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 Karl
Reindler regained the Australian Formula 3 points lead today at
Surfers Paradise, as team BRM came away from an dramatic day’s
racing with a race win in the bag as well.
International
Aussie Marcus Marshall was the form driver of the day, taking pole
position in an exciting wet / dry qualifying session and backing
up his strong pace with a dominant race win in the opening 12-lap
stoush this afternoon.
For
Karl Reindler, today’s demanding schedule was all about focussing
on closing the points gap to series leader Chris Gilmour. Despite
having never driven the demanding 4.47km layout before the first
practice session today, Reindler adapted quickly, and posted fourth
best time whilst negotiating the tricky conditions in the qualifying
session.
Starting
the race from the second row, Reindler made a strong start and was
in third as the field headed into turn one. The subsequent non finish
of rival contender Gilmour meant that the team BRM driver could
‘cruise’ to the finish to ensure a solid points haul.
The 4th place gained at the end of the 12-lap race, and the 10 points
gained in the championship means that Reindler now leads Gilmour
by just one point with two races to go.
“I had a reasonable start to the race,” said the 19-year-old
West Australian. “As soon as I heard that Chris was out, I
got into cruise mode and made sure that I stayed in my comfort zone
for the rest of the race.” He said.
Teammate
Marcus Marshall was the star of the day, dominating proceedings
and proving that the experience gained during his season in British
Formula 3 has been extremely valuable by grabbing pole in a startlingly
quick lap time compared to his rivals near the end of the sesson.
The 26 year old was quick to adapt to the inclement conditions that
are all too frequent in the UK.
Despite
the excellent performance, Marshall was on a potentially quicker
lap shortly after setting his pole winning time, before grabbing
a curb in the turn one chicane and smacking his Dallara F301 into
the outside Tyre barrier.
Marshall’s
mechanics worked miracles to get the No Limits Property Group /
Barter card car ready for the next race, replacing the entire left
front suspension on the car.
“I
just used a bit too much of the inside kerb,” commented Marshall
afterwards. “If there weren’t tyres on the outside of
the corner I would have been ok, but there was and it grabbed the
front wheel and put me into the barrier.” He said.
Marshall
repaid his mechanics efforts in the race, jumping to an excellent
lead after the opening lap. After that, it was a simple matter of
extending the lead, as the #4 Dallara raced to its second race win
in two rounds.
“I
made a really good start and concentrated on getting the lead as
big as possible in the early stages of the race,” he said.
“After that, there was a bit of traffic around, but I was making
sure that we kept a consistent gap to get the win.”
Yokohama
Trophy Class series winner Nic Jordan suffered a difficult day,
overcoming all sorts of niggling problems to finish second for the
first time in his short F3 career. Jordan, 16, was forced to miss
qualifying when water from the downpour just before qualifying found
its way into the engine’s electrical system, causing his Coopers
Dallara F398 to misfire badly.
Starting
the race from the rear, Jordan made a strong getaway and was inside
the top 10 before the first chicane. As the car accelerated away
from the turn 1 congestion, it broke second gear which basically
crippled the car on the tight street circuit. Jordan battled on
to finish second in the Yokohama Trophy class for the first time
this seasion.
“It
was disappointing (To loose second gear),” said Jordan after
the race. “But if anything, it made me work harder to try and
catch the people in front.” He said.
Team
Owner Bronte Rundle was less than impressed with the situation that
caused the misfire in the first place. “Because we were forced
to re fuel the cars in a non-sheltered area, water got into the
engine when it rained and caused the miss,” explained Rundle.
“It was an unfortunate situation caused by a circumstance when
common sense doesn’t prevail.”
Rundle,
however, praised the efforts of the team in what was a very arduous
day of competition. “The guys on Marcus’ car (Damian Allen
and Kevin Fisher) did an incredible job to get the #4 car repaired
after the crash,” he said. “Marcus proved today that there
is no substitute for experience in these cars, and Karl did exactly
what he needed to do – finish strongly and gather points for
the championship.”
The
Australian Formula 3 championship will now be decided over two races,
one tomorrow (Friday) afternoon, with the series decider Sunday
morning.
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