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Trimble
takes series lead after dramatic day at the Island.
PHILLIP
ISLAND - Sunday, May 22st, 2005 – After two rounds of being
tied as the championship leader with two different other competitors,
Team BRM driver Michael Trimble has finally etched his name at the
top of the Kumho Tyres Australian Formula 3 Championship ladder
after a highly dramatic day’s competition at the Phillip Island
Grand Prix Circuit in Victoria.
Trimble’s
weekend started well enough, taking a hard fought second place in
the opening 14-lap event of the day, spending a majority of the
event tucked up behind rival Aaron Caratti. The result saw the championship
lead change yet again, Caratti taking the sole lead of the championship
by a solitary point.
In
front of his home fans, Trimble improved further in the second race
- taking advantage of an early race mishap by another competitor
to lead the race by the third lap. After that, The 20 year old Melbournian
withstood a relentless attack by Aaron Caratti for a number of laps,
before a bold move by Caratti on the outside of turn 1 saw the Team
BRM driver relegated to second place.
However,
just after loosing the lead of the race, the red flag was displayed
and the race stopped due to a stranded car that was deemed to be
in a precarious position on the racetrack. The resulting count back
of laps saw Trimble declared the winner – his second for the
season, and a result that gives him a the sole lead at the top of
the points table.
“Its
great to get another win, and finally get a clear lead in the championship
– even if it is only by a small margin,” Enthused Trimble.
“We struggled a little bit getting speed out of the slower
corners, and that is where Caratti was very strong, but in the end
we got the win and will go into the next round of the series in
front of the championship, and that’s what counts.”
Trimble
also said that he enjoyed having the series’ defending champion
as a teammate, even if it only was just for the weekend.
“It
was great to work alongside Karl this weekend,” he said. “I
appreciate his input and support this weekend to my championship
challenge.”
Reindler,
in a one off drive for the team, had an up and down weekend –
still showing the kind of speed and aggression that took him to
the championship but not getting the results the 20 year old driver
expected heading into the meeting.
A mistake
in the first race saw Reindler drop from a solid third position
down to an eventual sixth place finish, The third race was a better
showing for Reindler though, finishing a fine third not too far
behind he leaders.
“It
wasn’t a bad day,” mused Reindler after the final race
this afternoon. “We just didn’t have the kind of straight
line speed this weekend that some of the others had, but it was
good to get a pole position and have a meeting with the number one
on the nose of the car.”
Team
BRM’s third entry - the Trophy Class Dallara F398 of 16 year
old Kiwi Marc Williams - had a horrid weekend, enduring a number
of electrical problems that restricted the amount of laps the rookie
driver could compete at the challenging and fast 4.4km circuit.
The
team was forced to change engines between races to try and track
the problem – however the car was still running rough and was
unable to start the race. The disappointing result was the first
time that a team BRM Car was unable to take the start of an Australian
Formula 3 race due to a mechanical problem in the team’s history.
Desipte
the setback, Williams still holds a strong championship position
in the Kumho Tyres Australian Trohpy competition.
Michael
Trimble now leads the Kumho Tyres Australian Formula 3 Championship
by just three points, but after two rounds of being tied at the
top there is no doubt that Trimble will relish being a clear championship
leader when the series next takes to the track.
The
fourth round of the championship will be held at Ipswich’s
Queensland Raceway in early July.
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