Lola Nurburgring F3 report

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September 5, 2005 in Motorsport

Lola Nurburgring F3 report

Lola’s Formula Three car, the B05/30 was again in action on the continent this weekend as the 2005 British Formula Three International Championship visited Nurburgring in Germany.

Once again at the sharp end of the grid, Danilo Dirani claimed a place on the second row of the grid with third fastest time for race one, held on Saturday morning.

The 22 year old was just three tenths away from pole position on the European Grand Prix track but he made a poor start as the 25 car field headed down to the infamous first corner hairpin.

“I fell back at the beginning because when we were sat on the grid there was no five-second warning board as usual,” said Dirani. “We always get this signal and here we did not which I do not understand and that meant I lost some places.”

Despite this disappointment Danilo soon showed the pace of the Lola, setting a succession of fast laps towards the end of the race to haul himself back up to 4th position.

“I was fast towards the end of the race and catching Alvaro (Parente). I am sure that I could have caught him if there had been a few more laps but he just made it ahead of me,” concluded the Brazilian.

Danilo’s second race wasn’t quite as fruitful as the first after he qualified in 8th position for the grid. With the qualifying session beginning at 08.00 on the Saturday morning, conditions had changed significantly and Dirani struggled to find the optimum set up in his Neil Brown prepared Mugen-Honda engined Lola.

“It was frustrating because I think we should have been where we were in the first race,” he stated.

The race was quite un-eventful with Danilo coming 7th, which gave him four points to add to the ten garnered in race one. This haul moves him up in to sixth place in the points table, still within catching distance of third placed Mike Conway with four races to go.

Steven Kane again had a difficult weekend in Germany and yet again it was far from any fault of his own. The Promatecme Lola driver, who has suffered appalling misfortune this season had his races compromised by a lack of track time due to a misfire in the one and only free practice session. A similar problem also confined him to 15th place on the grid for race one.

“It was really unfortunate because it meant that I was going in to the second qualifying session completely green as far as knowing the track was concerned,” said the Ulsterman. “I just had to get on with it but in a sense you are always on the back foot,” concluded the determined Kane.

Despite his disadvantage Kane showed his renowned race craft by cutting through the field to claim a point for 10th place.

A terrific start in the second race again saw him make up a position rapidly and from 11th on the grid he was soon harrying ADR driver – Karl Reindler. A typically aggressive overtaking manoeuvre by Kane saw the last points scoring place annexed, as well as a fastest lap just one tenth away from the overall quickest, but as he later explained, it was scant reward for another trying weekend.

“It was another tough meeting but the pace of the car really showed towards the end of the second race. When we get a trouble free weekend we will be up there, of that I have no doubt at all.”

With this typical fighting talk from Kane, he is well overdue some‘ luck of the Northern Irish’, which is a new phrase that he is hoping to coin at the scene of the next races, which take place at Mondello Park in two weeks time.

Charlie Hollings again came away with a useful clutch of points from the Nurburgring but remains in 4th position in the national class standings.

The Promatecme Lola-Dome driver started the weekend as one of the fastest in qualifying, being beaten to pole by class leader Salvador Duran in the first qualifying session. During the race he was compromised by the slower contingent of Championship class cars and also lost out to Jonathan Kennard. However, Charlie latched on to the ADR Dallara’s tail and hounded him all the way home to register his 8th podium of the season.

“We were quick in race one but the Championship cars really broke up the race for us,” said the avid Leeds Utd supporter. “I loved the track and learnt it very quickly but Jonathan but a move on me going in to the first hairpin. I was just behind him at the finish but couldn’t quite re-take the position.”

Race two saw Charlie start from third on the national class grid but after the first corner sort-out he was behind Josh Fisher’s SWR Dallara. As ever though Charlie didn’t stay there for long and was soon passed after a late braking manoeuvre in to the first hairpin. From there he sat behind Australian racer Barton Mawer and looked as if he could have repeated his race one result until dropping behind Fisher again and settling for 4th place.

“ We came away still close to Fisher in the standings so it is very much ‘how we were’ before this weekend,” he said. “I just have to concentrate on the last four rounds now and finish the season off as strongly as possible. I think Salvador has effectively got the title in his pocket now, but runners up position is still achievable,” Charlie said in conclusion.

Before the penultimate meeting of the year takes place at Mondello Park, both Promatecme drivers Steven Kane and Charlie Hollings will be taking part in the first ever Britcar 24 Hours race at Silverstone next weekend. Kane will race a Porsche GT3 Cup car with Ian Dockerill and Nigel Greensall while Charlie Hollings will be in a Lotus Elise sharing, with among others, ex British F3 driver Michael Bentwood.

