Irish rising star Adam Carroll put P1 Motorsport firmly back on the winners' rostrum this weekend at Donington Park during the opening rounds of the 2004 Avon Tyres British Formula 3 Championship.
The former F3 Scholarship Class Champion utterly dominated the first race of the season, taking an unchallenged lights-to-flag race victory around the scenic 1.95-mile Northamptonshire circuit.
Although Carroll fell foul of torrential wet conditions in the second race this afternoon, his team mate Ernesto Viso - last year's Scholarship Class Champion with P1 - held up team honours by securing two hard-fought fifth place finishes.
Said Carroll:
"We've gone from one extreme to the other this weekend! It was great to get my first Championship Class pole position for race one and that was a real testament to the amount of effort that the whole team has put into preparing for this season. The race victory was also pretty good! And it's a great feeling to get that first Championship Class win under my belt. But the second race was just a non-event for me - I simply aquaplaned off the circuit on the opening lap and there was nothing I could do about it. However we've proved our pace this weekend and I can't wait until Silverstone in two weeks time."
Roly Vincini, P1 Motorsport Team Manager added:
"It's been a bit of a roller coaster that's for sure! Adam did a great job in the first race and it's just a shame the second race ended as it did. Ernesto has also put on a great display this weekend and he did a particularly good job in the wet to compensate for some handling problems. I am delighted that P1 Motorsport is back in the main Championship Class this season and looking forward to seeing both our drivers up the front battling for race wins."
QUALIFYING
Rd 1: Adam Carroll - POLE, Ernesto Viso - 4thA sensational first qualifying session of the new season saw both P1 Motorsport drivers vying for the coveted pole position from the start. Carroll and Viso traded places at the top of the timesheets for the majority of the 30-minute session, with none of the other F3 contenders able to mount a serious challenge. But it was Carroll who finally dominated the session, posting a 1:02.782 on his second set of new tyres, 2/10th of a second clear of the pack. Unluckily for Viso, just as the front-runners were able to take advantage of almost perfect track conditions, so the young Venezuelan ran into traffic. First Nelson Piquet Jnr demoted him for second, then Carlin Motorsport's Alvaro Parente pipped them both at the flag, pushing Viso down to fourth at the end of the session.
Rd 2: Adam Carroll - 4th, Ernesto Viso - 10thThe second qualifier initially looked to be a carbon-copy of the first, at least for Carroll, with the talented North Irishman heading up the pack for the first 15 minutes. But changeable wind conditions and a single erratic rain shower soon took its toll, with Carroll demoted down to sixth during a routine pitstop for new tyres. When Carroll rejoined, the track had gone off and it took a couple of tours before the flying Irishman was able to put in another quick lap. Although he came within 1/10th of a second of pole position, it only put him fourth on the grid - and with the session coming to a close, Carroll was unable to respond again. For Viso the second session was ultimately frustrating. Having, by his own admission, pulled into the pits at the wrong time when the rain started, he suffered most with the changeable track conditions. Although running as high as second early on, he found himself bumped down the order as the session progressed and finished in tenth position, albeit just half a second shy of pole.
ROUND ONEAdam Carroll - WON & Fastest Lap, Ernesto Viso - 5th
Carroll didn't put a foot wrong in the opening race of the 2004 British F3 season, taking a dominant lights-to-flag race victory and fastest race lap. Having made a superb start from pole position, Carroll steamed into the opening corner some five lengths ahead of the field, setting the standard for the ensuing 20 laps. After a breathtaking series of early laps, he'd pulled out a six second gap back to second-placed Piquet Jnr and the race was in the bag. A mid race spin by Piquet meant that Carroll took the chequered flag and his first Championship Class race win with an impressive 18 seconds in hand.
