where he was able to display his true ability. Nasr managed to take pole position ahead of him for both races and at the start of Race 1 Kevin slipped back to 3rd off the line, but recovered from that by overtaking Riki Christodoulou around the outside of the super fast first corner, Riches. After a Safety Car intervention Kevin lined up Felipe at the re-start and pulled off an identical move on him. Those who had begun to think Nasr was unbeatable were left with mouths agape.

Much the same happened in the feature race, except that this time the two were together from the start. There was another Safety Car and, despite Nasr trying a different tactic to avoid what happened after the re-start in Race 1, that’s exactly what did happen. For once Nasr himself then had a problem, which enforced a pit stop and dropped him down to 17th, whilst Kevin stormed home to his second victory of the weekend and his second of the season.

The trouble was that two meetings had been held already and Nasr had stashed away three wins, a 2nd and points in every race. He was already 80 points ahead. Kevin was pragmatic but direct: “Even I win all the races from now on and he finishes second I can’t do it. But what I can do is show I’m the best. Nasr is one of the best drivers around, but I am better than him and I can beat him.”

Sadly the next meeting at Brands Hatch was to see a return of Kevin’s bad luck. Engine problems blighted his weekend, even to the extent of his car having to be pushed off the grid before Race 2. There were more problems and tyre-related delays in Race 3, but he recovered to set fastest lap. Meanwhile Felipe Nasr swept through the rain to what was probably his best win of the season, his fourth at that stage. Lucas Foresti had won Race 1 and was looking like Nasr’s closest challenger at that point in the season, but thereafter, as Magnussen’s challenge strengthened, so different drivers began to come to the fore behind the big two and spread the points between them. That is why the struggle to be runner-up in the Series is so tight heading into the final meeting at Silverstone on October 8/9.

At Spa, both drivers suffered from a bad qualifying session. Kevin took a win (his fourth) in Race 2, but overall he only edged a single point closer.

The same thing happened at Rockingham. A great win for Kevin in the feature race, his fifth at that stage, but problems in other races meant that the two rivals scored 30 points apiece.

The most recent meeting was at DoningtonPark. By this stage the rivalry between the two had become more intense and there was contact between them in two of the three races. In Race 1, it was Felipe’s front tyre against Kevin’s rear, which kind of tells the story. Both had to pit with punctures. Felipe rejoined first and set a new fastest lap and record before retiring to the pits. Kevin was not going to leave it at that, however, and proceeded to improve on his rival’s time before calling it a day.

The incident meant that they both started from the back in Race 2. In difficult conditions Nasr progressed to 10th and took fastest lap, whilst Kevin was mired down in 16th. Up to that point, Felipe had 3 points from the meeting and Kevin just 1, so the feature race would be critical.

Felipe started from pole, whilst Kevin was down in 7th, but in one lap he jumped up to 2nd, right behind his Brazilian rival. Contact was made at the Esses on lap 2, which saw Nasr spin and recover, whilst Magnussen was delayed less and only dropped a few places. He demoted first Rupert Svendsen-Cook (who had won Race 1) and Jack Harvey to take the lead, which he extended confidently to the finish. It was win number six, but it could so easily have been two or three more.

He may have lost the chance to be champion, largely due to reasons beyond his control, but Kevin Magnussen certainly deserves to be runner-up in British F3 this year. This is his last season in Formula 3. Next year he plans to race in Formula Renault 3.5 where he will once again be going head-to head with Felipe Nasr. Carlin are keen to retain Felipe for their WSR team, but somehow I don’t think they will be asking Kevin to partner him. The rivalry is too intense.

Posted in BF3 Drivers, BF3 people, BF3 Teams, Personal Musings | Comments Off

1991 was a special year

July 22nd, 2011

Every now and again there is a season in British F3 which stands out as one producing great future talent. 1991 is the classic example; there were not many cars, less than this season, but the top  three drivers were to go on to have outstanding careers.

