|
Saturday
pace points to strong Sunday for team BRM.
WAKEFIELD PARK, GOLUBURN (Saturday, 26th February, 2005.) Tough
traffic conditions may have made today’s sessions difficult,
but Team BRM still showed that they will continue to be a force
to be reckoned with in the Kumho Tyres Australian Formula 3 championship
at Wakefield today, after all four of the team’s cars qualified
strongly for the opening round of the 2005 series.
And
although the team didn’t score a front row start for either
race, strong positions towards the front of one of the most competitive
Australian Formula 3 fields assembled have put the team in good
stead to perform well in both of tomorrow’s 20 lap races.
Strong
performances from Michael Trimble - competing in his first ever
Formula 3 race meeting after a limited test program during the off
season - were a highlight of the team’s day today, The young
Melbournian carrying on his practice and testing form into the heart
of the race meeting. Trimble finished his first F3 qualifying day
with a pair of third positions, the Team’s new F304 Dallara
well on the pace of the leaders despite a lack of testing before
the round.
”I’m
pretty happy, to be honest,” said Trimble at the conclusion
of the second session today. “its good to be on the pace of
the top guys considering we haven’t done much testing before
the round.
“3rd
in both sessions is good, and I am confident that the car can at
lest hold on to third in the races tomorrow, but we will be trying
hard to move up the order and see who can hold on to the pace the
longest at the front of the field.”
 South
Australian Tim Slade had a mixed day, running in to traffic during
both sessions today. A strong 4th for race one – less than
four tenths off pole – was a highlight for the 18-year-old,
following up with a 6th in race two, still less than eight tents
off the outright pace.
“I
was happy to be at the right end of the field, because there are
two, 20 lap races tomorrow that will give us a chance to move our
way forward,” explained the South Australian. “I’m
very confident that we can run with the leaders tomorrow. We struggled
to great a clear lap in the second session, as I got caught up in
traffic, hence the position we finished in.”
2004 Trophy class champion Nic Jordan had a difficult day, but continued
to show his outright pace and potential to run t the front of the
field in the outright class he is running in this season. Jordan
will start 7th and 8th respectively in tomorrow’s two races
– the closeness of the field shown by the fact that the 16-year-old
kiwi was less than a second off the pace in each second.
“Today
didn’t go according to plan,” Jordan said. “But there
is always tomorrow, when we will be giving it all to get up in the
field and race at the front.”
Team
BRM’s Australian Formula 3 Trophy Class competitor Marc Williams
will start from second in class for both races tomorrow, after enduring
an eventful day at the 2.2km Wakefield circuit. An off track excursion
in the opening session saw Williams launch his Dallara F398 off
a kerb, whilst traffic, as was the problem for so many other competitors,
didn’t allow the youngster to get a clear lap in during the
second of the two-20 minute sessions.
“The
car is still awesome, but I’m a bit annoyed at how the first
session panned out,” Mused the young Kiwi. “I was looking
to find a second today and I know its there - I just need to find
more laps.
“As
a racing driver I’m always looking to go faster, and I’m
confident that I can keep attacking and get some more laps and keep
getting better and find some more pace.”
The
opening round of the 2005 Kumho Tyres Australian Formula 3 championship
will be a contested over two – 20 lap races tomorrow.
QUALIFYING
TIMES - ROUND 1, WAKEFIELD PARK, NSW
Michael
Trimble (Dallara F304 Speiss Opel)
Qualifying 1: 3rd – 55:0421s
Qualifying 2: 3rd – 55:6029s
Tim
Slade (Gawler Farm Machinery / TSRWine.com Dallara F301 Speiss Opel)
Qualifying 1: 4th – 55.0620s
Qualifying 2: 6th – 55.8439s
Nic
Jordan (AMS Group Dallara F301 Speiss Opel)
Qualifying 1: 7th – 55.6156s
Qualifying 2: 8th – 56.2065s
Marc
Williams (Mobil 1 Dallara F398 Speiss Opel)
Qualifying 1: 11th – 58.0987s
Qualifying 2: 11th – 58.9387s
|
