Wymondham-based P1 Motorsport's young charger Adam Carroll (Northampton/Portadown) endured a miserable two races at Silverstone this weekend, in Rounds 17 and 18 of the 2004 Avon Tyres British Formula 3 Championship.

Although the weekend started promisingly, with Carroll securing third and second positions in qualifying, he could only manage fifth place in the first race  (Sunday) and 18th place in the second encounter - a dramatic and chaotic race that was won, or lost, on tyre choice alone…

But Carroll, who has fallen to third in the points standings as a result, just three points off rival James Rossiter in second, is still upbeat about his championship hopes:

"We've had one of those weekends you just need to forget about.  It's not over yet, although it's obviously getting harder to catch [championship leader] Piquet.  The strength of any team really shows when you're in the sort of position we now find ourselves in.  So it's up to us all to rise to the challenge and get back on the winners' rostrum at Thruxton in two weeks time."

Team mate Fairuz Fauzy (Northampton/London), overcame problems in qualifying to finish a highly competitive eighth overall in the first race.   His 13th place finishing position in the second did not reflect a tremendous race effort, which saw Fauzy post the fastest race lap for the majority of the 15 laps, before Carroll stole the extra point in the closing stages

QUALIFYING

Rd 17: Adam Carroll - 3rd, Fairuz Fauzy - 11th     In customary style, Carroll was on the pace from the start of qualifying, putting his P1 Motorsport Dallara on provisional pole within the first few laps.  But championship leader Nelson Piquet quickly responded to the expected challenge from his rival, knocking Carroll off the top of the timesheets before half distance.  With the Silverstone Grand Prix circuit demanding a strategic use of tyres, Carroll was in the pits when James Rossiter shaved 7/100ths of a second off his time to snatch second.  And with his tyres now past their best, Carroll was forced to settle for third place on the grid.

Fauzy was disappointed to end the session in 11th place and felt that he didn't get the maximum performance from his tyres.  As quick as team mate Carroll around the majority of the demanding Grand Prix track, Fauzy was losing out at Becketts Corner which compromised his final lap times. 

Rd 18: Adam Carroll - 2nd, Fairuz Fauzy - 10th   Carroll put up a brave and committed fight for pole position in the second session.  Once he'd completed a familiarisation lap on used rubber, Carroll blasted into the pitlane for new tyres.  Keen to give their driver the best tactical advantage possible, the P1 Motorsport team held Carroll in the pits for several minutes, watching the battle for pole.  Once Piquet's name flashed up on the timing screens in the coveted position, P1 released Carroll and battle was entered.  Carroll's first flying lap saw him leapfrog up to second position and start applying intense pressure to the Piquet camp.  As Piquet improved, so did Carroll, but although he got tantalising close to demoting the Brazilian, it wasn't to be.  Despite a tremendous effort towards the end of the session, when Carroll got to within 1/10th of a second of Piquet, he stayed second.

Whilst second qualifying was slower than the first, Fauzy posted an almost identical time in both sessions.  Although still struggling for grip around Becketts Corner, Fauzy's commitment was never in question as he harried his P1 Motorsport Dallara around the circuit.  Fauzy ended the session in 10th place, just half a second off Rob Austin in third - and would undoubtedly have finished higher up the order but for a mistake late on in the session.

ROUND 17Adam Carroll - 5th, Fairuz Fauzy - 8th  

An unusually pedestrian start for Carroll meant he had to give best to Danny Watts into Copse Corner on the opening lap.  Down to fourth, Carroll was embroiled in the frantic action that typifies the first lap of an F3 race.  Into Priory Corner, he was running right on the gearbox of Watts - and subsequently in the dirty air created by the car in front - when Will Power dived through into fourth, taking advantage of Carroll's lack of grip.

From then on, it was a race of consolidation for Carroll.  A set up change between qualifying and the race had resulted in a lack of grip all round, so try as he did, he wasn't able to mount a serious challenge to the leaders.  Although he got to within three car lengths of Power, Carroll was never close enough to trouble the Australian and after a somewhat lonely and frustrating race, he took the flag and fifth placed points. 

Although understandably disappointed to finish off the podium, Carroll was lucky to get any points on the board at all, as he had nursed an ailing battery for the duration of the 15-lap race.

Unlike his team mate, Fauzy made a great start off the line, blasting past both Clivio Piccione and Lucas Di Grassi on the run to the first corner.  As the race began to settle down after the opening lap, Fauzy concentrated on running his own race and chasing down Alvaro Parente for eighth position.  Gradually, lap after lap, Fauzy brought down the gap to the Carlin Motorsport driver so that with three laps to go, he was shadowing his every move.  Then, with an audacious move on the exit of Abbey Corner, Fauzy dived to Parente's inside - and the position was his.  Next target was the Marko Asmer/Rob Austin battle and although Fauzy closed up to within two seconds of this battle for sixth, there was not enough time left to make an impression, so Fauzy took the flag in a solid eighth place.