Rubens Barrichello was the champion and is now the most experienced Grand Prix driver in history with 316 races. He’s won 11 Grand Prix, had 68 podiums, been on pole position 14 times and set fastest lap 17 times. He began his F1 career with Jordan, where he spent four seasons, and then had three with Stewart Ford. That was followed by his best-known period with Ferrari, where he spent five seasons, you might say as Michael Schumacher’s understudy, but he still had most of his wins there. In 2006 he switched to Honda, but that coincided with their fallow period and it was not until 2009, when the team became Brawn GP, that success came his way again. Sadly it was not to last, as Brawn became Mercedes and introduced other drivers. Rubens moved over to Williams, where he is now helping the team try to regain the glory of years past and highly valued for his expertise.

The runner-up in 1991 was David Coulthard, who also won the Marlboro Masters of F3 and the Macau F3 Grand Prix, so overall he was the more successful. His Formula 1 career has come and gone and he is now the colour commentator for the BBC F1 TVcoverage alongside Martin Brundle. In his F1 career from 1994 to 2008 he had 13 wins, 62 podium places, 12 pole positions and 18 fastest laps. He made his F1 début for Williams in 1994, after the death of Ayrton Senna, scoring his first win in 1995.  He then moved to McLaren where he won 12 Grand Prix over nine years. It was perhaps his misfortune to race alongside the flying Finns, Mika Häkkinen and Kimi Räikkönen in this period, but he earned a reputation as not just a very fast driver but also a team player. His last spell in F1 was with Red Bull for four years, where he did much to lay the foundations for the success they are now enjoying. He’s still racing for Mercedes in the DTM, but not with any great success yet.

Third-placed in 1991 was the Brazilian, Gil de Ferran. Sadly I cannot quote any F1 statistics for him because he never raced in it. He tested successfully for Williams (I was there) and I know he was always puzzled to understand why Williams turned to DC rather than him when they wanted a regular test driver, but the two are good friends, so it was never a bone of contention between them. At the beginning of 1991 they were both testing for Paul Stewart Racing, but Gil couldn’t find the money to keep the drive and switched to Edenbridge Racing, where he drove a Reynard when the other two had Ralts. He switched to PSR for the following season and won the title.

Gil remains one of my favourite F3 champions, which is why much of this article is about him. Like the other two he had a spell in International F3000 after F3, but then took up an offer to drive in the States for Hall/VDS Racing in Champ Car. Sporting the distinctive yellow Pennzoil colours, Gil was Rookie of the year in 1995. The next three seasons were not as good as Jim Hall retired and Gil switched to Walker Racing. He had no wins, but came close several times. The first win came in 1999, but it was the end of an era as both Goodyear and Valvoline left Champ Car. Gil made his best career move yet, signing for Penske Racing. He won back-to-back titles in 2000 and 2001 and stayed with Penske when they switched to the rival Indy Racing League, even though it was not his preference. He had earned a reputation for his politeness and integrity outside the car. 2003 was to be his last year in top-flight single-seaters. He won the Indianapolis 500 and his last race in the IRL to be runner-up in the League that year.

Since then he has had a spell in 2008 and 2009 as a successful team owner and driver in the American Le Mans Series, again winning his last race.

De Ferran currently lives in Fort Lauderdale, Florida with his English wife Angela (who was his girl-friend when he raced in British F3) and children Anna (born 1995) and Luke (born 1997). It’s simply my personal opinion, but somehow I think Gil has had the best career of the three.

Posted in BF3 Drivers, BF3 people, BF3 Racing, Personal Musings | Comments Off

Paul Ricard 2011

July 18th, 2011

If you read the previous article, the events at Paul Ricard this past weekend pretty much followed the script I had predicted, except for one alien interloper.

There were two free practice sessions on Friday. Felipe Nasr was fastest in the first and Kevin Magnussen in the second. His time was the faster of the two, but only by a tenth of a second.

The 30-minute qualifying session was on Friday morning and Magnussen repeated the trick he had pulled at the Nürburgring by putting in two very fast laps right at the end of the session to ensure that he took pole position for races one and three. When it works like that, it’s a very effective strategy, but there is a danger because quite often there can be a yellow or even a red flag towards the end of the session, in which case his plan would have been scuppered. It goes almost without saying that alongside him on the grid for both races would be Felipe Nasr.

