The 2005 British Formula Three International series travels to Thruxton this weekend for the latest rounds of the UK’s premier single seater category.
Danilo Dirani, Steven Kane and Charlie Hollings will be hoping to lead the way on the flat out sweeps of the Hampshire venue and score more points to continue their title challenges in their Lola designed and built chassis’.
After an impressive test at the Hampshire venue last month, Lola’s Championship class drivers are pumped up for the coming races after contrasting weekends at Knockhill. Danilo Dirani was disappointed with qualifying 10th and 15th in Scotland, despite the fact that he fought through to 5th and 9th respectively in the races.
“Knockhill was not a good weekend for me but the test that we had at Thruxton was very promising and I think that the track will suit the car and myself a lot more,” said the 24 year old from Sao Paulo. “The car is very strong aerodynamically, very stable in the high speed turns and this gives you a lot of confidence. I am hoping that we can return to the form that we showed at Donington at the beginning of the year.”
Steven Kane was in the thick of the action at Knockhill and scored a pair of fine 4th places but felt that he should have had a podium after being forced off the circuit by Bruno Senna and Nick Jones who were about to be lapped by the Ulsterman.
“When luck is on our side I know we can challenge for outright wins,” said Kane, who is managed by 1996 World Champion, Damon Hill. “Although 21 points from Knockhill was a decent haul, I am looking for a lot more from this weekend. I feel confident that we will be able to show that we have a really quick car at Thruxton, certainly one capable of winning.”
Lola’s F3 project leader, Adam Airey, concurs with those thoughts and believes that the B05/30 will be quick on the track that see speeds in excess of 125mph. “The test was very positive for us and we fully hope to continue that in to the race weekend,” said Airey. “I don’t think that Croft and Knockhill were fair reflections of the car’s ultimate pace so we anticipate that we will be very strong at Thruxton this weekend.”
Charlie Hollings took two excellent wins in Scotland at the weekend but will not be letting that go to his head this weekend. The Lola-Dome driver beat all the Dallara runners in the national class but realises that he needs to win again this weekend to keep in touch at the sharp end of the points table.
“That initial hurdle of winning is now over and I know how to execute a race now,” said the 23 year old. “The pressure is still on to catch up to Barton and Salvador but on the evidence of the last two races I feel very confident. The test at Thruxton went quite well and despite the fact that the car was not right at the front at this circuit last year, I feel we can come away closer to the top of the table come Sunday night.”
Qualifying at Thruxton takes place at 11.50 and 14.20 with the races scheduled for 11.10 and 14.55 on Sunday.
