1996 British Formula Three Championship

The 1996 British Formula Three season was the 46th British Formula Three Championship. The season started on 31 March at Silverstone and ended there on 13 October following sixteen races. After losing out in the final reckoning to Oliver Gavin in 1995, Ralph Firman was able to clinch the crown on his second attempt from Kurt Mollekens and teammate Jonny Kane. New Zealander Simon Wills took the Class B title.

Drivers and Teams

edit
Team No Driver Chassis Engine Rounds
Class A
  Paul Stewart Racing 1   Ralph Firman Dallara F396 Mugen-Honda All
2   Jonny Kane Dallara F396 Mugen-Honda All
  Fortec Motorsport 3   Guy Smith Dallara F396 HKS-Mitsubishi All
4   Juan Pablo Montoya Dallara F396 HKS-Mitsubishi All
  Promatecme 5   James Matthews Dallara F396 Renault All
6   Nicolas Minassian Dallara F396 Renault All
  Alan Docking Racing 7   Brian Cunningham Dallara F396 Mugen-Honda All
8   Gonzalo Rodríguez Dallara F396 Mugen-Honda 1-4
  Akbar Ebrahim 8
  Steven Arnold 9
11   Kurt Mollekens Dallara F396 Mugen-Honda All
12   Risto Virtanen Dallara F396 Mugen-Honda 1-4
  TWR Junior Team 9   Jamie Davies Dallara F396 TWR GM All
10   Mark Shaw Dallara F396 TWR GM All
  Intersport 14   Ángel Burgueño Dallara F396 Opel All
  SpeedSport F3 15   Darren Manning Dallara F396 Mugen-Honda All
  TOM'S GB 16   Christian Horner TOM'S 036 TOM'S-Toyota 1-6
  Naoki Kurose Dallara F396 16
17   Brian Smith TOM'S 036 TOM'S-Toyota All
18   Takashi Yokoyama Dallara F396 TOM'S-Toyota 1-3
TOM'S 036 4-16
19   Kazuto Yanagawa Dallara F396 TOM'S-Toyota All
  DC Cook Motorsport 20   Paula Cook Dallara F396 Mugen-Honda 1-11
  Graff Racing 23   Boris Derichebourg Dallara F396 Opel 11
  Patrice Gay 14-15
  Z-Speed 27   Martin Byford Dallara F396 Opel 1–9, 11-15
Class B
  Z-Speed 31   Simon Wills Dallara F394 Vauxhall All
  Hopkins Motorsport 33   Philip Hopkins Dallara F393 Fiat 1–6, 8–9, 11–13, 16
  James Carney 14-15
  Render Racing 34   Martin O'Connell Dallara F394 Vauxhall 1–3, 7–9, 12-13
  Masami Nakamura 14-16
  SpeedSport F3 35   Michael Bentwood Dallara F394 Vauxhall All
  Team Magic Racing 36   Shingo Tachi Dallara F394 TOM'S-Toyota All
37   Ben Collins Dallara F394 Mugen-Honda 7-16
  Mark Bailey Racing 47   Tavo Hellmund Dallara F394 TOM'S-Toyota 1-7
48   Chris Clark Dallara F394 TOM'S-Toyota 1-4

Race calendar and results

edit
Round Circuit Date Pole Position Fastest Lap Winning Driver Winning Team Class B Winner
1   Silverstone 31 March   Guy Smith   Ralph Firman   Guy Smith   Fortec Motorsport   Martin O'Connell
2   Guy Smith   Jamie Davies   Jamie Davies   TWR Junior Team   Martin O'Connell
3   Thruxton 14 April   Ralph Firman   Ralph Firman   Jamie Davies   TWR Junior Team   Simon Wills
4   Donington Park 5 May   Ralph Firman   Juan Pablo Montoya   Juan Pablo Montoya   Fortec Motorsport   Shingo Tachi
5   Brands Hatch 27 May   Ralph Firman   Ralph Firman   Ralph Firman   Paul Stewart Racing   Simon Wills
6   Ralph Firman   Ralph Firman   Ralph Firman   Paul Stewart Racing   Philip Hopkins
7   Oulton Park 8 June   Jonny Kane   Juan Pablo Montoya   Ralph Firman   Paul Stewart Racing   Martin O'Connell
8   Donington Park 23 June   Brian Smith   Juan Pablo Montoya   Kurt Mollekens   Alan Docking Racing   Martin O'Connell
9   Silverstone 13 July   Darren Manning   Jonny Kane   Darren Manning   SpeedSport F3   Martin O'Connell
10   Thruxton 28 July   Darren Manning   Juan Pablo Montoya   Juan Pablo Montoya   Fortec Motorsport   Ben Collins
111   Snetterton 11 August   Jonny Kane   Jonny Kane   Jonny Kane   Paul Stewart Racing   Ben Collins
12   Pembrey 1 September   Jonny Kane   Jonny Kane   Nicolas Minassian   Promatecme   Ben Collins
13   Jonny Kane   Jonny Kane   Jonny Kane   Paul Stewart Racing   Shingo Tachi
14   Zandvoort 29 September   Juan Pablo Montoya   Kurt Mollekens   Kurt Mollekens   Alan Docking Racing   Ben Collins
15   Brian Smith   Ralph Firman   Jonny Kane   Paul Stewart Racing   Ben Collins
16   Silverstone 13 October   Nicolas Minassian   Nicolas Minassian   Nicolas Minassian   Promatecme   Simon Wills

^1 Round 11 was shortened due to heavy rain, and a planned second race at Snetterton was also cancelled.

Championship

edit

Class A

Pos. Driver Team Points
1   Ralph Firman Paul Stewart Racing 188
2   Kurt Mollekens Alan Docking Racing 148
3   Jonny Kane Paul Stewart Racing 146
4   Nicolas Minassian Promatecme 139
5   Juan Pablo Montoya Fortec Motorsport 137
6   Guy Smith Fortec Motorsport 132
7   Darren Manning SpeedSport F3 105
8   Jamie Davies TWR Junior Team 98
9   James Matthews Promatecme 59
10   Brian Smith TOM'S 44
11   Brian Cunningham Alan Docking Racing 34
12   Angel Burgueno Intersport 31
13   Mark Shaw TWR Junior Team 12
14   Gonzalo Rodríguez Alan Docking Racing 9
15   Patrice Gay Graff Racing 8
16   Takashi Yokoyama TOM'S 8
17   Martin Byford Z-Speed 7
18   Risto Virtanen Alan Docking Racing 4
19   Kazuto Yanagawa TOM'S 3

Class B

Pos. Driver Team Points
1   Simon Wills Z-Speed 201
2   Shingo Tachi Team Magic Racing 192
3   Ben Collins Team Magic Racing 147
4   Martin O'Connell Rowan Racing 131
5   Michael Bentwood SpeedSport F3 119
6   Tavo Hellmund Mark Bailey Racing 56
7   Philip Hopkins Hopkins Motorsport 52
8   Chris Clark Mark Bailey Racing 45
9   Masami Nakamura Render Racing 20
10   James Carney Hopkins Motorsport 12

References

edit

AUTOCOURSE 1996-97
British Motorsport Year 1996-97

edit