Race one was later on Friday. Sadly for him, Magnussen made a dreadful start. He completed the first lap in 7th but had dropped lower at the start. He fought his way through to 4th when the chequered flag fell, but it was not what he had hoped for. In contrast Felipe Nasr made a great start and led the race from lights to flag to secure his sixth win of the season and take fastest lap, a new record,  along the way. He was closely followed by Hitech Racing’s Antonio Felix da Costa, but apart from a brief look on the first lap, there was no challenge.

Rightly or wrongly, I don’t take too much notice of race two. It has a partly reversed grid, which meant Felipe started 7th. Battling amongst the mid-field runners, he had a collision and was later penalised 30 seconds for “exceeding the track limits”, which meant he failed to score points for the first time this season. Kevin started 4th and stayed there, because he was keeping his best tyres for the feature race three.

This was held late on Sunday afternoon, right at the end of the meeting, but it was worth waiting for. This time Kevin started cleanly, but so did Felipe and battle was engaged. They were less than half a second apart throughout, until there was slight contact between the two on lap 10, which allowed da Costa, who had been shadowing them, into second. Still Kevin held the lead with da Costa now on his tail, whilst Felipe tried to find a way back past da Costa, but on the last corner of the last lap da Costa made a desperate lunge for the lead under braking which only succeeded in knocking Kevin off the track. Felipe happily swept through to record win number seven, whilst da Costa crossed the line 2nd, but was later penalised 30 seconds for causing avoidable contact, which dropped him back to 9th. Nothing, however, could give Kevin back the win for which he had fought so hard. For the second meeting in succession he had been denied the feature race win through no fault of his own.

The next meeting is at the great Spa-Francorchamps circuit in Belgium at the end of the month, when I have no doubt that the struggle will continue.

Posted in BF3 Drivers, BF3 Racing, BF3 Teams, Circuits | Comments Off

The Special Ones

July 15th, 2011

British Formula 3 has unrivalled record for producing Formula 1 drivers and you may think it does so every year, but it’s not quite like that.

2008 was a good year; in fact it may be worth a separate article. The champion, Jaime Alguersuari, was racing for Scuderia Toro Rosso as early as the middle of the following season. He really was thrown in at the deep end with no prior testing, but he kept his head and he has made steady progress, particularly in recent races when he has become a regular points scorer.

He was joined in Formula 1 at the beginning of this season by Sergio Perez, who was signed up by Sauber as their number 2 driver. In his début race in Melbourne he finished in 7th place, which was a great achievement, but he scored no points because the car was later disqualified for a minor technical infringement. Sergio had a particularly nasty crash at Monaco in qualifying, but bounced back in style to secure a genuine 7th place in the most recent British Grand Prix. He has earned a reputation for being able to manage the Pirelli tyres, which are new for this season, particularly well. That was the key to his success in Melbourne.

The most recent graduate is the 2009 champion, Daniel Ricciardo. Whenever the chance has arisen he has impressed F1 regulars with his speed in testing, both in the Toro Rosso, for whom he is the regular test driver, and Red Bull, for whom he tested last winter. There had been talk of him being promoted to the Toro Rosso race team during the course of this season, but Alguersuari’s improved form put a stop to that. Instead Red Bull has paid to put him in the second HRT car. It’s not a plum drive, because in Narain Karthikeyan’s hands it has never moved off the last position on the grid, but it is quick enough to qualify and it will give Daniel valuable racing mileage ahead of next season. He also has a valuable yardstick in his team-mate, Tonio Liuzzi.

However, this article is primarily about two drivers who are racing in British Formula 3 this season and, in my opinion, will certainly make it to Formula 1 in the near future. Including Paul Ricard this weekend there are still five race meetings to be run this season and the last three are in the UK, so you still have plenty of opportunities to see them in action.

