Wymondham-based P1 Motorsport’s British Formula 3 star, Adam Carroll (Northampton/Portadown), recorded two emphatic race victories this weekend at Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium, to put himself firmly back in the championship title race with just two rounds remaining.

With arguably two of the best drives of his career, Carroll defied current points leader Nelson Piquet’s pole position in the first race – and early race leader Clivio Piccione – to secure race win number four and fastest race lap.  The second encounter was a near-perfect display of driving, as Carroll powered off into the distance to ensure a championship-showdown at Brands Hatch in three weeks time.

Confirmed Carroll:

“I’m made up for the team this weekend, as everyone has been working so hard and the two wins reflect that.  It was absolutely vital that we came away from Spa with this sort of result and although that fact brought with it more pressure, that’s what racing’s all about.  It really is all to play for now at Brands.  I can’t wait!”

Teammate Fairuz Fauzy (Northampton/London) underlined his championship potential with an impressive sixth place in qualifying.  However, luck with not with the speedy young Malaysian this weekend and he was forced to retire from both races.

QUALIFYING

Rd 21: Adam Carroll – 3rd, Fairuz Fauzy – 6th    A revised format for qualifying this weekend meant that the British F3 field – supplemented by an invitational class for European F3 runners – faced one 45-minute qualifying session to determine the grid for race one, with those results providing the grid for the second of the weekend’s encounters.

A misty and damp track at the start of the session rendered initial lap times unrepresentative.  As the F3 pack gradually worked their way into the session, so the track began to dry out - and times began to tumble.  Recognising that the fastest laps would come towards the end, both P1 Motorsport drivers concentrated on tweaking their cars’ set-up and finding track position, ready to push when the circuit was at its quickest.  That point came with around fifteen minutes to go.    Fauzy was first to make his intentions known, putting in a tremendous lap which saw him go second quickest.  But teammate Carroll was not far behind, taking provisional pole with a storming lap – only for invitational class driver Nicolas Lapierre to steal it from him by just 2/100th of a second on the very next lap.  With the times so very close, Carroll continued to push hard, but he’d had the best of his tyres.  Frustratingly, for both Carroll and Lapierre, Nelson Piquet was able to take advantage of two fortunate slipstreaming opportunities soon after, to head the timesheet by 3/10th of a second.  As Carroll quipped, “not a lot we could do about that one!”  Carroll therefore ended the session in third position.

After his highly competitive showing mid-way through qualifying, Fauzy found himself being bumped down the order as the track conditions improved.  But the resilient young Malaysian was on a charge over the final few laps, his first sector times suggesting a top four finish.  But on his best lap, he caught the kerb under braking for Rivage corner and ran off track, damaging his front wing and tyres.  Despite this excursion, he ended the session in a fine sixth place overall.

Rd 22: (FINISHING POSITIONS OF ROUND 21)  

ROUND 21Adam Carroll – WON & Fastest Lap, Fairuz Fauzy – DNF   

Carroll took his fourth win of the season in superb style in the first of the weekend’s two races, securing the valuable additional point for fastest lap – and pole for Round 22 – in the process.

The opening lap was a typically frenzied F3 affair, starting with pole man Nelson Piquet almost stalling at the start.  Carroll, who was directly behind Piquet on the grid, had to take avoiding action and, in the melee of action off the line, lost track position to Clivio Piccione who jumped from fourth on the grid to take second behind leader Lapierre.  As the leading group jostled for position into Les Combes for the first time, Piccione and Lapierre made contact, with the latter ending his race in the gravel trap.  Piccione therefore inherited the race lead, with Carroll right on his exhaust pipe.

But before Carroll had a chance to look for a way past the leader, the Safety Car was called out for a multi-car incident at La Source Hairpin.  Two laps later and racing resumed, with both Piccione and Carroll getting a jump on the rest of the pack as they timed the re-start to perfection.  The super-aggressive Carroll was immediately on the gearbox of Piccione and, with a blistering exit to La Source hairpin, put himself in the perfect slipstreaming position for Eau Rouge corner.  Just two corners later and Carroll was through, taking the race lead with a brilliantly timed move on the run to Les Combes.  Piccione was unable to respond as the P1 Motorsport star powered into a small but significant lead – one he was not to relinquish.

