November
23, 2003 (prplus)
International
Formula 3 Korea Super Prix
November
23, 2003
Weather:
Dry, sunny
DOMINANT
KOREA WIN FOR ANTINUCCI
Hitech
Racing's Richard Antinucci clinched his first win in Formula
Three with a dominant performance in the 5th International
Formula 3 Korea Super Prix at Changwon Raceway on Sunday.
The
American driver scored victory in the first race, which
netted him pole position for the start of the final leg.
He was chased home by Menu Motorsport's Robert Doornbos
and third position was awarded to Nelson Piquet Junior after
a stoppage on the final lap.
Antinucci
was delighted to improve on his third place in the first
leg at Macau last weekend in Korea - the final major international
race of the year. "It feels really good to finally
get a win after two years, I've come close several times,
but there's no better race to win than one of the big international
races. I'm really happy to have got the result in Korea
and Hitech Racing have had their best race in international
motor sport."
He
continued: "This win puts me back in the spotlight.
I struggled to finish fourth in British F3 this year, but
it's really special to win one of the blue-riband races
against the best teams and best drivers. I think we pretty
much dominated this weekend and this win will help with
whatever I do in the future."
The
race ended in some controversy after James Courtney had
tapped Nelson Piquet Junior into a spin at the chicane a
lap before the end. Courtney continued and inherited third
place. Piquet was also able to continue but he suffered
a high speed accident on the final lap of the race. The
stewards took the decision to put out the red flag to stop
the race, seconds before Richard Antinucci passed the chequered
flag to win the event.
In
the event of a red flag, the race result is declared on
a countback. So with Piquet in the wall he was awarded third
place as he was at the end of lap 23 of the scheduled 25
lap race, back in front of James Courtney on the official
results. "Today has been quite complicated. I was pushing
hard to keep Courtney back, then he touched me on the exit
of the corner under acceleration and I spun. I managed to
continue and then a few corners later the car just didn't
turn and I went straight into the wall."
After
crashing out of the lead with a puncture at Macau last weekend,
Courtney again lost out at Changwon: "Circumstances
have worked against us again, we've had the speed but it's
all crumbled away from us these past two weekends".
Richard
Antinucci led every lap of the two leg event, stealing the
lead from the pole position holder Lewis Hamilton at the
first corner. The Manor Motorsport driver was challenging
to take the lead back from Antinucci when he collided with
Nelson Piquet Junior at the hairpin, which pitched Hamilton
into the tyre wall.
It
was a Hitech one-two in the first leg, which was nearly
ruined when Piquet hit his team-mate at the infamous hairpin
towards the end of the first race. Both Hitech drivers continued,
but Piquet lost part of his front wing.
"I defended the line and I think he locked up and he
hit me," said Antinucci. "It could have been bad
for both of us. He could have flattened my rear tyre. Thankfully
it was okay."
Running
in third place in the first race was Robert Doornbos. He
converted third into second at the start and stayed out
of trouble to record a solid second place: "I knew
that to make an impression here I had to do it at the start,
but the gap to Antinucci grew too quickly and I couldn't
keep up with him. I'm happy with second."
Several
thousand spectators turned out to watch the fifth running
of the International F3 Korea Super Prix in the South Korean
city of Changwon.
Among
the major corporations backing the event are LG Engineering
& Construction, Daewoo Engineering & Construction,
Posco Engineering & Construction, GM Daewoo, BAT Korea,
and SK Engineering & Construction. 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. Hyundai Oilbank is the Official
Fuel Supplier.