The first one is obvious. He is the 18 year old Brazilian, Felipe Nasr, who is in his second season of British Formula 3. Last year he raced for Räikkönen Robertson Racing and took one win in the feature race at Rockingham. The team had struggled with an experimental set-up on the car, but for this meeting they went back to basics. With a good car at his disposal, Felipe jumped into the lead from 4th on the grid on the first lap. For the first ten laps he battled with the champion-to-be, Jean-Eric Vergne, but then pulled away and won decisively by over 15 seconds. It was very impressive.

Before this season, Kimi Räikkönen and Steve and Dave Robertson pulled out of Räikkönen Robertson Racing, which is now Double R Racing. Nasr is managed by the Robertsons, who have previously managed Jenson Button in his early days and Kimi Räikkönen, both of whom went on to become F1 World Champions, so that is a significant endorsement in itself.

They switched Nasr to Carlin, the team that has won the last British titles in succession and three other titles since 2001. There were to be no excuses. But Carlin run six cars and one of the others was to be raced by Kevin Magnussen, son of the 1994 champion, Jan, who still holds the record for the most races won in a season – 14 from 18, which gives a staggering success record of 78%. Kevin is part of the McLaren Driver Development programme, so he is another young driver already rated by those in Formula 1 and another 18 year old. Ironically, Jan’s drives in F1 were with McLaren so the wheel has come full circle.

Last year, whilst Felipe was gaining experience in British F3, Kevin was over in Europe, racing partly in the German F3 Cup, which is a step below, and partly in the F3 Euro Series. He won races in both, but did not contest a full season in either.

For the first few meetings of this season Nasr imposed his undoubted class and currently he has 176 points and leads the title chase by 75 points from his fellow Brazilian, Lucas Foresti. Kevin Magnussen is 5th with just 100 points, so for him the title is realistically out of reach, but there are still plenty of races to be won and that must be his target.

So far Nasr has taken five wins to Magnussen’s three, but were it not for sheer bad luck it would be four apiece. In the last feature race at  the Nürburgring Magnussen led all the way by a narrow but convincing margin from Nasr until three laps from the end when a misfire on Kevin’s car cost him the lead and eventually dropped him to 5th. At the previous meeting at Brands Hatch Kevin did not qualify well, but any chances he had were again spoilt by engine problems in two of the three races. This has caused Volkswagen to mount a top level enquiry and rightly so. Engine problems have afflicted more than one of Carlin’s cars.

Kevin had already won  Race 1 at the Nurburgring after a tight battle with Felipe and had two pole positions and two fastest laps as well. His previous two race wins were at Snetterton, when he had to come from behind and both were won at Felipe’s expense after stunning passes around the outside of the very fast first corner, Riches. It was just like watching his Dad in action all over again!

Felipe was majestic in winning the wet feature race at Brands, pulling out a big lead and looking visibly faster and smoother into the corners. But it was Magnussen who, after a series of frustrating pit stops, set the fastest lap.

I am expecting to see a see a titanic struggle between these two future stars in the remaining races of the season will. Nasr has the psychological edge of a comfortable points lead, whereas Magnussen wants race wins to prove he is the faster driver. But Felipe won’t like that, so look out for fireworks!

I will post an update this after the weekend with news of how the Paul Ricard meeting went. It is a new challenge for all the drivers, except one who normally races in GP3, who test there frequently.

Posted in BF3 Drivers, BF3 Teams | No Comments »

2011 Calendar and race format changes

January 19th, 2011

This year’s race calendar has now been confirmed and there are some changes to the race format that I should explain, in particular pit stops.

This is the calendar, including a late change to the Nürburgring date:

15-16 Apr: Monza

23-25 Apr: Oulton Park (qualifying & Race 1 Sat/Races 2 & 3 Mon)

14-15 May: Snetterton

18-19 Jun: Brands Hatch GP

1-2-3 Jul: Nürburgring

16-17 Jul: Paul Ricard

29-30 Jul: Spa-Francorchamps

3-4 Sep: Rockingham

24-25 Sep: Donington Park

8-9 Oct: Silverstone GP

So far as the venues are concerned it is good news overall. Diehards will bemoan the lack of circuits in the UK, but the fact is that the drivers, who ultimately foot the bills, want to race on as many international and ideally GP circuits as possible. That is why there are six meetings in the UK and four in Europe. The return of Monza is especially welcome because it provides the best racing of any Formula 3 circuit anywhere and Paul Ricard will present a new challenge for both teams and drivers.

