ROCKINGHAM THE VENUE FOR BATTLE OF THE YOUNG GUNS

Official 2009 Cooper Tires British Formula 3 International Series News and Information

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21 May 2009

ROCKINGHAM THE VENUE FOR BATTLE OF THE YOUNG GUNS
Can Ricciardo claim more F3 wins or will his rivals rein him in?

The Cooper Tires British Formula 3 International Series heads for Rockingham next weekend (30/31 May) for rounds five and six of what is shaping up to be a classic season of action involving the Grand Prix stars of the future.

After three wins from four races Daniel Ricciardo has built himself a handy points lead, but while the Red Bull racer has shown himself thus far to be the class of the field, the 19-year-old's rivals have cause for optimism.

The early May Silverstone rounds proved that even Ricciardo is not infallible: he went off track in first qualifying and his resulting 11th spot on the grid put a podium finish well beyond the reach of the Carlin Motorsport man's Volkswagen-powered Dallara.

Aussie Dan's team-mate Max Chilton has the inverse problem: nobody can touch him in qualifying but he's finding it hard to convert his obvious speed into a first F3 win. On the pole at Oulton he jumped the gun and was penalised, and at Silverstone he started from top spot in both races only to be outgunned away from the startline in race one by Renger van der Zande, and then in race two he suffered a gearbox problem while leading which allowed Ricciardo through to win. Max's maiden victory cannot be far away.

Another knocking on the door of his maiden race win is Riki Christodoulou, and the 20-year-old West Midlander is hopeful of following up his first podium, scored at Silverstone earlier this month, with more. "That's the plan," says the Fortec Motorsport driver. "Just like everyone else my eyes are set firmly on the championship. Consistency and bringing in the points are what matters and that's what I am intending to do. The podium is the aim. wins are a bonus."

Christodoulou has a good history at Rockingham - he claimed his first Formula Renault podium finish there - and is unconcerned about being outpaced by his team-mate, Northampton-based Spaniard Victor Garcia, in testing this week: "We didn't have the car set-up spot-on when the track was at its best," said Riki. "By the end of the day the car was good in the wet and in the dry and gave me a lot of confidence."

Raikkonen Robertson Racing's Daisuke Nakajima topped the timesheets during the dry sessions at Rockingham this week, the young Japanese driver underlining the promising form which has brought him a full house of top-six finishes in his first British F3 outings.

There was a heartening performance also from Bedford's Nick Tandy, whose JTR Mygale flew to the top of the times in the final session of the day, held in damp conditions. A good result on his home circuit would be just the boost that he and the JTR team need following the tragic loss of founder Joe Tandy.

Of the teams set to contest the Rockingham races none is more local than Team West-Tec, whose Russian racer Max Snegirev contests the National Class. JTR, Fortec (Daventry) and T-Sport (Brackley) are the other Northants squads scheduled to be there. T-Sport will be hoping for further podium finishes to add to that which Adriano Buzaid scored at Silverstone, and certainly the Brazilian and his Ulsterman team-mate Wayne Boyd (a winner at Rockingham in Formula Ford last year) have showed good testing pace.

Dutch driver van der Zande made an outstanding impression on his championship debut at Silverstone: he seized the lead in his Hitech Racing Dallara at the start and held on in front of Chilton to win and score the first (and so far only) Mercedes-powered victory of the season. He was heading for the podium in race two also until mechanical problems intervened. His team-mate, Walter Grubmüller, was strong at Oulton with a pole and two podiums.

After missing Silverstone, reigning National Class Champion Jay Bridger returns among the International runners next weekend with his Mygale-Mugen Honda, now being run from the awning of Formula 1 aspirant team Litespeed.

The four-way National Class battle shows every sign of hotting up nicely: Fortec's Dan McKenzie was a double class victor at Oulton but T-Sport racer Gabriel Dias bounced back from his Oulton crash to provide McKenzie with some stiff opposition at Silverstone. The Brit and the Brazilian swapped the class lead several times in each of the races, showing how closely matched they are, but Gabriel earned his wings with twin wins.

Snegirev will meanwhile be keen to improve his pace on his team's home track, while Litespeed's fast young Brazilian talent Victor Correa is edging up the order with every outing.

British F3 is sponsored by US tyre manufacturer Cooper Tire and is further supported by motorsport insurance specialist AON, by Sunoco Racing Fuels and by Anglo American Oil Company.

Cooper Tires British F3 - provisional standings
International Class
1 Daniel Ricciardo 68
2 Nick Tandy 40
3 Riki Christodoulou 39
4 Max Chilton 37
5 Walter Grubmüller 36
6 Daisuke Nakajima 34
7 Adriano Buzaid 23
8 Renger van der Zande 21
9 Henry Arundel 10
10 Oliver Oakes 7 etc

National Class
1 Daniel McKenzie 73
2 Gabriel Dias 56
3 Max Snegirev 37
4 Victor Correa 36

The Mirror.co.uk British F3 Challenge Cup
1 Nick Tandy 34
2 Riki Christodoulou 32
3 Max Chilton 26 etc

Click to open hi-res image. Riki Christodoulou will be aiming for the podium again at Rockingham. Image by Jakob Ebrey Photography

Ends

Notes
For more information on the Cooper Tires British F3 International Series and access to hi-res photography, please visit www.britishf3international.com
Twitter britishf3
blogs.mirror.co.uk/motorsport/ 

Issued on behalf of SRO by Max Communications
British F3 and British GT media contact: Nick Carter
T +44 (0)1530 563200
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E nick.carter@maxcomms.com