F3 – Easy victory for van der Zande

 

Van der Zande took a lights to flag victory in Round 9

Renger van der Zande cruised to an easy lights to flag victory in Round 9 of the Cooper Tires British Formula 3 International Series at Snetterton.

 

The Dutchman demonstrated Hitech Racing’s dominance at the Norfolk circuit by leading off the grid and building a comfortable one second lead over Henry Arundell (Carlin Motorsport) and championship leader Daniel Riccardo (Carlin Motorsport) by the end of lap two.

Arundell headed the chasing pack until lap 20 of 29, when his Carlin Motorsport Dallara was struck by gearbox issues, allowing Riccardo to cruise past and into second place.

By the time the chequered flag fell, van der Zande had a lead of 3.8s over Riccardo, who will be pleased with the points for second place. Despite his gearbox problems, Arundell held on to third ahead of the second Hitech car of Walter Grubmuller and the first of the Fortec drivers, Riki Christodoulou.

In the National Class, Daniel McKenzie with his Mugen-Honda powered Fortec clinched his sixth victory of 2009 in eighth position, nine places ahead of his closest challenger Victor Correa (Litespeed) who finished down in seventeenth.

Cooper Tires British Formula 3 International Championship Round 9 Results

1. INT Renger van der Zande Hitech-Dallara-Mercedes 

2 INT Daniel Riccardo Carlin-Dallara-Volkswagen 

3. INT Hanry Arundell Carlin-Dallara-Volkswagen

4. INT Walter Grubmuller Hitech-Dallara-Mercedes

5. INT Riki Christodoulou Fortec-Dallara-Mercedes

6. Max Chilton Carlin-Dallara-Volkswagen

7. INT Jay Bridger Litespeed-Mygale-Mugen Honda

8. NAT Daniel McKenzie Fortec-Dallara-Mugen Honda

9. INT Adriano Buzaid T Sport-Dallara-Volkswagen

10. INT Daisuke Nakajima RR-Dallara-Mercedes

F3 – More races for 2010

 

British F3 logo

From 2010 onwards, each of the ten meetings in the Cooper Tires British Formula 3 International Series will consist of three races, which adds up to a 50 per cent increase in the number of races over a season. 

The proposed extension is designed to provide up and coming drivers with as much racing experience as possible, in order to give them the best opportunity to progress into the higher levels of motorsport, such as the Formula 1 World Championship. 

Stephane Ratel, Chairman of SRO Motorsports Group welcomed the plans. He said; “We were very pleased to discuss FOTA’s proposal for a 30-round British Formula 3 season. It will be popular with spectators, great for TV and will make for an even more exciting and worthwhile championship, and we look forward to working with FOTA to make the idea come to fruition.”

A trio of full-length races will be held over a weekend with a total of 30 races being held over a season and it should help the series hold on to its title as one of the pre-eminent motorsport training grounds in the world.

F3 – Tandy to move on to Euroseries

Tandy has raced with JTR since 2008. Photo: JTR

Race winner in the Cooper Tires Formula 3 British International Series, Nick Tandy has announced that he will be moving on from the British series to a works-assisted drive with Kolles & Heinz Union in the F3 Euroseries.

Tandy's new team, Kolles & Heinz

The 24-year old has been racing in F3 with Joe Tandy Racing (JTR), which was run by Nick’s 26-year old brother until he was sadly killed earlier this year in a car crash, since the beginning of 2008, after winning the coveted Formula Ford Festival and the inaugural Formula Palmer Audi shootout in 2007.

Nick has mixed emotions about leaving JTR, but says that this opportunity is far too good to miss;

“Thisis the sort of chance for which I have been aiming all my career so it would have been crazy to pass it up. I am devistated that I will no longer be driving for JTR, but the whole team knows that I am fully behind them and will continue to support them in every way possible.”

JTR have already begun the search for a competitive driver to replace Tandy, who raced to victory earlier this year at Rockingham.

F3 – Double-Dutch at Snetterton

Van der Zande took pole for Round 9 and 10 at Snetterton

Qualifying for Rounds 9 and 10 of the Cooper Tires F3 British International Series at Snetterton took place today (4th July) and it was Hitech Racing’s Dutch driver, Renger van der Zande who took a brace of pole positions for both of tomorrow’s races.

Van der Zande set the pace throughout Friday practice, ending the day two tenths of a second ahead of his closest rivals, Sapaniard  Victor Garcia for Fortec Motorsport and Daisuke Nakajima in the first of the RR machines.

In what was possibly the closest qualifying session of the season so far, van der Zande took his second pole of the year and the third consecutive pole for Hitech, finishing a mere 0.003s ahead of second placed man, Henry Arundell for Carlin Motorsport.

The second Carlin car of Max Chilton took third with a time of 1m02.079s, which is 0.008s slower than the best time set by the pole sitter and less than one tenth quicker than fourth place man and the third Carlin driver, Daniel Riccardo.

After his strong showing in practice, Garcia only managed to clinch 15th place on the grid for Round 9. Nakajima managed a little better, but is still languishing down in 7th. Both drivers have it all to do, if they are to challenge van der Zande for the race win. 

In qualifying for Round 10 of the season, the Dutchman proved in fine style that his first pole wasn’t a fluke, by posting the quickest time of the session with a 1m02.098s, adding another pole to his tally. 

This time it was van der Zande’s team-mate at Hitech Racing, Walter Grubmuller who will share the front row with the Dutchman, the Austrian driver setting a time of 1m02.166s.

Starting third in Round 10 will be the Fortec Motorsport car of Riki Christodoulou, who managed to see off the two other Carlin cars of Chilton and Riccardo.       

Commenting on his two pole positions, van der Zande said; “Still on top. It’s great and I’m very happy. Let’s hope it stays that way in the races…”

F1 – Alguersuari named as Red Bull reserve driver

 

Alguersuari takes over the Red Bull reserve role from Brendon Hartley

From the German Grand Prix onwards, Jaime Alguersuari will take up the highly sought-after supporting role at both Red Bull Formula 1 outfits, Red Bull Racing and Toro Rosso.

 

The Spaniard who won the British Formula 3 title last season at his first attempt and followed that up by securing a drive in the Formula Renault 3.5 series, will take over the reserve driver role from his former Formula 3 team mate Brendon Hartley.

The ambitious 19-year old has experienced a rapid rise up the ladder and has faced tough criticism from people who believe he has progressed so quickly because of his father’s influence in international motorsport; Jamie Alguersuari Sr runs the World Series by Renault, in which Jamie Jr is currently driving for the Carlin Motorsport team.   

But Alguersuari is keen to prove his detractors wrong and is already looking to the future.

“My main objective for 2010 is to race with Toro Rosso,” Alguersuari told Diario AS. “The next season will be the riht moment for F1.”

“The one who has to drive is me. My father has been very important in my life, but it is not possible to deceive Red Bull or anyone else who has supported me,” he added. 

Hartley had to step down from his role when he didn’t receive his Super license on time and retired Red Bull driver, David Coulthard was named as his replacement until the Spanish Grand Prix in May. Alguersuari was awarded a Super license along with his Formula 3 title.