The short gap between Monza and Oulton Park presents the teams with a logistical problem, because most European countries do not allow Heavy Goods Vehicles to be driven on public roads on Sundays, starting at midnight. The likelihood is that teams will spend that day in Monza, preparing (or repairing) the cars ready for the following weekend and then start the journey home on Monday. Once back in England they will probably head straight for Oulton Park and get there on Wednesday and set up ready for the test on Friday. At least they had the garages because the 2-hour British GT race planned for that weekend was abandoned.

The return to Donington Park is somehow a good thing. I think a lot of people have a soft spot for that circuit. The people at Rockingham do their best, but it is never going to be a great circuit. It has decent garages and is convenient for most of the teams and that’s about as far as it goes. The big loss, purely as a circuit for the drivers, is Thruxton. It presents a unique challenge in terms of its speed and the need for tyre conservation. If you race an F3 car there you will learn something that will be useful later in your career. Unfortunately, the facilities are out-of-date, it is difficult for the teams to work properly there, even with the use of the garages and, worst of all, the availability of dates is severely restricted for a whole variety of reasons, none of them within the control of the BARC, which runs the circuit. Last year, as an experiment, British F3 raced there at a truck meeting, which ensured a reasonable crowd, but it is not what you need for the premier single-seater series in the country. It has to be the full British F3/GT package or not at all.

The race format is the same as introduced last year. There is one qualifying session and then three races. The way it works is that the fastest time set by a driver in the qualifying session counts towards the grid for Race 3, a 40-minute feature race held on the second afternoon of the meeting, usually a Sunday. His second fastest time counts towards the grid for Race 1, which is 30-minutes long and held later on the same day as qualifying, so usually Saturday.

Race 2 is the odd one out. It’s 20-minutes long and is based on the results of Race 1 but with a partly reversed grid. Any number between and including the first six and ten finishers from Race 1 will have their grid positions for Race 2 reversed. The nominated number will be picked at random by someone nominated by the organisers. That’s straight from the Regulations. The rest of the grid is based on the finishing positions from Race 1. What it means is that a driver who might not otherwise be at the sharp end of the grid could find himself on pole with the chance of winning the race. The points are less than for the other two races, but there is an extra point for fastest lap to encourage the faster drivers. Just once last year a driver managed to win all three races in a weekend and that was Jean-Eric Vergne at Spa. It was quite an achievement and one he nearly repeated at Thruxton.

Another innovation last year was the introduction of stop/go pit stops. During a pit window in Race 2 and only on circuits where the pit-lane was wide enough, every car had to make a compulsory stop at its pit. Once it was completely stationary one of the team’s mechanics would tap the front wheel with a signalling lollipop on a stick and then the driver would re-join the race, so it really was a stop/go. Despite some fears in advance, this worked out well enough. Very occasionally the driver would make a tardy getaway which cost him a place or two, but most of them managed well enough.

New for this year are proper pit stops in some of the races when two tyres will have to be changed. This is where I think the organisers have lost a golden opportunity. On paper it sounds good to have a 40-minute feature race as Race 3, but even the most ardent F3 fan (that’ll be me) knows that the race positions are settled after 10 minutes at most and after that the cars simply drive around in a high speed procession, Monza being the exception. Where better to brighten up proceedings and have the tyre change pit stop than in Race 3? But no, the teams are worried that they or the drivers might make a mess of it and lose valuable points, so these pit stops will also be held in Race 2, when it’s not so important. Sorry chaps, but that’s not how it works in Formula 1, GP2 or Formula Renault 3.5, the formulae for which these pit stops are supposed to be training the drivers. In those the pit stops are for real and, yes, they can affect the outcome of a race. If you really want to train the drivers, that’s how it should be in British Formula 3 as well.

