1997 British Formula Three Championship

1997 British Formula 3 International Series 1996 1998 thumb|right|1997 champion, Jonny Kane 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. The scoring system was 20-15-12-10-8-6-4-3-2-1 points awarded to the first ten finishers, with 1 (one) extra point added to the driver who set the fastest lap of the race. All results counted towards the driver's final tally. Drivers and Teams Team No. Driver Chassis Engine Rounds Class A GBR Stewart Racing 1 GBR Jonny Kane Dallara F397 Mugen Honda All 2 GBR Peter Dumbreck All GBR Fortec Motorsport 3 GBR Ben Collins Dallara F397 HKS Mitsubishi All 4 ARG Brian Smith All FRA Promatecme 5 BRA Enrique Bernoldi Dallara F397 Renault All 6 FRA Nicolas Minassian 1-3, 6-16 GBR Darren Manning 4-5 GBR Alan Docking Racing 7 JPN Haruki Kurosawa Dallara F397 Mugen Honda All 8 JPN Yudai Igarashi All 11 AUS Mark Webber All GBR SpeedSport F3 9 GBR Michael Bentwood Dallara F397 Mugen Honda 1, 3-16 10 GBR Darren Manning Dallara F396 1-3, 6-16 GBR Andy Priaulx 4-5 IRE Martin Donnelly Racing 14 GBR Mark Shaw Dallara F397 Opel All 15 BRA Mario Haberfeld All GBR Carlin Motorsport 25 GBR Henry Stanton Dallara F397 Mugen Honda 1-9, 11, 14 GBR Jamie Spence 16 GBR TOM'S 16 ITA Giovanni Anapoli TOM'S 037F Toyota 1-4 GBR Jamie Spence 5-8 GBR Andy Priaulx 15-16 17 GBR Kevin McGarrity 1-10 19 GBR Darren Turner 7-13 32 BRA Ricardo Mauricio 7-16 GBR DC Cook Motorsport 18 GBR Guy Smith Dallara F397 Opel All 22 GBR Paula Cook All GBR Portman Racing 21 GBR Darren Turner Dallara F397 HKS Mitsubishi 1-5 GBR Warren Hughes 9-16 27 MYS Alex Yoong 14-15 BRA MRS 32 BRA Ricardo Mauricio Dallara F397 Mugen Honda 1-5 GBR Intersport 24 NZL Simon Wills Dallara F397 Opel All GBR DKS 25 GBR Tommy Field TOM'S 037F Toyota 8 GBR Jamie Spence 12-13 GBR Rowan Racing 26 GBR Martin O'Connell TOM'S 037F Toyota 12-16 FRA ASM 30 BEL David Saelens Dallara F397 Opel 14 31 FRA Sebastien Philippe 14 FRA La Filiere 33 FRA Franck Montagny Martini MK73 Opel 14 34 ESP Oriol Servia 14 35 SUI Marcel Fässler 14 NED Van Amersfoort Racing 36 BEL Bas Leinders Dallara F397 Opel 14 ITA Prema Powerteam 37 NED Donny Crevels Dallara F397 Opel 14 GER Opel Team BSR 38 GER Andreas Scheld Dallara F397 Opel 14 BEL JB Motorsports 39 BEL Yves Olivier Dallara F397 Opel 14 Class B GBR Rowan Racing 51 GBR Martin O'Connell Dallara F395 Toyota 1-6, 8-11 GBR Ian James 14-15 GBR Tarry Falcon Racing 52 GBR Jeremy Gumbley Dallara F396 Mugen Honda 8 GBR Damon Wellman 12-13, 15-16 Race calendar and results Round Circuit Date Pole position Fastest lap Winning driver Winning team Class B winner 1 GBR Donington Park 23 March GBR Guy Smith GBR Jonny Kane GBR Jonny Kane GBR Stewart Racing No Finishers 2 GBR Silverstone 6 April FRA Nicolas Minassian FRA Nicolas Minassian FRA Nicolas Minassian FRA Promatecme No Finishers 3 GBR Thruxton 13 April FRA Nicolas Minassian GBR Peter Dumbreck GBR Jonny Kane GBR Stewart Racing GBR Martin O'Connell 4 GBR Brands Hatch 27 April AUS Mark Webber AUS Mark Webber AUS Mark Webber GBR Alan Docking Racing GBR Martin O'Connell 5 GBR Silverstone 11 May AUS Mark Webber GBR Jonny Kane GBR Jonny Kane GBR Stewart Racing GBR Martin O'Connell 6 GBR Croft 18 May GBR Jonny Kane GBR Peter Dumbreck FRA Nicolas Minassian FRA Promatecme GBR Martin O'Connell 7 GBR Oulton Park 22 June GBR Jonny Kane GBR Peter Dumbreck GBR Peter Dumbreck GBR Stewart Racing No Entrants 8 GBR Silverstone 12 July FRA Nicolas Minassian BRA