From Surf Wiki (app.surf) — the open knowledge base

1997 British Formula Three Championship

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	nowrap	GBR Michael Bentwood	Dallara F397	Mugen Honda	1, 3-16
10	GBR Darren Manning	Dallara F396	nowrap	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
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	2
GBR Donington Park	23 March	GBR Guy Smith	GBR Jonny Kane	GBR Jonny Kane	GBR Stewart Racing	No Finishers
GBR Silverstone	6 April	nowrap	FRA Nicolas Minassian	nowrap	FRA Nicolas Minassian	nowrap	FRA Nicolas Minassian	FRA Promatecme	No Finishers
GBR Thruxton	13 April	FRA Nicolas Minassian	GBR Peter Dumbreck	GBR Jonny Kane	GBR Stewart Racing	nowrap	GBR Martin O'Connell
GBR Brands Hatch	27 April	AUS Mark Webber	AUS Mark Webber	AUS Mark Webber	GBR Alan Docking Racing	GBR Martin O'Connell
GBR Silverstone	11 May	AUS Mark Webber	GBR Jonny Kane	GBR Jonny Kane	GBR Stewart Racing	GBR Martin O'Connell
GBR Croft	18 May	GBR Jonny Kane	GBR Peter Dumbreck	FRA Nicolas Minassian	FRA Promatecme	GBR Martin O'Connell
GBR Oulton Park	22 June	GBR Jonny Kane	GBR Peter Dumbreck	GBR Peter Dumbreck	GBR Stewart Racing	No Entrants
GBR Silverstone	12 July	FRA Nicolas Minassian	BRA Enrique Bernoldi	BRA Mario Haberfeld	nowrap	GBR Martin Donnelly Racing	GBR Martin O'Connell
GBR Pembrey	17 August	AUS Mark Webber	ARG Brian Smith	ARG Brian Smith	GBR Fortec Motorsport	No Finishers
BRA Ricardo Mauricio	FRA Nicolas Minassian	FRA Nicolas Minassian	FRA Promatecme	GBR Martin O'Connell
GBR Donington Park	24 August	FRA Nicolas Minassian	GBR Martin O'Connell	FRA Nicolas Minassian	FRA Promatecme	GBR Martin O'Connell
GBR Snetterton	14 September	ARG Brian Smith	BRA Enrique Bernoldi	BRA Mario Haberfeld	GBR Martin Donnelly Racing	GBR Damon Wellman
FRA Nicolas Minassian	FRA Nicolas Minassian	FRA Nicolas Minassian	FRA Promatecme	GBR Damon Wellman
nowrap	BEL Spa-Francorchamps	nowrap	28 September	FRA Franck Montagny	FRA Nicolas Minassian	BRA Enrique Bernoldi	FRA Promatecme	No Finishers
GBR Silverstone	5 October	FRA Nicolas Minassian	FRA Nicolas Minassian	FRA Nicolas Minassian	FRA Promatecme	GBR Ian James
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	DON
GBR	SIL
GBR	THR
GBR	BRH
GBR	SIL
GBR	CRO
GBR	OUL
GBR	SIL
GBR	PEM
GBR	PEM
GBR	DON
GBR	SNE
GBR	SNE
GBR	SPA
BEL	SIL
GBR	THR
GBR	Pts	Class A	1	199	2	183	3	149	4	131	5	127	6	108	7	72	8	64	9	60	10	36	11	26	12	26	13	22	14	18	15	18	16	16	17	15	18	12	19	8	20	7	21	3	22	2	23	2	24	2	25	1	26	1	27	1	28	1	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	36	Class B	1	148	2	78	3	21	4	15	Pos	Driver	DON
GBR	SIL
GBR	THR
GBR	BRH
GBR	SIL
GBR	CRO
GBR	OUL
GBR	SIL
GBR	PEM
GBR	PEM
GBR	DON
GBR	SNE
GBR	SNE
GBR	SPA
BEL	SIL
GBR	THR
GBR	Pts