Posted in BF3 Drivers, BF3 Racing, BF3 Teams, Circuits | Comments Off

Some interesting statistics

January 14th, 2011

I had to prepare some statistics about British F3 for someone in a hurry the other day, but the results were interesting. I will express them differently from how they were used, with some explanation of the figures.

13 drivers from British F3 have gone on to win the Formula 1 World Drivers Championship, but between them they won 22 titles because several of them were multiple winners. We have to thank Brazil for providing Emerson Fittipaldi, Nelson Piquet and Ayrton Senna.

Including the champions, 25 drivers have won Grand Prix, most of them more than once. The most successful driver never to have won the World Championship, Stirling Moss, started in British Formula 3 back in the 1950s, when the cars were powered by 500cc motor bike engines.

11 drivers have taken 16 wins in the Le Mans 24 Hour race, with Derek Bell being the most prolific with 5 victories.

The Indianapolis 500 has been won a total of 11 times by drivers from British Formula 3, ranging from Jim Clark in 1965 to Dario Franchitti just last year.

Gary Paffett has won the DTM, but Paul di Resta, who won it this year, sadly never raced in British F3. Like Lewis Hamilton he was lured away to Germany by Mercedes, although Lewis did make a somewhat inauspicious début in F3 with us in a couple of races at Brands Hatch at the end of 2003, being eliminated by his team-mate in the first race, so I can hardly include him on the strength of that.

Marcus Ambrose won the Australian V8 Supercar Championship back-to-back in  2003 and 2004, but James Courtney deserves a special mention for winning it last year.

In 2010, its very first season 3 former British F3 drivers won races in the inaugural FIA GT1 World Championship.

Finally, a random fact that came to light in the course of my research: the first year of British Formula 3 was 1951, so this year marks its 60th anniversary. It’s only a year younger than Formula 1 and I dare say no other championship can claim that distinction!

Posted in BF3 Racing, Personal Musings | Comments Off

Starting Afresh

January 8th, 2011

A simple examination of this website will show that it has been shamefully neglected for the last eighteen months or so, but that is going to change in 2011 when it will be regularly updated with news stories, trivia and anything else I think you may find interesting.

As has been mentioned before, British Formula 3 has been around in one guise or another since 1979, which means that there have now been 32 champions. Some of you will know who they are, but not most people, I think, so here is the full roll of honour.

1979 Chico Serra (BRA)

1980 Stefan Johansson (SWE)

1981 Jonathan Palmer (GBR)

1982 Tommy Byrne (IRL)

1983 Ayrton Senna (BRA)

1984 Johnny Dumfries (GBR)

1985 Mauricio Gugelmin (BRA)

1986 Andy Wallace (GBR)

1987 Johnny Herbert (GBR)

1988 JJ Lehto (FIN)

1989 David Brabham (AUS)

1990 Mika Häkkinen (FIN)

1991 Rubens Barrichello (BRA)

1992 Gil de Ferran (BRA)

1993 Kelvin Burt (GBR)

1994 Jan Magnussen (DEN)

1995 Oliver Gavin (GBR

1996 Ralph Firman (GBR)

1997 Jonny Kane (GBR)

1998 Mario Haberfeld (BRA)

1999 Marc Hynes (GBR)

2000 Antonio Pizzonia (BRA)

2001 Takuma Sato (JPN)

2002 Robbie Kerr (GBR)

2003 Alan Van Der Merwe (RSA)

2004 Nelson Angelo Piquet (BRA)

2005 Alvaro Parente (POR)

2006 Marko Asmer (EST)

2007 Mike Conway (GBR)

2008 Jaime Alguersuari (ESP)

2009 Daniel Ricciardo (AUS)

2010 Jean-Eric Vergne (FRA)

It is an impressive list by any standards. Ayrton Senna is the most famous name, but Mika Häkkinen was a double World Formula 1 Drivers Champion. Gil de Ferran won everything that was worth winning in the USA and Rubens Barrichello is still racing with speed and distinction in Formula 1 despite having already taken part in more Formula 1 races than any other driver – currently a remarkable 303.

