1997 British Formula Three Championship

1997 British Formula Three Championship
Previous:	1996	Next:	1998

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.

Race calendar and results

Round	Circuit	Date	Pole Position	Fastest Lap	Winning Driver	Winning Team	National Class Winner
1	Donington Park	23 March	Guy Smith	Jonny Kane	Jonny Kane	Stewart Racing	No Finishers
2	Silverstone	6 April	Nicolas Minassian	Nicolas Minassian	Nicolas Minassian	Promatecme	No Finishers
3	Thruxton	13 April	Nicolas Minassian	Peter Dumbreck	Jonny Kane	Stewart Racing	Martin O'Connell
4	Brands Hatch	27 April	Mark Webber	Mark Webber	Mark Webber	Alan Docking Racing	Martin O'Connell
5	Silverstone	11 May	Mark Webber	Jonny Kane	Jonny Kane	Stewart Racing	Martin O'Connell
6	Croft	18 May	Jonny Kane	Peter Dumbreck	Nicolas Minassian	Promatecme	Martin O'Connell
7	Oulton Park	22 June	Jonny Kane	Peter Dumbreck	Peter Dumbreck	Stewart Racing	No Entrants
8	Silverstone	12 July	Nicolas Minassian	Enrique Bernoldi	Mario Haberfeld	Martin Donnelly Racing	Martin O'Connell
9	Pembrey	17 August	Mark Webber	Brian Smith	Brian Smith	Fortec Motorsport	No Finishers
10	Pembrey	17 August	Ricardo Mauricio	Nicolas Minassian	Nicolas Minassian	Promatecme	Martin O'Connell
11	Donington Park	24 August	Nicolas Minassian	Martin O'Connell	Nicolas Minassian	Promatecme	Martin O'Connell
12	Snetterton	14 September	Brian Smith	Enrique Bernoldi	Mario Haberfeld	Martin Donnelly Racing	Damon Wellman
13	Snetterton	14 September	Nicolas Minassian	Nicolas Minassian	Nicolas Minassian	Promatecme	Damon Wellman
14*	Spa-Francorchamps	28 September	Franck Montagny	Nicolas Minassian	Enrique Bernoldi	Promatecme	No Finishers
15	Silverstone	5 October	Nicolas Minassian	Nicolas Minassian	Nicolas Minassian	Promatecme	Ian James
16	Thruxton	12 October	Jonny Kane	Guy Smith	Nicolas Minassian	Promatecme	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	Team	Chassis/Engine	DON	SIL	THR	BRH	SIL	CRO	OUL	SIL	PEM		DON	SNE		SPA	SIL	THR	Pts
1	Jonny Kane	Stewart Racing	Dallara F397-Mugen Honda	1	3	1	3	1	2	4	Ret	2	6	2	3	2	NS	5	2	199
2	Nicolas Minassian	Promatecme	Dallara F397-Renault	4	1	DSQ	EX	EX	1	Ret	3	Ret	1	1	4	1	6	1	1	183
3	Peter Dumbreck	Stewart Racing	Dallara F397-Mugen Honda	5	2	3	2	4	3	1	13	3	Ret	5	6	5	NS	7	4	149
4	Mark Webber	Alan Docking Racing	Dallara F397-Mugen Honda	6	6	Ret	1	8	4	8	2	4	3	4	Ret	6	4	3	7	131
5	Enrique Bernoldi	Promatecme	Dallara F397-Renault	3	INJ	INJ	14	6	5	Ret	10	8	2	8	2	3	1	2	3	127
6	Mario Haberfeld	Martin Donnelly Racing	Dallara F397-Opel	9	Ret	7	5	3	11	5	1	Ret	4	Ret	1	7	7	21	5	108
7	Brian Smith	Fortec Motorsport	Dallara F397-HKS Mitsubishi	Ret	7	4	7	17	8	7	5	1	10	7	7	10	NS	13	Ret	72
8	Ben Collins	Fortec Motorsport	Dallara F397-HKS Mitsubishi	12	5	8	6	13	7	2	8	11	8	Ret	NS	NS	8	4	8	64
9	Guy Smith	DC Cook Motorsport	Dallara F397-Opel	2	10	10	8	14	12	6	6	15	9	6	Ret	4	24	8	14	60
10	Kevin McGarrity	TOM'S	TOM'S 037F-Toyota	7	NS	Ret	Ret	11	9	3	4	6	Ret							36
11	Ricardo Mauricio	MRS TOM'S	Dallara F397-Mugen Honda TOM'S 037F-Toyota	14	11	6	Ret	15		Ret	7	5	Ret	Ret	8	Ret	9	10	Ret	26
12	Darren Manning	SpeedSport F3 Promatecme*	Dallara F396-Mugen Honda Dallara F397-Renault	10	4	NS	9	5	14	Ret	12	Ret	14	Ret	14	11	NS	9	12	26
13	Simon Wills	Intersport	Dallara F397-Opel	8	Ret	9	11	9	10	Ret	16	Ret	7	11	9	12	12	Ret	11	22
14	Jamie Spence	TOM'S DKS Carlin Motorsport	TOM'S 037F-Toyota Dallara F397-Mugen Honda					7	Ret	Ret	9				5	9			Ret	18
15	Warren Hughes	Portman Racing	Dallara F397-HKS Mitsubishi									14	16	9	11	8	Ret	6	6	18
16	Mark Shaw	Martin Donnelly Racing	Dallara F397-Opel	11	9	5	13	Ret	16	9	17	9	13	13	Ret	13	22	12	Ret	16
17	David Saelens	ASM	Dallara F397-Opel														2			15
18	Franck Montagny	La Filiere	Martini MK73-Opel														3			12
19	Oriol Servia	La Filiere	Martini MK73-Opel														5			8
20	Paula Cook	DC Cook Motorsport	Dallara F397-Opel	13	NS	12	Ret	Ret	Ret	10	Ret	7	11	16	Ret	Ret	20	18	10	7
21	Giovanni Anapoli	TOM'S	TOM'S 037F-Toyota	Ret	8	13	Ret													3
22	Martin O'Connell	Rowan Racing	Dallara F396-Toyota												Ret	14	11	15	9	2
23	Darren Turner	Portman Racing TOM'S	Dallara F397-HKS Mitsubishi TOM'S 037F-Toyota	Ret	14	11	Ret	16		Ret	14	Ret	12	15	10	18				2
24	Henry Stanton	Carlin Motorsport	Dallara F397-Mugen Honda	Ret	12	Ret	Ret	Ret	NS	NS	11	Ret		10			23			2
25	Michael Bentwood	SpeedSport F3	Dallara F397-Mugen Honda	15		14	10	12	15	11	19	13	17	17	12	16	21	16	13	1
26	Andy Priaulx	SpeedSport F3 TOM'S	Dallara F396-Mugen Honda TOM'S 037F-Toyota				16	10										Ret	17	1
27	Haruki Kurosawa	Alan Docking Racing	Dallara F397-Mugen Honda	16	13	Ret	12	Ret	13	12	18	10	Ret	14	Ret	Ret	19	17	15	1
28	Bas Leinders	Van Amersfoort Racing	Dallara F397-Opel														10			1
29	Alex Yoong	Portman Racing	Dallara F397-HKS Mitsubishi														16	11
30	Yudai Igarashi	Alan Docking Racing	Dallara F397-Mugen Honda	17	15	Ret	15	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	12	15	12	13	15	Ret	14	16
31	Sebastien Philippe	ASM	Dallara F397-Opel														13
32	Donny Crevels	Prema Powerteam	Dallara F397-Opel														14
33	Andreas Scheld	Opel Team BSR	Dallara F397-Opel														15
34	Yves Olivier	JB Motorsports	Dallara F397-Opel														17
35	Marcel Fässler	La Filiere	Martini MK73-Opel														18
36	Tommy Field	DKS	TOM'S 037F-Toyota								20

