The champion may already have been crowned but there is still plenty to play for in next weekend’s Cooper Tires British F3 International races at the Snetterton circuit in Norfolk. Round 25 of the championship is scheduled for Sunday 29 August with a double helping of track action planned for Bank Holiday Monday.
Jean-Eric Vergne’s next target, having won his 12th race and the championship last weekend at Silverstone, is to see if he can beat the all-time record for the number of race wins in a season, which stands at 14 and was set by Jan Magnussen in 1994.
Carlin racer Vergne will also be doing all he can to help his team-mate James Calado to secure the vice-champion’s position. Racing Steps Foundation-backed Calado is locked in battle with Fortec’s Oli Webb for the honour of finishing the season as championship runner-up.
For T-Sport’s Kings Lynn-based driver Alex Brundle, and for Ipswich man Rupert Svendsen-Cook, the Snetterton races are a home game and a chance to shine in front of an army of local supporters. Buoyed by recent set-up changes which have transformed his Volkswagen-powered Dallara into a top-10 contender, Alex - son of ex-Grand Prix racer and BBC F1 commentator Martin - is relishing the coming weekend: “I’m really looking forward to it; it’s my local track and I’ve always gone well there. It’s one of the fastest tracks in the UK and a great thrill, with a couple of really exciting corners. It offers a very different challenge to other tracks in the UK.”
Snetterton is home track also for Besthorpe-based Litespeed F3, the ‘Lotus junior team’, which, with driver Jay Bridger, has made great strides forward in recent races.
The battle for honours in the National class will be heading towards its climax in Norfolk, with title protagonists James Cole and Menasheh Idafar separated by just nine points with six races remaining. Idafar’s T-Sport machine has finished on top of the class 12 times to the 11 of Cole’s sister machine, but the latter has a superior finishing record.
British F3 is sponsored by US tyre manufacturer Cooper Tire and is further supported by Sunoco Racing Fuels, Anglo American Oil Company and Mirror.co.uk
Provisional race weekend timetableSaturday 28 Aug: 1020-1115 & 1335-1430 TestingSunday 29 Aug: 1110 Qualifying, 1500 Round 25 (30min)Monday 30 Aug: 1040 Round 26 (20min), 1430 Round 27 (40min)
Provisional UK TV scheduleSaturday 4 September: 0730 Channel 4 & Sunday 5 Sep 2010 Motors TV
Provisional championship standings after round 241 Jean-Eric Vergne 3442 James Calado 2303 Oliver Webb 2134 Adriano Buzaid 1705 Gabriel Dias 1166 Rupert Svendsen-Cook 115 etc
National Class1 James Cole, T-Sport 3382 Menasheh Idafar, T-Sport 3293 Juan Carlos Sistos, West-Tec 40 etc
Mirror.co.uk Challenge Cup1 James Calado 1832 Oliver Webb 1723 Rupert Svendsen-Cook 124 etc
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