By comparison, team mate Viso was made to work hard for a well-earned fifth place. From fourth on the grid, he was out-dragged down to the first corner by James Rossiter and had to give best to the Fortec Motorsport driver. In the opening lap scramble for position he lost a further place to Danilo Dirani, so ending the first tour down in sixth. A tremendous fight back saw Viso engaged in a mighty three-way battle with Rossiter and Alvaro Parente, Viso taking fourth place at mid distance. But just as a podium finish looked possible, with Viso closing to within half a second of third position, so he came under pressure from Dirani who was fighting back after an early incident. Contact with Parente earlier in the race had damaged Viso's front wing, so he was unable to defend as Dirani made his move at McLeans Corner. Disappointed to lose a position on the very final lap, the impressive young South American was nevertheless pleased to take the flag in a fine fifth place overall.
ROUND TWOAdam Carroll - DNF, Ernesto Viso - 5th
The second race of the day was played out in very different conditions to the first. Torrential rain shortly before the start of the second F3 encounter demanded that all the runners change to wet weather tyres on the grid - and virtually guaranteed an action-packed opening lap. Unhappily for Carroll, his action was limited to just two corners. After a poor start, when he struggled for traction in his P1 Motorsport Dallara, Carroll got pushed wide on the approach to the notorious Craner Curves and promptly aquaplaned off the circuit onto the grass. A fairly heavy impact with the barriers and immediate retirement was the result.
Although Viso made it through the first few corners unscathed in the melee, he too suffered a miserable start, losing eight places in the first few corners. However by the end of the first lap he was back up to eighth and on a charge, taking fourth place just a lap later. Clearly revelling in the conditions, Viso was keeping pace with the top three and on lap 11 he took third at the expense of Australian Will Power. Although he held third place for the next four laps, Viso began to come under pressure from Nelson Piquet Jnr, who was making his way back up the field after an incident on lap two. And on lap 16 Piquet took the position at the Old Hairpin Corner. Viso then fell into the clutches of Power - who, like Piquet, was battling his way back up the order. And, despite Viso's best efforts, Power squeezed through under braking for the chicane with two laps to go, so demoting Ernesto down to 5th place at the flag.
Rounds Three and Four of the 2004 Avon Tyres British Formula 3 Championship take place at Silverstone Circuit, Northants, on 17th & 18th April
QUALIFYING - ROUND ONE1 Adam CARROLL GBR Dallara F304 Opel Spiess 1:02.782 2 Alvaro PARENTE POR Dallara F304 Mugen-Honda 1:02.930 3 Nelson A PIQUET BRA Dallara F304 Mugen-Honda 1:02.962 4 Ernesto VISO VEN Dallara F304 Opel Spiess 1:03.068 5 James ROSSITER GBR Dallara F304 Opel Spiess 1:03.470 6 Lucas DI GRASSI BRA Dallara F304 Renault Sodemo 1:03.480 7 Danilo DIRANI BRA Dallara F304 Mugen-Honda 1:03.502 8 Andrew THOMPSON GBR Dallara F304 Renault Sodemo 1:03.507 9 Clivio PICCIONE MON Dallara F304 Mugen-Honda 1:03.570 10 Will DAVISON AUS Dallara F304 Opel Spiess 1:03.587
QUALIFYING - ROUND TWO
1 Alvaro PARENTE POR Dallara F304 Mugen-Honda 1:02.946 2 Nelson A PIQUET BRA Dallara F304 Mugen-Honda 1:02.967 3 Clivio PICCIONE MON Dallara F304 Mugen-Honda 1:02.988 4 Adam CARROLL GBR Dallara F304 Mugen-Honda 1:03.073 5 Danilo DIRANI BRA Dallara F304 Mugen-Honda 1:03.163 6 Fairuz FAUZY MAL Dallara F304 Opel Spiess 1:03.353 7 Lucas DI GRASSI BRA Dallara F304 Renault Sodemo 1:03.390 8 Will POWER AUS Dallara F304 Mugen-Honda 1:03.475 9 Danny WATTS GBR Lola-Dome F106-4 Mugen-Honda 1:03.475 10 Ernesto VISO VEN Dallara F304 Mugen-Honda 1:03.502
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