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AUSTRALIAN MOTORSPORT MOURNS LOSS OF GRAHAM WATSON

Thursday, April 16, 2009

Team owner, driver patron and former CAMS Gold Star winning driver Graham Watson has passed away after a brief battle with cancer. Watson who won the Australian Drivers Championship in 1986 was a prominent supporter of openwheel racing in Australia actively supporting several young drivers in their local careers. Most recently he had thrown his support behind young NSW driver Tom Tweedie in this years Australian F3 championship. Despite his illness Watson was alongside Tweedie at the opening round of the season on the streets of Adelaide. Watson was an integral part of the local openwheel scene, his roster of drivers reading like a who's who of local and international motorsport. Current Indy Racing League stars Scott Dixon and Will Power both drove for Watson in the early stages of their careers as did current F1 star Mark Webber, Le Mans endurance driver David Brabham, Brazilian Roberto Moreno and V8 Supercars star Craig Lowndes. The Australian Formula Three Association said that the loss of Watson was a huge blow to the community that surrounds the Gold Star championship, and will be felt around Australian Motorsport in general - such was his influence on so many drivers, teams and people working throughout the industry. The Association have announced plans to honour Watson at the next round of the championship to be held at Wakefield Park in conjunction with the Shannons Nationals on April 24 – 26. In Pit Lane passes on its sincere condolences to the family and many friends of a great friend of Australasian motorsport.

MARTIN LEADS THE WAY ON THE STREETS OF SURFERS

Friday, October 24, 2008

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MARTIN LEADS THE WAY ON THE STREETS OF SURFERS

Australian International John Martin continued his domination of the local F3 field with a second race win on the streets of Surfers Paradise. Martin, fresh back from a year in the tough British F3 series and Australia's lead driver in the A1GP showed the gulf between himself and the local competition with a comfortable lights to flag victory on the narrow street circuit in his Dallara F307 Mercedes Benz. “I nailed the start – yesterday I didn’t want to stall so I didn’t get a good getaway but today was much better and I was able to establish a good buffer in the opening lap,” said Martin. Second was the Team BRM Dallara of new Australian Champion James Winslow. The Englishman again showed himself to be the class of the local series regulars but he had no answer for Martin.

ALGUERSUARI WINS BRITISH F3 CROWN

Thursday, October 16, 2008

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Jaime Alguersuari took his third win in a row to become the first Spanish driver win the British F3 Championship. The 18-year-old, who is also youngest ever British F3 Champion, overtook pole position holder Oli Oakes at the start and led to the flag in dominant style. His title rival Oliver Turvey climbed up the field from 20th on the first lap to 8th finishing his season parked next to the track three laps from home. Nick Tandy took his best finish of the year in second place ahead of Sergio Perez. Jay Bridger finished his championship year with a win ahead of Henry Surtees and Steven Guererro.

WINSLOW WRAPS IT UP AS ENGINE SINKS TANDER

Sunday, September 21, 2008

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WINSLOW WRAPS IT UP AS ENGINE SINKS TANDER

An engine drama in race one has cost Leanne Tander her chance at the 2008 Australian Drivers Championship for the CAMS Gold Star despite winning the weekend's F3 feature race at Tasmania's Symmons Plains. With Tander out of the first race the title went to English driver James Winslow. Winslow wrapped up the title by winning race one on the final lap after a rain shower made the 2.4km Symmons Plains circuit slippery and cost race leader Stuart Kostera the win. “It is just unbelievable. After the year I have had I don’t know quite what to feel. It hasn’t sunk in yet,” he said. “I knew that Leanne was out of the race but I was so determined to win the championship in race one I pressed on as hard as I could. That’s why I challenged Kostera when he passed me because I wanted to win to make sure of it.” Winslow has battled for funding all year and at the earlier Phillip Island round had told In Pit Lane that he might not even make it to Tasmania.

TAKING TIME WITH TAKU

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

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Taku, as we all affectionately know and call him, was initially a name, which I came across on top timesheets and scorecards in the 2000 British F3 championship when I joined In Pit Lane in that rainy September in year 2000. I became interested in his performances when I spotted him more frequently than not in F3 related articles and the praises that everyone was giving him. When I saw some footage of his driving in the 2000 Macau F3 GP (unfortunately eventually crashing out) and over the course of 2001, when Ant was his teammate and the pair dominated the British F3 championship, my mind was set. I enjoyed keeping myself up to date with his performances and especially enjoyed that win at the Macau F3GP in 2001. I was therefore overjoyed when Eddie Jordan hired Taku, and Ant became BAR Honda’s test driver in 2002.

ALGUERSUARI HEADS CARLIN TRIFECTA

Monday, August 25, 2008

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Jaime Alguersuari took his third win of the 2008 British F3 International Series season on the streets of Bucharest to keep his title hopes alive. The Spanish Red Bull Junior driver beat Oliver Turvey and Brendon Hartley to secure the second 1-2-3 for Carlin Motorsport of the weekend . Alguersuari crossed the line 0.6 seconds ahead of Oliver Turvey and another 1.1 seconds ahead of Brendon Hartley.

HARTLEY WINS IN BATTLE OF BUCHAREST

Sunday, August 24, 2008

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New Zealand's Brendon Hartley continued his great run in the British F3 International Series with a win in race one on the streets of Bucharest. It was Hartley's fifth win of the season. Despite the win, the Kiwi's team-mate Oliver Turvey finished second to extend his championship lead to seventeen points over today's third placed man Jaime Alguersuari.

TURVEY OVERCOMES SLOW START TO WIN BRIT F3

Saturday, August 16, 2008

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Australian drivers John Martin and Sam Abay both finished in the top ten in Round 15 of the British F3 Championship at the Bernie Ecclestone’s second favourite circuit Silverstone. The race was won by pole sitter Oliver Turvey despite a slow start which left New Zealand driver Brendan Hartley in front. Turvey passed Hartley after [...]

CARLIN PAIR SWEEP SILVERSTONE F3 POLE

Saturday, August 16, 2008

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Carlin Teammates Oliver Turvey and New Zealand's Brendon Hartley share pole positions for Rounds 17 & 18 of the British F3 Championship at Silverstone. For the third time in three races Turvey took pole position, finishing the first 30-minute session for Round 17 0.131 seconds ahead of Hartley.