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.

The scoring system was 20-15-12-10-8-6-4-3-2-1 points awarded to the first ten finishers, with 1 (one) extra point added to the driver who set the fastest lap of the race. All results counted towards the driver's final tally.

Drivers and Teams

Team No. Driver Chassis Engine Rounds Class A Stewart Racing 1 Jonny Kane Dallara F397 Mugen Honda All 2 Peter Dumbreck All Fortec Motorsport 3 Ben Collins Dallara F397 HKS Mitsubishi All 4 Brian Smith All Promatecme 5 Enrique Bernoldi Dallara F397 Renault All 6 Nicolas Minassian 1-3, 6-16 Darren Manning 4-5 Alan Docking Racing 7 Haruki Kurosawa Dallara F397 Mugen Honda All 8 Yudai Igarashi All 11 Mark Webber All SpeedSport F3 9 Michael Bentwood Dallara F397 Mugen Honda 1, 3-16 10 Darren Manning Dallara F396 1-3, 6-16 Andy Priaulx 4-5 Martin Donnelly Racing 14 Mark Shaw Dallara F397 Opel All 15 Mario Haberfeld All Carlin Motorsport 25 Henry Stanton Dallara F397 Mugen Honda 1-9, 11, 14 Jamie Spence 16 TOM'S 16 Giovanni Anapoli TOM'S 037F Toyota 1-4 Jamie Spence 5-8 Andy Priaulx 15-16 17 Kevin McGarrity 1-10 19 Darren Turner 7-13 32 Ricardo Mauricio 7-16 DC Cook Motorsport 18 Guy Smith Dallara F397 Opel All 22 Paula Cook All Portman Racing 21 Darren Turner Dallara F397 HKS Mitsubishi 1-5 Warren Hughes 9-16 27 Alex Yoong 14-15 MRS 32 Ricardo Mauricio Dallara F397 Mugen Honda 1-5 Intersport 24 Simon Wills Dallara F397 Opel All DKS 25 Tommy Field TOM'S 037F Toyota 8 Jamie Spence 12-13 Rowan Racing 26 Martin O'Connell TOM'S 037F Toyota 12-16 ASM 30 David Saelens Dallara F397 Opel 14 31 Sebastien Philippe 14 La Filiere 33 Franck Montagny Martini MK73 Opel 14 34 Oriol Servia 14 35 Marcel Fässler 14 Van Amersfoort Racing 36 Bas Leinders Dallara F397 Opel 14 Prema Powerteam 37 Donny Crevels Dallara F397 Opel 14 Opel Team BSR 38 Andreas Scheld Dallara F397 Opel 14 JB Motorsports 39 Yves Olivier Dallara F397 Opel 14 Class B Rowan Racing 51 Martin O'Connell Dallara F395 Toyota 1-6, 8-11 Ian James 14-15 Tarry Falcon Racing 52 Jeremy Gumbley Dallara F396 Mugen Honda 8 Damon Wellman 12-13, 15-16

Race calendar and results Round Circuit Date Pole position Fastest lap Winning driver Winning team Class B 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 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 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 DON SIL THR BRH SIL CRO OUL SIL PEM PEM DON SNE SNE SPA SIL THR Pts Class A 1 Jonny Kane 1 3 1 3 1 2 4 Ret 2 6 2 3 2NS 5 2 199 2 Nicolas Minassian 4 1 DSQ EX EX 1 Ret 3 Ret 1 1 4 1 6 1 1 183 3 Peter Dumbreck 5 2 3 2 4 3 1 13 3 Ret 5 6 5 NS 7 4 149 4 Mark Webber 6 6 Ret 1 8 4 8 2 4 3 4 Ret 6 4 3 7 131 5 Enrique Bernoldi 3 INJ INJ 14 6 5 Ret 10 8 2 8 2 3 1 2 3 127 6 Mario Haberfeld 9 Ret 7 5 3 11 5 1 Ret 4 Ret 1 7 7 21 5 108 7 Brian Smith Ret 7 4 7 17 8 7 5 1 10 7 7 10 NS 13 Ret 72 8 Ben Collins 12 5 8 6 13 7 2 8 11 8 Ret NS NS 8 4 8 64 9 Guy Smith 2 10 10 8 14 12 6 6 15 9 6 Ret 4 24 8 14 60 10 Kevin McGarrity 7 NS Ret Ret 11 9 3 4 6 Ret 36 11 Ricardo Mauricio 14 11 6 Ret 15 Ret 7 5 Ret Ret 8 Ret 9 10 Ret 26 12 Darren Manning 10 4 NS 9 5 14 Ret 12 Ret 14 Ret 14 11 NS 9 12 26 13 Simon Wills 8 Ret 9 11 9 10 Ret 16 Ret 7 11 9 12 12 Ret 11 22 14 Jamie Spence 7 Ret Ret 9 5 9 Ret 18 15 Warren Hughes 14 16 9 11 8 Ret 6 6 18 16 Mark Shaw 11 9 5 13 Ret 16 9 17 9 13 13 Ret 13 22 12 Ret 16 17 David Saelens 2 15 18 Franck Montagny 3 12 19 Oriol Servia 5 8 20 Paula Cook 13 NS 12 Ret Ret Ret 10 Ret 7 11 16 Ret Ret 20 18 10 7 21 Giovanni Anapoli Ret 8 13 Ret 3 22 Martin O'Connell Ret 14 11 15 9 2 23 Darren Turner Ret 14 11 Ret 16 Ret 14 Ret 12 15 10 18 2 24 Henry Stanton Ret 12 Ret Ret Ret NS NS 11 Ret 10 23 2 25 Michael Bentwood 15 14 10 12 15 11 19 13 17 17 12 16 21 16 13 1 26 Andy Priaulx 16 10 Ret 17 1 27 Haruki Kurosawa 16 13 Ret 12 Ret 13 12 18 10 Ret 14 Ret Ret 19 17 15 1 28 Bas Leinders 10 1 29 Alex Yoong 16 11 30 Yudai Igarashi 17 15 Ret 15 Ret Ret Ret Ret 12 15 12 13 15 Ret 14 16 31 Sebastien Philippe 13 32 Donny Crevels 14 33 Andreas Scheld 15 34 Yves Olivier 17 35 Marcel Fässler 18 36 Tommy Field 20 Class B 1 Martin O'Connell Ret Ret 2 4 2 6 15 Ret 5 3 148 2 Damon Wellman 15 17 20 18 78 3 Ian James Ret 19 21 4 Jeremy Gumbley 21 15 Pos Driver DON SIL THR BRH SIL CRO OUL SIL PEM PEM DON SNE SNE SPA SIL THR Pts

References AUTOCOURSE 1997-98British Motorsport Year 1997-98

External links The official website of the British Formula 3 Championship