Super Conway leads British F3 after scoring maiden win
British Formula 3 Championship
Rounds 5 & 6
Croft, North Yorkshire
Kent racing sensation Mike Conway leapt to the top of the British Formula 3 Championship standings this weekend as he scored his maiden race victory in the prestigious series at the Croft circuit in Yorkshire.
During a weekend of mixed fortunes for the Sevenoaks 21-year old, his first win came amazingly in only his third race in Britain's top junior single-seater series. In winning the opening F3 race of the weekend, Conway also became the first rookie to lead the series since ex-Jaguar Formula 1 test driver James Courtney topped the standings during his debut season in 2001.
Conway's second race at Croft was severely hampered by a bent front trackrod after an unfortunate altercation with another car, but the former McLaren Autosport BRDC Award finalist and reigning Formula Renault UK champion nursed his ill-handling Fortec Motorsport car home to score more points for ninth place in the Championship Class.
He now leads the prestigious British F3 Championship, won previously by such drivers as Ayrton Senna, Rubens Barrichello and Mika Hakkinen, by seven points from erstwhile leader Brazilian Danilo Dirani, who failed to finish either race at Croft.
Conway dominated a first race made very tricky by a hail shower in the middle of the 17-lap outing. He blasted past pole position man Alvaro Parente off the line and simply pulled away from the field, pulling out half a second per lap to give himself a decent cushion.
When the hail came down, Conway further proved his excellence by continuing to pull away from his rivals despite the conditions, which mirrored his last race at Croft in FRenault, which he also won in similar weather conditions.
"It got really difficult," he admitted. "The hailstones were acting like marbles on the track and it nearly caught me out on a couple of occasions, especially at Sunny where the rear end of the car was really stepping out. It was déjà vu after last year, but I knew I had to keep pushing plus keep it on the track."
This he did, only for a late safety car period to nullify his lead. With four laps remaining, the race was back on and ice-cool Conway held his nerve once again to draw away from the squabbling pack and take the chequered flag 3.369s ahead of Estonian Marko Asmer.
"It felt really good to win my first race," beamed Conway. "I knew I had to start winning soon because the team has done a great job and the car is really good so I had no excuses not to be winning soon. Now I just need to keep scoring the points and winning races because my aim is definitely to win the championship."
In race two, Conway slotted into second place behind pole position holder Parente and was pressuring the leader but made the tiniest of errors on the exit of the chicane coming on to the back straight. That allowed Dane Chris tian Bakkerud to get alongside him into Tower corner, pushing Conway wide.
"The back end came out because I was on the outside line, and we touched," explained Conway. "The contact damaged my front wing and after that I had more understeer then before so I was struggling to keep the other cars behind me."
The problems got worse for Conway a few laps later when he was involved in more serious contact, this time with Ryan Lewis. That bent Conway's front trackrod and no matter how hard he fought, he could not control the damaged car properly. "Along the straight, I was having to apply full lock on the steering wheel just to get it to go in a straight line!" exclaimed Conway.
With such an ill-handling machine, Conway dropped down the order, ending up ninth in class and 14 th overall. However, in the circumstances, he was pleased to pick up two points for ninth place.
The British F3 Championship now moves to Knockhill in Scotland on May 22 for rounds seven and eight.
Media contact: Andy Bothwell 07944 651166
