November
21, 2003 (prplus)
International
Formula 3 Korea Super Prix
Free
Practice Sessions
November 21, 2003
Weather: Dry, clear
HAMILTON
TOPS PRACTICE TIMES IN KOREA
In
only his third Formula Three race, British sensation Lewis
Hamilton set the pace during the opening day's practice
session for the International Formula 3 Korea Super Prix.
The Manor Motorsport ace lapped the Changwon Raceway in
a superb 1m 10.788s, just 0.05 seconds faster than his closest
rival James Courtney. Third quickest was Courtney's TOM's
team-mate Tatsuya Kataoka.
Hamilton
set the fastest time of the day after working with his team
to get the best out of his Dallara Mugen-Honda: "We've
gradually made changes throughout the day to improve the
car and I've found that I've been confident right from the
first moment I sat in it this morning."
"Changwon
is not as narrow as Macau, so you can attack the track with
a lot more confidence straightaway, but it's still a challenge
over the bumps," said the Manor driver. Hamilton made
his only mistake of practice at the chicane: "It was
nothing major, but I did just clip the tyre wall and slightly
damaged the front of the car," he added. "We're
quick today, but it's qualifying tomorrow which really counts."
James
Courtney, who was leading the Macau Grand Prix before he
retired with a puncture last weekend, was happy with second
place after he spun in the morning. "It's been a good
day and we've made a few slight changes to the set-up. My
last lap was my quickest and I had traffic, so there's no
doubt we can go faster tomorrow," said Courtney. "However
it's been quite cold today and as the circuit is short,
it takes a few laps to get everything up to temperature."
One
thousandth of a second behind the Toyota-TOM's of Tatsuya
Kataoka was the Menu Motorsport machine of Robert Doornbos.
The Dutchman was unlucky not to finish on the podium at
Macau a week earlier and he was looking very smooth on the
track, driving with speed and precision over the bumps of
the Changwon Raceway.
Another
driver continuing his form from Macau was Richard Antinucci,
who set the fifth quickest time of the day for Hitech Racing.
He was five places ahead of his Dallara Renault-Sodemo team-mate
Nelson Piquet Junior, who stayed clear of the wall during
practice to record the tenth quickest time.
Last
weekend's Macau Grand Prix winner Nicolas Lapierre was seventh
quickest for Signature Plus, one place ahead of the leading
Carlin Motorsport car, driven by Adam Carroll. The Ulsterman
got an eleventh-hour call up from Trevor Carlin to replace
Narain Karthikeyan at the team. His team-mate Nico Rosberg
set the twelfth fastest time.
The
tricky three-kilometre Changwon Raceway caught out a number
of drivers throughout the day. Malaysian Fairuz Fauzy was
the first to cause the practice session to be stopped when
he hit the wall. Then both Rob Austin and Danny Watts caused
further stoppages after they crashed. "I hit the first
tyre wall at the chicane and then speared through the second
set, damaging the front of the car and the sidepod,"
explains Watts. "We decided to call it a day after
that."
In
total there were four red-flags during the day, the final
one appeared after local Korean driver Jin Woo Hwang hit
the barrier and Italian Paolo Montin spun in avoidance.
Qualifying
for the International Formula 3 Korea Super Prix will take
place tomorrow (November 22), with the race, two legs of
25 laps each, being run on Sunday.
Kumho
Tires, official tire supplier to the Formula 3 Euroseries
and a long-time supporter of its home event, is once again
Official Tire Supplier to the Super Prix. Other major corporations
giving their backing to the event are Daewoo Engineering
& Construction, GM Daewoo, BAT Korea, Posco Engineering
& Construction, and SK Engineering & Construction
amongst others. Hyundai Oilbank is the Official Fuel Supplier.
