Two of the key contenders in this years Kumho Tyres Australian Formula 3 Championship have secured their first pole positions of the season at Eastern Creek today after a breathtaking day of qualifying action.
Tim Macrow secured his first pole of ’07 in qualifying one this morning, whilst Tander will start from the top spot in race two tomorrow afternoon after banking the best time in qualifying two.
Both are key contenders for this year’s championship but surprisingly had not tasted success on qualifying day before this round to date. Both Charlie Hollings (2nd) and James Winslow (4th in the championship) have already scored pole positions this season.
In qualifying one Macrow left his run at pole to the last two minutes of the session, displacing provisional pole sitter Marco Mapelli with less than two minutes lap with the first sub-1m25 second lap of the session.
Soon after Astuti Motorsport team-mates Michael Trimble (2nd) and Charlie Hollings (3rd) also relegated Mapelli backwards but both were unable to close the gap to the series leader.
”Qualifying for us has been close, but not close enough this year, ” Macrow said this afternoon.
“I’m really pleased. It was a good lap and the car is fantastic. Every point counts this season and it’s nice to finally get a pole position this season. ”
Today’s second qualifying session was one of the closest in series history, with less than two tenths of a second splitting the top five cars in after an intense session.
James Winslow held top spot for a majority of the session after making drastic changes to his Team Opes Prime entry between sessions, but was usurped by Tander towards the end of the session. Winslow eventually finished the session third.
Leanne had earlier qualified a disappointing seventh for race one and was pleased to be back at the top for what was also her first pole position since Oran Park’s final round last season.
”I’m very happy. We’ve been working at this for a while and to come back from where we were this morning (In qualifying one) is fantastic. ” She said.
”We made some drastic changes to the car that has paid off. Every point we get this year will help us in the championship and I especially wanted one after Tim got pole this morning to keep the gap as small as possible.
”Missing first practice yesterday but in the end we’re back on the right track. “
Astuti Motorsport have continued their strong practice pace shown yesterday – Michael Trimble qualifying second for race one whilst Charlie Hollings continued his strong vein of form by securing second-row positions for both races tomorrow.
Italian Marco Mapelli posted his best performance of the season thanks to a second-placed effort for race two in his Team BRM entry, the youngster seemingly at home at the circuit where he made his Formula 3 debut earlier this season.
”On new tyres the car was very quick, ” Mapelli said.
”It is very close. I shall spend the night going over the data to find out where we lost. 09 of a second in the second session!
”I hope to be on the podium on both races tomorrow - I think that we can have a good weekend. ” He said.
In a reversal of the first session Macrow qualified sixth, a half-second off the pace.
In the Kumho Tyres National Class Chris Barry and Daniel Schulz took a pole a piece today, split by less than half a second in each session.
Graham Holmes continued his domination of the Trophy Class by topping their charts both times today
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