Wakefield Park Race Reports

Saturday's qualifying sessions promised tight fought races and Sunday's races delivered just that.

The first race was relatively quiet one for Team BRM, but the second race more than made up for that, producing some of the closest racing the Team has seen this season.

After qualifying in 6th position, Team BRM's Karl Reindler, UTS Geophysics Dallara F301 Spiess Opel, made a good start in the first race, but was pushed very wide into the first corner by PSC's Kenny Habul, Dallara F301 Alfa Romeo. This caused Reindler to drop back two places to be in 8th position after the first lap, but he pushed hard and worked his way up into 6th place at the completion of the seventh lap where he stayed for the remainder of the race.

The West Australian, Reindler scored his best ever finish in a Australian Formula 3 Championship race, finishing in an impressive 5th place in the second race of the third round of the 2003 Championship. Reindler was involved in some of the best racing the series has seen all year, dicing with Alan Gurr, Dallara F301 Alfa Romeo and Peter Hackett, Dallara F301 Sodemo Renault throughout the race. Team Principle, Bronte Rundle was particularly impressed with how quickly the 18 year old Reindler has adapted to the series. "Karl has driven very well in the opening three rounds. He is fighting with the top guys, despite being one of the least experienced guys out there." Reindler has come straight from karts into Australia's Premier open wheeler class and is performing well above expectations.

Darren Palmer, T2 Take a Ride Dallara F301 Spiess Opel, made an exceptional start in the first race, moving up three positions to be in 6th position at the end of the first lap. All his good work was however undone after contact with Kenny Habul broke his front wing end plate and bent his steering arm. Despite the damage to his car, Palmer came home in 7th place, setting impressive lap times just a few tenths off the lap times of the podium finishers.

Palmer had a relatively quiet second race. He got away cleanly and was involved in a close battle with Cressey, Dallara F301 Spiess Opel, eventually finishing in 8th position.

Matt Fitzgerald, Inmotion Technologies Dallara F301 Spiess Opel, missed the start of the first race, getting away off the line slowly and dropping back to 12th position after the first lap. Fitzgerald pushed hard throughout the race and was up to 8th position after seven laps where he remained for the final ten laps of the race.

The second race was over for Fitzgerald before the race had even begun, after he suffered a gear box failure on the parade lap. It was a disappointing end to the weekend for Fitzgerald.

The Team is pleased with the overall performance of all of the drivers. Commenting after the races, Team Principle Bronte Rundle said he was reasonably happy with the round, "the times show that we are not far from the guys at the front of the grid, we just need a bit of luck to fall our way."

Team BRM will now move onto Queensland for a test day in preparation for the 4th round of the 2003 Australian Formula 3 Championship to be held at Queensland Raceway on 13 - 15 June.

Championship Standings