Wymondham-based P1 Motorsport’s British Formula 3 title hopeful, Adam Carroll (Northampton/Portadown), put in the drive of the day at Thruxton this weekend, to secure his eighth podium result of the season.
Despite two difficult qualifying sessions yesterday (Saturday), Carroll battled back with a scintillating drive in the first race to finish in third place – from sixth position on the grid!
Although the second race today did not auger so well for Carroll, the talented youngster still managed to salvage seventh place points and so keep the title race open with four races remaining.
Said Carroll:
“It’s still all to play for in terms of the championship and although realistically we’d require both Nelson Piquet and James Rossiter to have some bad luck over the final few rounds for the title to come our way, anything is possible. After all, we’ve had our fair share of disappointing weekends, maybe it’s their turn!”
Team mate Fairuz Fauzy (Northampton/London), looked set for a top six finish in the first race, until a spin dropped him out of contention. Having shown good pace all weekend, the speedy young Malaysian was understandably disappointed to come away from Thruxton with just a brace of 11th place finishes.
QUALIFYING
Rd 19: Adam Carroll – 6th, Fairuz Fauzy – 9th
With tyre wear always an issue around the abrasive Thruxton Circuit, both P1 Motorsport drivers knew they’d have just one opportunity to go for pole in qualifying.
Once Carroll had completed a couple of installation laps, he fired into the pit lane for his new set of tyres and rejoined the circuit in pursuit of a front row grid position. His first flying lap was good, but not quite good enough, putting him provisionally second to James Rossiter. But Carroll knew he’d lost time at the final chicane - and that his lap time was beatable. Whilst he cooled his tyres down in preparation for another shot at pole, so he was demoted down the order to fourth and before he had time to respond, it started to rain. The rain stopped as quickly as it had started and soon the track was dry again. Just minutes remained in the session and it looked as though no one would improve their times. But then Danilo Dirani pipped Carroll’s time by 3/100th of a second and, on his very last lap, Lucas Di Grassi bumped Carroll down one more place as he leapt to second. Carroll therefore ended the session in sixth place.
Fauzy’s best lap was just 1/10th slower Carroll’s, but such is the competitiveness of the British F3 field this year, he finished the session in ninth. Having secured a front row grid slot at Thruxton last season, Fauzy was optimistic of a strong qualifying performance. But mid week testing was conducted in wet conditions, giving the talented youngster no opportunity to learn the intricacies of his P1 Motorsport Dallara around the super fast Thruxton curves. Fauzy’s commitment and raw speed were evident during the session, as he set sector times good enough for pole position. Although his lack of dry weather running ultimately showed as he struggled to find consistency over a full lap, his best lap was just 3/10th of a second off pole.
Rd 20: Adam Carroll – 9th, Fairuz Fauzy – 10th
Although second qualifying was not interrupted by rain, it was otherwise a similarly frustrating session for both P1 Motorsport drivers.
The team had tweaked the set-up on Carroll’s car between sessions – but from the off, Carroll looked to be struggling. Although he matched his time from earlier in the day, the second session was proving to be marginally quicker and soon Carroll was dropping down the order. At the end of the session, he found himself down in a disappointing ninth position.
Mid session changes were also conducted on Fauzy’s car, in an attempt to generate more high speed grip around the thrilling Goodwood and Church corners. But Fauzy soon realised that the change had compromised too much time at the critical first complex and, with the tyre window so small, he had to make the best of the situation. With a full half second lost at the complex on each lap, Fauzy knew he would struggle to post a competitive lap time. However, he gave it his very best shot and secured tenth position, just 6/10th of a second off pole
ROUND 19
Adam Carroll – 3rd, Fairuz Fauzy – 11th
Carroll judged the starting lights to perfection, blasting off the line and past four cars to take second place going into the complex. As the leading pack steamed into the ultra-fast section of the circuit, Carroll was right with race leader Danilo Dirani and looking for a way past. But mid way through Goodwood Corner, he was forced to back off as his car lost grip, allowing the chasing James Rossiter to blast through on the run to the next corner. As the leaders powered up the hill to the final chicane on the opening lap, Carroll lost another place as Clivio Piccione made a suicide move up the inside. With typical composure, Carroll let the Monagasque driver have his moment, confident that he could return the favour quickly. And sure enough, half way through the next lap, Carroll made a terrific move to depose Piccione and reclaim third place. Although second placed man, Rossiter, had pulled out a slight advantage, Carroll set about reducing the gap and, lap after lap, he gradually reeled in his championship rival. By mid distance, Carroll was right with Rossiter and shot out of his slipstream at Church corner in a brave move. But Rossiter had the position covered up the hill and Carroll settled back into his stride. Having shadowed Rossiter for the next few laps, Carroll started to apply more pressure as the race came into its final stages. With three laps to go, it looked like anyone’s race as the battling duo scrapped for every inch of tarmac. But although Carroll tried every manoeuvre possible, Rossiter was marginally quicker at the most crucial parts of the circuit, so Adam crossed the line in third place, just 3/10th of a second behind Rossiter.
Like Carroll, Fauzy made a tremendous race start, firing through the grid to take fifth position going into the first corner. Unfortunately, as the pack jostled for position, Fauzy was pushed out wide and forced onto the grass – and despite trying to keep control of his P1 Motorsport Dallara, the lack of grip forced him to spin. Although he managed to keep the engine running, by the time Fauzy rejoined the circuit, he was way down in last place.
A terrific comeback drive saw the committed young Malaysian battle through the Scholarship Class cars and drag himself up onto the back of the main Championship Class runners. And after a hard-charging final few laps, Fauzy took the flag in 11th place. His performance was all the more impressive for the fact that he’d driven the entire race with a badly cut rear tyre – a legacy of his excursion on the opening lap
ROUND 20
Adam Carroll – 7th, Fairuz Fauzy – 11th
Carroll made another good start, but his relatively lowly grid position meant he was in the thick of the pack on the run to the first corner. As cars lunged each and every way into the complex, Carroll found himself boxed in – and Danny Watts taking his position. Not for long though. Carroll got a great run on the Lola driver on the approach to Goodwood and powered round the outside to re-take the place. In seventh at the end of the opening lap, Carroll looked strong over the next few laps as he harried his P1 Motorsport Dallara around the unforgiving Thruxton circuit. But as his tyres went past their best – and the lead group made a small break – Carroll soon found himself lapping on his own, unable to do anything about the pack in front. Although Watts provided a brief challenge at the mid way point, Carroll easily held his advantage and finally crossed the line in a somewhat frustrated seventh place overall.
Fauzy was right with Carroll at the start as the team mates jostled for track position off the line, but the unlucky youngster soon fell into the clutches of the pack when he struggled with the change from second to third gear. The split second lost as Fauzy was forced to lift off the throttle, meant he lost two places into the first corner. From there, Fauzy entered a battle of attrition lasting 16 laps. Having fought brilliantly up to ninth place, Fauzy was right with Marko Asmer and beginning to apply some pressure. But, exiting the chicane, the two drivers were so embroiled in wheel-to-wheel combat that the following pairing of Andrew Thompson and Danilo Dirani managed to sling-shot past on the run to the next corner. Although Fauzy stayed with his rivals to the flag, he ran out of laps to mount his response and therefore finished in 11th position.
Rounds 21 and 22 of the 2004 Avon Tyres British Formula 3 Championship take place at Spa-Francorchamps Circuit, Belgium, on 11th/12th September.