Colour	Result
Gold	Winner
Silver	2nd place
Bronze	3rd place
Green	Points finish
Blue	Non-points finish
Blue	Non-classified finish (NC)
Purple	Retired (Ret)
Red	Did not qualify (DNQ)
Red	Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ)
Black	Disqualified (DSQ)
White	Did not start (DNS)
	Withdrew (WD)
	Race cancelled (C)
Blank	Did not participate (DNP)
Blank	Excluded (EX)

Manning was selected by Promatecme to replace Minassian while he served his two-race ban.

National Class

Pos	Driver	Team	Chassis/Engine	DON	SIL	THR	BRH	SIL	CRO	SIL	PEM		DON	SNE		SPA	SIL	THR	Pts
1	Martin O'Connell	Rowan Racing	Dallara F395-Toyota	Ret	Ret	2	4	2	6	15	Ret	5	3						148
2	Damon Wellman	Tarry Falcon Racing	Dallara F396-Mugen Honda											15	17		20	18	78
3	Ian James	Rowan Racing	Dallara F395-Toyota													Ret	19		21
4	Jeremy Gumbley	Tarry Falcon Racing	Dallara F396-Mugen Honda							21									15

References

AUTOCOURSE 1997-98
British Motorsport Year 1997-98

External links

The official website of the British Formula 3 Championship

British Formula Three Championship

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See also List of British Formula Three champions

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