Enrique Bernoldi BRA Mario Haberfeld GBR Martin Donnelly Racing GBR Martin O'Connell 9 GBR Pembrey 17 August AUS Mark Webber ARG Brian Smith ARG Brian Smith GBR Fortec Motorsport No Finishers 10 BRA Ricardo Mauricio FRA Nicolas Minassian FRA Nicolas Minassian FRA Promatecme GBR Martin O'Connell 11 GBR Donington Park 24 August FRA Nicolas Minassian GBR Martin O'Connell FRA Nicolas Minassian FRA Promatecme GBR Martin O'Connell 12 GBR Snetterton 14 September ARG Brian Smith BRA Enrique Bernoldi BRA Mario Haberfeld GBR Martin Donnelly Racing GBR Damon Wellman 13 FRA Nicolas Minassian FRA Nicolas Minassian FRA Nicolas Minassian FRA Promatecme GBR Damon Wellman 14* BEL Spa-Francorchamps 28 September FRA Franck Montagny FRA Nicolas Minassian BRA Enrique Bernoldi FRA Promatecme No Finishers 15 GBR Silverstone 5 October FRA Nicolas Minassian FRA Nicolas Minassian FRA Nicolas Minassian FRA Promatecme GBR Ian James 16 GBR Thruxton 12 October GBR Jonny Kane GBR Guy Smith FRA Nicolas Minassian FRA Promatecme GBR 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 DONGBR SILGBR THRGBR BRHGBR SILGBR CROGBR OULGBR SILGBR PEMGBR PEMGBR DONGBR SNEGBR SNEGBR SPABEL SILGBR THRGBR Pts Class A 1 GBR Jonny Kane 1 3 1 3 1 2 4 Ret 2 6 2 3 2NS 5 2 199 2 FRA Nicolas Minassian 4 1 DSQ EX EX 1 Ret 3 Ret 1 1 4 1 6 1 1 183 3 GBR Peter Dumbreck 5 2 3 2 4 3 1 13 3 Ret 5 6 5 NS 7 4 149 4 AUS Mark Webber 6 6 Ret 1 8 4 8 2 4 3 4 Ret 6 4 3 7 131 5 BRA Enrique Bernoldi 3 INJ INJ 14 6 5 Ret 10 8 2 8 2 3 1 2 3 127 6 BRA Mario Haberfeld 9 Ret 7 5 3 11 5 1 Ret 4 Ret 1 7 7 21 5 108 7 ARG Brian Smith Ret 7 4 7 17 8 7 5 1 10 7 7 10 NS 13 Ret 72 8 GBR Ben Collins 12 5 8 6 13 7 2 8 11 8 Ret NS NS 8 4 8 64 9 GBR Guy Smith 2 10 10 8 14 12 6 6 15 9 6 Ret 4 24 8 14 60 10 GBR Kevin McGarrity 7 NS Ret Ret 11 9 3 4 6 Ret 36 11 BRA Ricardo Mauricio 14 11 6 Ret 15 Ret 7 5 Ret Ret 8 Ret 9 10 Ret 26 12 GBR Darren Manning 10 4 NS 9 5 14 Ret 12 Ret 14 Ret 14 11 NS 9 12 26 13 NZL Simon Wills 8 Ret 9 11 9 10 Ret 16 Ret 7 11 9 12 12 Ret 11 22 14 GBR Jamie Spence 7 Ret Ret 9 5 9 Ret 18 15 GBR Warren Hughes 14 16 9 11 8 Ret 6 6 18 16 GBR Mark Shaw 11 9 5 13 Ret 16 9 17 9 13 13 Ret 13 22 12 Ret 16 17 BEL David Saelens 2 15 18 FRA Franck Montagny 3 12 19 ESP Oriol Servia 5 8 20 GBR Paula Cook 13 NS 12 Ret Ret Ret 10 Ret 7 11 16 Ret Ret 20 18 10 7 21 ITA Giovanni Anapoli Ret 8 13 Ret 3 22 GBR Martin O'Connell Ret 14 11 15 9 2 23 GBR Darren Turner Ret 14 11 Ret 16 Ret 14 Ret 12 15 10 18 2 24 GBR Henry Stanton Ret 12 Ret Ret Ret NS NS 11 Ret 10 23 2 25 GBR Michael Bentwood 15 14 10 12 15 11 19 13 17 17 12 16 21 16 13 1 26 GBR Andy Priaulx 16 10 Ret 17 1 27 JPN Haruki Kurosawa 16 13 Ret 12 Ret 13 12 18 10 Ret 14 Ret Ret 19 17 15 1 28 BEL Bas Leinders 10 1 29 MYS Alex Yoong 16 11 30 JPN Yudai Igarashi 17 15 Ret 15 Ret Ret Ret Ret 12 15 12 13 15 Ret 14 16 31 FRA Sebastien Philippe 13 32 NLD Donny Crevels 14 33 DEU Andreas Scheld 15 34 BEL Yves Olivier 17 35 CHE Marcel Fässler 18 36 GBR Tommy Field 20 Class B 1 GBR Martin O'Connell Ret Ret 2 4 2 6 15 Ret 5 3 148 2 GBR Damon Wellman 15 17 20 18 78 3 GBR Ian James Ret 19 21 4 GBR Jeremy Gumbley 21 15 Pos Driver DONGBR SILGBR THRGBR BRHGBR SILGBR CROGBR OULGBR SILGBR PEMGBR PEMGBR DONGBR SNEGBR SNEGBR SPABEL SILGBR THRGBR Pts References AUTOCOURSE 1997-98British Motorsport Year 1997-98 External links The official website of the British Formula 3 Championship Formula Three Category:British Formula Three Championship seasons British Formula 3