Another point to remember is that this list only gives the names of those drivers who have won the title. Many other drivers have progressed from British F3 to Formula 1, Jenson Button being the most recent World Champion to do so, whilst others include Mark Webber and David Coulthard as well as Heikki Kovalainen, Sergio Perez and Narain Karthikeyan.

There are drivers who have won Le Mans, six former champions among them – work that one out – but also pre-eminent names in sports car racing like Alan McNish,  Marc Gené, Guy Smith, Davy Jones, Geoff Brabham, Martin Brundle and Derek Warwick. In case you are stuck on the former champions I will give them to you, with the most recent first: David Brabham, JJ Lehto (twice), Stefan Johansson, Johnny Herbert and Andy Wallace and Johnny Dumfries together in 1988. I may have missed one or two there, but you get the picture.

Then there are drivers like Andy Priaulx, who has won the World Touring Car Championship three times and the European Championship once. Even double British Touring Car Champion, Jason Plato, raced in British F3 for a while. One of the great pleasures in my life is that when I switch on the TV to watch a major motor race anywhere in the world I am almost certain to see some drivers whom I have known in British F3. James Courtney, the 2010 Australian V8 Supercar Champion is the most recent example.

Posted in BF3 Drivers, Personal Musings | Comments Off

Joe Tandy, 1983-2009

May 26th, 2009

Joe Tandy died following a road traffic accident on May 13th at the tragically early age of 26. He was the team boss and guiding light behind Joe Tandy Racing (JTR), which runs teams in British Formula 3 and British Formula Ford.

I found that it took a couple of days for the news to sink in, because it was so shocking and so unexpected. I had come to know, to like and to respect Joe very much during the course of last season, when I met him for the first time as he entered British Formula 3 with JTR, running an unfashionable Mygale with his brother Nick at the wheel. It was actually the prototype chassis and no doubt Joe had done a deal, because there was not much money about and it all went into the racing. By the end of the season Nick and JTR were regular contenders for podiums, despite Carlin Motorsport seemingly having found an edge over the other Dallara teams with their four cars. But the Tandys had earned earn the respect and admiration of the entire British F3 paddock for turning an unfancied car into a regular frontrunner, battling against the established Dallara hordes with a small operation and a meagre budget – driven by little more than fierce intellect, a straight-talking attitude and a shared passion for the sport.

2009 started well with a pair of podiums at Oulton Park. Silverstone was not as successful as the team struggled to get the car dialled in to the circuit, but they succeeded in the end as witnessed by a new lap record in race 2 to go with the one Nick had established in the first race of the season at Oulton Park. At the time of writing he lies second in the Series points table behind the much-fancied Red Bull-backed, Daniel Ricciardo, who is being run by last year’s champions, Carlin Motorsport.

Remarkably, Nick was testing at Rockingham on the Monday after Joe’s death, the family having made it clear that both teams would continue because that is what Joe would have wanted. That day started quietly, as one might expect, but by the end of it, in the last session on a drying track, Nick was flying and set the fastest time of the session on his last lap. Nick and JTR will be racing at Rockingham this coming weekend, backed by a tidal wave of popular support.

Joe and I never had time for long conversations, because he seemed always to be so busy, but he was invariably polite and helpful. He was a friend of mine on Facebook and the posts that have been made on there since his death are remarkable. It’s clear that what I saw of Joe was just the tip of the iceberg. He was an extraordinary man in many ways, wise beyond his years and yet with an irrepressible sense of humour. Some of the posts are from people with whom he went to school and he was obviously something of a prankster, but never in a nasty or malicious way. People remember him for the laughter and the fun he brought into their lives. There is also a separate group page formed in his memory and at the time of writing that has over 1,350 members, with numerous more posts and photos, all showing their respect and affection for Joe.