RACE RESULTS – ROUND 17

Pos/Driver/Make-Engine/Time

1. James Walker Dallara F305 Opel Spiess 26:29.503 2. Mike Conway Dallara F305Opel Spiess + 1.613 3. Alvaro Parente Dallara F305 Mugen-Honda + 2.340 4. Danilo Dirani Lola B05/30 Mugen Honda + 2.755 5. Tim Bridgman Dallara F305 Mugen-Honda + 15.270 6. Marko Asmer Dallara F305Mugen-Honda + 15.581 7. Charlie Kimball Dallara F305 Mugen-Honda + 16.975 8. Christian Bakkerud Dallara F305 Mugen-Honda + 18.923 9. Dan Clarke DallaraF305 Mugen-Honda + 19.20910. Steven Kane Lola B05/30Mugen Honda + 25.75211. Stephen Jelley Dallara F305 Opel Spiess + 34.22212. SalvadorDuran Dallara F304 Mugen-Honda + 35.95313. Michael Herck Dallara F305 Opel Spiess + 39.47414. Ryan Lewis DallaraF305 Mugen-Honda + 43.79915. Karl Reindler Dallara F305Mugen-Honda + 45.05016. Jonathan Kennard Dallara F304Mugen-Honda + 45.23817. Charlie Hollings Lola-Dome F106/4Mugen-Honda + 45.60718. Juho Annala Dallara F304Mugen-Honda + 46.33119. Barton Mawer Dallara F305Mugen-Honda + 46.59920. Ronayne O'Mahony Dallara F305 OpelSpiess + 48.60121. Josh Fisher Dallara F304Mugen-Honda + 52.93322. Cheong Lou Meng Dallara F304 Mugen-Honda +1:10.08923. Nick Jones Dallara F304 Mugen-Honda + 3 Laps

RACE RESULTS – ROUND 18

1. Alvaro Parente Dallara F305 Mugen-Honda 26:26.953 2. Bruno Senna Dallara F305Mugen-Honda + 0.251 3. Dan Clarke Dallara F305Mugen-Honda + 1.782 4. Mike Conway Dallara F305 OpelSpiess + 4.816 5. Charlie Kimball Dallara F305Mugen-Honda + 8.895 6. Marko Asmer Dallara F305Mugen-Honda + 10.670 7. Danilo Dirani Lola B05/30 Mugen Honda + 12.189 8. Ryan Lewis Dallara F305Mugen-Honda + 16.881 9. TimBridgman Dallara F305Mugen-Honda + 17.08510. StevenKane Lola B05/30 MugenHonda + 19.59611. KarlReindler Dallara F305 Mugen-Honda + 27.92112. Michael Herck Dallara F305 Opel Spiess + 28.71613. Christian Bakkerud Dallara F305 Mugen-Honda + 28.87614. Salvador Duran Dallara F304 Mugen-Honda + 29.64115. Josh Fisher Dallara F304Mugen-Honda + 37.20316. Ronayne O’Mahony Dallara F305 Opel Spiess + 37.94217. BartonMawer Dallara F305 Mugen-Honda + 40.10218. Charlie Hollings Lola-Dome F106/4 Mugen-H + 41.13019. Stephen Jelley Dallara F305 Opel Spiess + 41.77320. Juho Annala Dallara F304Mugen-Honda + 44.11721. Keiko Ihara Dallara F305Mugen-Honda + 52.01922. Jonathan Kennard Dallara F304Mugen-Honda + 52.48123. Nick Jones Dallara F304 Mugen-Honda +1:16.55724. Cheong Lou Meng Dallara F304 Mugen-Honda +1:17.03125. James Walker Dallara F305 Opel Spiess +1 Lap

Championship Class points table

1. Alvaro Parente (P) Carlin Motorsport 267 pts

2. Charlie Kimball (USA) Carlin Motorsport 182 pts

3. Mike Conway (GB) Fortec Motorsport 151pts

4. Marko Asmer (EST) Hitech Motorsport 141pts

5. Dan Clarke (GB) RR Racing 128pts

6. Danilo Dirani (BR) P1 Motorsport 124pts

7. Christian Bakkerud (DK) Carlin Motorsport 114 pts

8. Ryan Lewis (GB) T-Sport 100pts

9. Steven Kane (GB) Promatecme UK 63 pts

9. Bruno Senna (BR) RR Racing 59pts

National Class