Pushing hard over the remaining laps, Carroll kept his head and the hugely important race lead to take the flag just under a second ahead of his rival.

Unfortunately, Fauzy’s race didn’t last a lap.  Caught up in the immediate aftermath of Piquet’s stall on the grid, the unlucky Fauzy lost momentum and two places on the run to the first corner.  Worse was to come, as Alvaro Parente then made contact with Fauzy from behind, sending both cars into a spin.  Although Fauzy recovered and rejoined the circuit, the balance of his car’s set-up had been disturbed and he was faced with racing an ill-handling Dallara for the next ten laps.  But even that opportunity was not to come his way.  With the recovering Piquet pressurising him for position, Fauzy dived to the inside of Ryan Lewis at the final hairpin on the opening lap, but the unsighted Lewis claimed the corner as his – and the battling duo made heavy contact.  As Piquet squeezed through the incident and Lewis hobbled back to the pits with a punctured rear tyre, Fauzy was left stranded at the side of the circuit with significant damage to his car.  He would consequently take no further part in the race.

ROUND 22Adam Carroll – WON, Fairuz Fauzy – DNF

A superlative display of driving today (Sunday) enabled Carroll to take a dominant lights-to-flag race victory and, with it, keep his title hopes alive with just two rounds remaining.

From pole position, Carroll made the perfect start, powering off the line to head the pack up to the spectacular Eau Rouge corner.  With his customary aggressive style, the P1 Motorsport star was flying over the opening few laps and make the crucial break away from his rivals.

Despite a small scare on lap four, when Carroll locked up on some oil under braking at the Bus Stop - bringing second-placed Piccione right onto his gearbox – nothing was going to prevent Carroll from recording his fifth victory of the year.

Fauzy’s Spa weekend did not improve in the second race, when a broken fuel pump forced his retirement with two laps to go.  Until that point, the speedy youngster had been doing a great job, working his way up through the field from his position at the very back of the grid (legacy of his non finish in race one).  Up to 12th by just the third lap, he was looking good for a points finish until a tear-off visor strip from a driver in front plastered itself onto Fauzy’s airbox.  The consequent immediate loss of power saw him lose several places as he struggled for straight-line speed but, fortunately, the tear-off dislodged itself under braking for the next corner.  Although he was now way back down the field, the feisty Fauzy took the battle to the mid-field runners, using all his race craft to scythe through the pack up to 13th when his fuel pump failed. 

The final two rounds of the 2004 Avon Tyres British Formula 3 Championship take place at Brands Hatch, Kent, on 2nd/3rd October. 

QUALIFYING – ROUND 21

1 Nelson Piquet Jr Dallara F304 Mugen-Honda 2m15.216s2 Nicolas Lapierre Dallara F304 Opel-Spiess 2m15.533s3 Adam Carroll Dallara F304 Mugen-Honda 2m15.555s4 Clivio Piccione Dallara F304 Mugen-Honda 2m16.140s5 Danny Watts Lola-Dome F106-4 Mugen-Honda 2m16.186s6 Fairuz Fauzy Dallara F304 Mugen-Honda 2m16.315s

RACE RESULT – ROUND 21

1 Adam Carroll Dallara F304 Mugen-Honda 30m06.595s2 Clivio Piccione Dallara F304 Mugen-Honda 30m07.326s3 Danilo Dirani Dallara F304 Mugen-Honda 30m12.034s4 Danny Watts Lola-Dome F106-4 Mugen-Honda 30m13.079s5 Marko Asmer Dallara F304 Renault-Sodemo 30m14.312s6 Nelson Piquet Jr Dallara F304 Mugen-Honda 30m14.773s

RACE RESULT – ROUND 22

1 Adam Carroll Dallara F304 Mugen-Honda 25m10.015s2 Clivio Piccione Dallara F304 Mugen-Honda 25m10.776s3 Danilo Dirani Dallara F304 Mugen-Honda 25m17.616s4 Nelson Piquet Jr Dallara F304 Mugen-Honda 25m18.013s5 Danny Watts Lola-Dome F106-4 Mugen-Honda 25m19.106s6 Lucas Di Grassi Dallara F304 Renault-Sodemo 25m22.451s