1997 British Formula Three Championship Explained

The 1997 British Formula Three season was the 47th British Formula Three Championship, won by Jonny Kane. The season started on 23 March at Donington Park and ended at Thruxton on 12 October following sixteen races. Kane built on a strong finish to his 1996 campaign by scoring podium finishes at each of the first six races in 1997. This would be enough to keep title rival Nicolas Minassian at bay, who was hindered by a disqualification from second place and a two-race ban for unsportsmanlike behaviour at the third round at Thruxton. The Frenchman was baulked by backmarker Michael Bentwood whilst leading, allowing Kane to overtake and take victory. After the chequered flag, the infuriated Minassian proceeded to brake-test Bentwood to a halt and hurl gravel towards the Englishman. Without having lost the 15 points awarded for second position as well as further potential points at the next two races, it is highly likely that Minassian would have been champion.

Drivers and Teams

Team	No.	Driver	Chassis	Engine	Rounds
Class A
Stewart Racing	1	Jonny Kane	Dallara F397	Mugen Honda	All
Stewart Racing	2	Peter Dumbreck	All	Mugen Honda
Fortec Motorsport	3	Ben Collins	Dallara F397	HKS Mitsubishi	All
Fortec Motorsport	4	Brian Smith	Dallara F397	All
Promatecme	5	Enrique Bernoldi	Dallara F397	Renault	All
	6	Nicolas Minassian			1-3, 6-16
	6	Darren Manning			4-5
Alan Docking Racing	7	Haruki Kurosawa	Dallara F397	Mugen Honda	All
	8	Yudai Igarashi			All
	11	Mark Webber			All
SpeedSport F3	9	nowrap	Michael Bentwood	Dallara F397	Mugen Honda	1, 3-16
	10	Darren Manning	Dallara F396	nowrap		1-3, 6-16
	10	Andy Priaulx	Dallara F396	4-5
Martin Donnelly Racing	14	Mark Shaw	Dallara F397	Opel	All
15	Mario Haberfeld	All	Dallara F397	Opel
Carlin Motorsport	25	Henry Stanton	Dallara F397	Mugen Honda	1-9, 11, 14
Carlin Motorsport	25	Jamie Spence	Dallara F397	Mugen Honda	16
TOM'S	16	Giovanni Anapoli	TOM'S 037F	Toyota	1-4
		Jamie Spence			5-8
		Andy Priaulx			15-16
	17	Kevin McGarrity			1-10
	19	Darren Turner			7-13
	32	Ricardo Mauricio			7-16
DC Cook Motorsport	18	Guy Smith	Dallara F397	Opel	All
DC Cook Motorsport	22	Paula Cook	Dallara F397	Opel	All
Portman Racing	21	Darren Turner	Dallara F397	HKS Mitsubishi	1-5
	21	Warren Hughes			9-16
	27	Alex Yoong			14-15
MRS	32	Ricardo Mauricio	Dallara F397	Mugen Honda	1-5
Intersport	24	Simon Wills	Dallara F397	Opel	All
DKS	25	Tommy Field	TOM'S 037F	Toyota	8
DKS	25	Jamie Spence	TOM'S 037F	Toyota	12-13
Rowan Racing	26	Martin O'Connell	TOM'S 037F	Toyota	12-16
ASM	30	David Saelens	Dallara F397	Opel	14
ASM	31	Sebastien Philippe	Dallara F397	Opel	14
La Filiere	33	Franck Montagny	Martini MK73	Opel	14
	34	Oriol Servia			14
	35	Marcel Fässler			14
Van Amersfoort Racing	36	Bas Leinders	Dallara F397	Opel	14
Prema Powerteam	37	Donny Crevels	Dallara F397	Opel	14
Opel Team BSR	38	Andreas Scheld	Dallara F397	Opel	14
JB Motorsports	39	Yves Olivier	Dallara F397	Opel	14
Class B
Rowan Racing	51	Martin O'Connell	Dallara F395	Toyota	1-6, 8-11
Rowan Racing	51	Ian James	Dallara F395	Toyota	14-15
Tarry Falcon Racing	52	Jeremy Gumbley	Dallara F396	Mugen Honda	8
Tarry Falcon Racing	52	Damon Wellman	Dallara F396	Mugen Honda	12-13, 15-16