GBR Jonny Kane	1	3	1	3	1	2	4	Ret	2	6	2	3	2	NS	5	2
FRA Nicolas Minassian	4	1	DSQ	EX	EX	1	Ret	3	Ret	1	1	4	1	6	1	1
GBR Peter Dumbreck	5	2	3	2	4	3	1	13	3	Ret	5	6	5	NS	7	4
AUS Mark Webber	6	6	Ret	1	8	4	8	2	4	3	4	Ret	6	4	3	7
BRA Enrique Bernoldi	3	INJ	INJ	14	6	5	Ret	10	8	2	8	2	3	1	2	3
BRA Mario Haberfeld	9	Ret	7	5	3	11	5	1	Ret	4	Ret	1	7	7	21	5
ARG Brian Smith	Ret	7	4	7	17	8	7	5	1	10	7	7	10	NS	13	Ret
GBR Ben Collins	12	5	8	6	13	7	2	8	11	8	Ret	NS	NS	8	4	8
GBR Guy Smith	2	10	10	8	14	12	6	6	15	9	6	Ret	4	24	8	14
GBR Kevin McGarrity	7	NS	Ret	Ret	11	9	3	4	6	Ret
BRA Ricardo Mauricio	14	11	6	Ret	15		Ret	7	5	Ret	Ret	8	Ret	9	10	Ret
GBR Darren Manning	10	4	NS	9	5	14	Ret	12	Ret	14	Ret	14	11	NS	9	12
NZL Simon Wills	8	Ret	9	11	9	10	Ret	16	Ret	7	11	9	12	12	Ret	11
GBR Jamie Spence					7	Ret	Ret	9				5	9			Ret
GBR Warren Hughes									14	16	9	11	8	Ret	6	6
GBR Mark Shaw	11	9	5	13	Ret	16	9	17	9	13	13	Ret	13	22	12	Ret
BEL David Saelens														2
FRA Franck Montagny														3
ESP Oriol Servia														5
GBR Paula Cook	13	NS	12	Ret	Ret	Ret	10	Ret	7	11	16	Ret	Ret	20	18	10
ITA Giovanni Anapoli	Ret	8	13	Ret
GBR Martin O'Connell												Ret	14	11	15	9
GBR Darren Turner	Ret	14	11	Ret	16		Ret	14	Ret	12	15	10	18
GBR Henry Stanton	Ret	12	Ret	Ret	Ret	NS	NS	11	Ret		10			23
GBR Michael Bentwood	15		14	10	12	15	11	19	13	17	17	12	16	21	16	13
GBR Andy Priaulx				16	10										Ret	17
JPN Haruki Kurosawa	16	13	Ret	12	Ret	13	12	18	10	Ret	14	Ret	Ret	19	17	15
BEL Bas Leinders														10
MYS Alex Yoong														16	11
JPN Yudai Igarashi	17	15	Ret	15	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	12	15	12	13	15	Ret	14	16
FRA Sebastien Philippe														13
NLD Donny Crevels														14
DEU Andreas Scheld														15
BEL Yves Olivier														17
CHE Marcel Fässler														18
GBR Tommy Field								20
GBR Martin O'Connell	Ret	Ret	2	4	2	6		15	Ret	5	3
GBR Damon Wellman												15	17		20	18
GBR Ian James														Ret	19
GBR Jeremy Gumbley								21

References

AUTOCOURSE 1997-98 British Motorsport Year 1997-98

Info: Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

1997-in-british-motorsport british-formula-three-championship-seasons 1997-in-formula-racing

Want to explore this topic further?

Ask Mako anything about 1997 British Formula Three Championship — get instant answers, deeper analysis, and related topics.

Research with Mako

Free with your Surf account

Content sourced from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

This content may have been generated or modified by AI. CloudSurf Software LLC is not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of AI-generated content. Always verify important information from primary sources.

Report