For full tributes to Joe and details of his own racing career and how JTR came to be formed and progress have a look at this one from autosport.com: http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/75300 and this one from his old boss at PalmerSport, Jonathan Palmer: http://www.motorsportvision.co.uk/news/article.asp?NewsID=4694

The funeral is next Monday, June 1st, at Pavenham, Joe’s home village near Bedford. I shall be unable to be there because I have long had a heavy day’s work planned, but Joe would understand that. My thoughts and prayers will be with his parents, Joe and Marilyn, his brother Nick, his fiancée, Sophie, their families and all his friends. Rest in peace, Joe; your memory will long remain and be an inspiration to many. There could be no better role model.

This postscript is being added in the early hours of June 1st. Over the weekend now ended, JTR and Nick Tandy raced at Rockingham. Nick qualified 3rd and 5th for the two races and then, in race 1 profited from a first lap collision between the two leaders to take the lead himself and hold it unchallenged to win by over 8 seconds. It was the first F3 win for both him and the team and the perfect tribute to his late brother. It brought universal pleasure to the British F3 paddock and may well be remembered as the most popular ever. I can think of none to better it.

In race 2 it was Nick’s turn to get involved in a first lap collision and he had to pit for a new nose-cone. Trying to fight back through the field he spun whilst trying to overtake a back-marker, but continued to race on, setting the fastest lap in the process and receiving the Sunoco Driver of the Day Award for his efforts. The Tandy spirit is alive and well, just as Joe would have wanted it to be.

Posted in BF3 people, BF3 Teams | Comments Off

Welcome to British Formula 3

May 22nd, 2009

The British F3 Championship in its present guise was first run as a single entity in 1979. Before that the BRDC and the BARC each used to run their own championships. Usually the same driver would win both, but not always. In 1978 Nelson Piquet won one and Derek Warwick the other, which is probably what made the clubs realise that it was a rather silly situation, so from then on they ran the single Championship jointly, each holding the MSA permit in alternate years, but sharing the race meetings between them each year.

Simple maths will tell you that 2010 was therefore the 32nd year of British Formula 3 and I am hopeful that a separate website may be launched soon, containing all the statistical information from those 32 years. If it comes to fruition, it will be an invaluable source of reference and, proof, in any were needed, of just how important British Formula 3 has been in the overall scheme of motorsport around the world.

Nowadays the commercial rights to British Formula 3 are held by the Stephane Ratel Organisation (SRO) and have been since 2004. In 2011 four races in Europe are included in the calendar and for that reason the FIA requires it to be called a Series, not a Championship, which is why it is now the British F3 International Series and for the last three years and again for the next four it has been and will be sponsored by Cooper Tires, the American parent company of Avon Tyres, which has been the control tyre supplier for British F3 since 1981. Avon also had a financial interest in British F3 in previous years, when it was still a Championship. The tyres are still made at Melksham in Wiltshire and there is no doubt that British Formula 3 is immensely indebted to Cooper/Avon, who back up the sponsorship with an impeccable service.

Regardless of the official title, British Formula 3, whether it be a Championship or a Series, is usually referred to as British F3. I have been connected with it in one way or another for most of the 32 years I mentioned earlier and the intention is to share with you some of the personal insights I have had over the years, as well as comment frankly on current matters of interest. I would not have been for a fan for so long unless British F3 was basically a very good formula and one worth preserving. It’s a shame that the current financial climate and the introduction of other formulae has made this life more difficult in the last couple of years, but British F3 continues to be strong. SRO does allow the teams a certain amount of input into how the series is run and that is important because all the changes for the better that have come in recent years have been put forward by the teams. They know the market they are catering for and SRO should never lose sight of that and try to go their own way.

For most of the time this will be the front page of the website, but occasionally something else will be given pole position when it is deserved. Otherwise, this is what you will see first and you simply scroll down to find current stories in reverse chronological order.

You can use the Blogroll on the right-hand side of the page to connect instantly to other F3-related sites. They will open in a new window.

Posted in Personal Musings, Welcome | Comments Off