Race calendar and results

Round	Circuit	Date	Pole Position	Fastest Lap	Winning Driver	Winning Team	Class B Winner
1	Donington Park	23 March	Guy Smith	Jonny Kane	Jonny Kane	Stewart Racing	No Finishers
2	Silverstone	6 April	nowrap	Nicolas Minassian	nowrap	Nicolas Minassian	nowrap	Nicolas Minassian	Promatecme	No Finishers
3	Thruxton	13 April	Nicolas Minassian	Peter Dumbreck	Jonny Kane	Stewart Racing	nowrap	Martin O'Connell
4	Brands Hatch	27 April	Mark Webber	Mark Webber	Mark Webber	Alan Docking Racing	Martin O'Connell
5	Silverstone	11 May	Mark Webber	Jonny Kane	Jonny Kane	Stewart Racing	Martin O'Connell
6	Croft	18 May	Jonny Kane	Peter Dumbreck	Nicolas Minassian	Promatecme	Martin O'Connell
7	Oulton Park	22 June	Jonny Kane	Peter Dumbreck	Peter Dumbreck	Stewart Racing	No Entrants
8	Silverstone	12 July	Nicolas Minassian	Enrique Bernoldi	Mario Haberfeld	nowrap	Martin Donnelly Racing	Martin O'Connell
9	Pembrey	17 August	Mark Webber	Brian Smith	Brian Smith	Fortec Motorsport	No Finishers
10	Pembrey	17 August	Ricardo Mauricio	Nicolas Minassian	Nicolas Minassian	Promatecme	Martin O'Connell
11	Donington Park	24 August	Nicolas Minassian	Martin O'Connell	Nicolas Minassian	Promatecme	Martin O'Connell
12	Snetterton	14 September	Brian Smith	Enrique Bernoldi	Mario Haberfeld	Martin Donnelly Racing	Damon Wellman
13	Snetterton	14 September	Nicolas Minassian	Nicolas Minassian	Nicolas Minassian	Promatecme	Damon Wellman
14*	nowrap	Spa-Francorchamps	nowrap	28 September	Franck Montagny	Nicolas Minassian	Enrique Bernoldi	Promatecme	No Finishers
15	Silverstone	5 October	Nicolas Minassian	Nicolas Minassian	Nicolas Minassian	Promatecme	Ian James
16	Thruxton	12 October	Jonny Kane	Guy Smith	Nicolas Minassian	Promatecme	Damon Wellman

Round 14 was contested by an assortment of entrants from other European F3 championships; they were eligible to score points.

Championship

Championship Class

Pos	Driver	DON	SIL	THR	BRH	SIL	CRO	OUL	SIL	PEM		DON	SNE		SPA	SIL	THR	Pts
Class A
1	Jonny Kane	1	3	1	3	1	2	4	Ret	2	6	2	3	2	NS	5	2	199
2	Nicolas Minassian	4	1	DSQ	EX	EX	1	Ret	3	Ret	1	1	4	1	6	1	1	183
3	Peter Dumbreck	5	2	3	2	4	3	1	13	3	Ret	5	6	5	NS	7	4	149
4	Mark Webber	6	6	Ret	1	8	4	8	2	4	3	4	Ret	6	4	3	7	131
5	Enrique Bernoldi	3	INJ	INJ	14	6	5	Ret	10	8	2	8	2	3	1	2	3	127
6	Mario Haberfeld	9	Ret	7	5	3	11	5	1	Ret	4	Ret	1	7	7	21	5	108
7	Brian Smith	Ret	7	4	7	17	8	7	5	1	10	7	7	10	NS	13	Ret	72
8	Ben Collins	12	5	8	6	13	7	2	8	11	8	Ret	NS	NS	8	4	8	64
9	Guy Smith	2	10	10	8	14	12	6	6	15	9	6	Ret	4	24	8	14	60
10	Kevin McGarrity	7	NS	Ret	Ret	11	9	3	4	6	Ret							36
11	Ricardo Mauricio	14	11	6	Ret	15		Ret	7	5	Ret	Ret	8	Ret	9	10	Ret	26
12	Darren Manning	10	4	NS	9	5	14	Ret	12	Ret	14	Ret	14	11	NS	9	12	26
13	Simon Wills	8	Ret	9	11	9	10	Ret	16	Ret	7	11	9	12	12	Ret	11	22
14	Jamie Spence					7	Ret	Ret	9				5	9			Ret	18
15	Warren Hughes									14	16	9	11	8	Ret	6	6	18
16	Mark Shaw	11	9	5	13	Ret	16	9	17	9	13	13	Ret	13	22	12	Ret	16
17	David Saelens														2			15
18	Franck Montagny														3			12
19	Oriol Servia														5			8
20	Paula Cook	13	NS	12	Ret	Ret	Ret	10	Ret	7	11	16	Ret	Ret	20	18	10	7
21	Giovanni Anapoli	Ret	8	13	Ret													3
22	Martin O'Connell												Ret	14	11	15	9	2
23	Darren Turner	Ret	14	11	Ret	16		Ret	14	Ret	12	15	10	18				2
24	Henry Stanton	Ret	12	Ret	Ret	Ret	NS	NS	11	Ret		10			23			2
25	Michael Bentwood	15		14	10	12	15	11	19	13	17	17	12	16	21	16	13	1
26	Andy Priaulx				16	10										Ret	17	1
27	Haruki Kurosawa	16	13	Ret	12	Ret	13	12	18	10	Ret	14	Ret	Ret	19	17	15	1
28	Bas Leinders														10			1
29	Alex Yoong														16	11
30	Yudai Igarashi	17	15	Ret	15	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	12	15	12	13	15	Ret	14	16
31	align=left nowrap	Sebastien Philippe														13
32	Donny Crevels														14
33	Andreas Scheld														15
34	Yves Olivier														17
35	Marcel Fässler														18
36	Tommy Field								20
Class B
1	Martin O'Connell	*Ret*	Ret	2	4	2	6		15	Ret	5	3						148
2	Damon Wellman												15	17		20	18	78
3	Ian James														Ret	19		21
4	Jeremy Gumbley								21									15
Pos	Driver	DON	SIL	THR	BRH	SIL	CRO	OUL	SIL	PEM		DON	SNE		SPA	SIL	THR	Pts

References

AUTOCOURSE 1997-98
British Motorsport Year 1997-98

External links

The official website of the British Formula 3 Championship