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Preview - 2002 and Brands Hatch.
The opening races of this season's British Formula Three Championship promise to provide an intriguing insight into the series. The prestigious title is always in demand for any young driver's CV, and this year sees a new Dallara chassis for the series, the Italian manufacturer building its F3 cars in three-year evolutions. A challenge to Dallara could be the Ralt chassis run by Team Avanti - but it is the driver's battle that will draw the attention.
Carlin Motorsport were the dominant force last year – proving themselves capable of engineering more than one race winning car and taking the first two slots in the championship with Takuma Sato and Anthony Davidson. That flexibility will be put to the test this season when Trevor Carlin's team put out no fewer than 4 cars in the championship class.
Jaguar refugee James Courtney heads the line-up, the rapid Aussie a winner at the opening meeting of 2001, but thereafter failing to find the top step of the podium. Formula Ford Festival winner Alan van der Merwe will be another strong runner for the team, while Michael Keohane steps up from the Scholarship Class and Shinya Hosokawa continues the team's strong Japanese links.
2001 was the first season Manor Motorsport had failed to claim the title since they exploded into the formula, and they have a potentially strong line up. Mark Taylor improved as the 2001 season went on and was a top six regular by the end of the year, while John Booth's team are also running Richard Antinucci, who has stepped up from Formula Renault and impressed in testing – being quickest on occasion. The Sheffield-based team are also running Dane Ronnie Bremer.
Latest rapid Finn could be Fortec's Heikki Kovalainen. Another coming up from Formula Renault, the composed Finn is in a settled environment with his team and has the chance to shine. Brazilian Fabio Carbone fills the second Fortec Dallara–Renault.
Two teams have opted to run the brand-new Ford-based F3 engine produced by Swindon. Motoworld Racing have a steep learning curve as they join the series for the first time, running Carl Breeze and Tom Sisley in their Dallara-Fords, though both drivers have the potential to impress if the equipment is good. Hampshire-based Duma Racing have also opted for the new engines and their impressive support package, Robert Dalhgren – a Formula Ford front-runner last year – heading their squad.
Team Avanti, who won races early last season with Matt Davies aboard one of their cars, have Matthew Gilmore, a challenger in the Scholarship Class last year, running the new Ralt chassis, the manufacturer out to break the lucrative grip Dallara have on the Formula. As a benchmark, Stefano Fabi will be in a Dallara for the team.
Promatecme UK again feature Bruce Jouanny heading their attack, the Frenchman back for a second season despite his monstrous shunt at Thruxton last year. The Chris Weller-led team has signed Scholarship Class race winner from 2001 Ernani Judice to pair up with Jouanny – and the experienced pair could be right on the pace in the opening races.
The Scholarship Class features 14 confirmed entries, with the possibility of more, and two front-runners in the category from 2001 – champion Robbie Kerr and Mark Mayall – line up for Alan Docking Racing in the main class, an interesting test of how the Scholarship Class can prepare drivers for the championship battle.
Potential front-runners in the Scholarship include Justin Sherwood, back for his second season, American Billy Asaro, Adam Carroll who lines up for the Sweeney team – who acquired all of Jaguar Racing's equipments - and double champions Fred Goddard Racing's Mohammed Fairuz.
The 13-meeting season starts at Brands, with a 15-lap race on Sunday afternoon and a 20-lapper on Easter Monday.
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