Michael Trimble: “It was tricky to adjust to the Formula 3 car after driving the Porsche all season”
He may have had eight months out of an Open Wheeler but Michael Trimble returned right back to the top of the Kumho Tyres Australian Formula 3 Championship after taking a pair of spectacular pole positions at Adelaide’s Mallala raceway today.
After stepping into a Carrera Cup car this season, Trimble made the most of an invite from his old Astuti Motorsport team to get back behind the wheel of a Formula 3 car this weekend to take the top spot for both races tomorrow driving the #10 Lista Workplace solutions Dallara.
He asserted himself at the top of the standings in qualifying one by a little over one tenth, whilst in the second session a last-ditch lap saw him steal the top spot from old rival Tim Macrow, by just. 07s.
It was Michael Trimble’s fourth and fifth career Formula 3 poles, delighting the 22-year-old Victorian.
”I’m here to do a job this weekend for Sam (Astuti, team owner), and I’m pleased that I have been able to do it so far. ” He enthused.
”It’s always nice to be fastest. It was tricky to adjust to the Formula 3 car after driving the Porsche all season but on Thursday and Friday I got the idea of it again and today, on new rubber, I got the times.
”It feels great, ” he added. “The car is perfect. ”
Second both times today was current championship leader Tim Macrow, who used his first ever pre-event Formula 3 test day to his advantage to reassert his position after a tough round at Phillip Island recently.
Macrow held pole for a majority of today’s second session before Trimble bumped him off with just a few minutes to go.
”I’m not totally worried, it’s very close, ” Macrow said.
”I think we have a good race car. We can set our times early in the session so I think that if we can beat them off the line we can get a gap and go from there.
”We are in front of the championship rivals which is the important thing. ” He said.
The Brits filled the second rows both days today – Charlie Hollings (#11 Shell Racing Solutions) ahead of James Winslow (#27 Team Opes Prime) in qualifying one with the situation reversed in the second session.
Both were less than three tenths from pole in both sessions giving them hope for tomorrow.
Fellow outright contenders Leanne Tander, Marco Mapelli, Mat Sofi and Stuart Kostera had indifferent days, Tander and Mapelli both struggling with setup as they set drastically slower times than they had in practice and pre-event testing.
A close battle is raging in the Kumho National Class for ’99 – ’01 model cars between a strong group of cars – Daniel Schulz (#57 CERASport Dallara F301) and Chris Barry (#6 Data #3 Dallara F301) splitting the honours today.
South Australian local driver Jesse Wakeman showed consistent improvement today in his Formula 3 debut, qualifying third in his class in the second session today.
Tomorrow’s two, 18-lap races will make up round four of the Kumho Tyres Australian Formula 3 Championship will be contested at 9:55am and 13:15 pm, respectively.
ENDS
Top 5 – Qualifying 1
Michael Trimble 1m04.4119s
Tim Macrow 1m04.5572s
Charlie Hollings 1m04.6978s
James Winslow 1m04.7189s
Mat Sofi 1m05.0176s
Top 5 – Qualifying 2
Michael Trimble 1m04.2009s
Tim Macrow 1m04.2756s
James Winslow 1m04.3456s
Charlie Hollings 1m04.4690
Leanne Tander 1m04.7037
| 
|