AUSF3: Team BRM Queensland race notes

Tough day at the Queensland office for team BRM.

QUEENSLAND RACEWAY, IPSWICH - Saturday, July 3rd, 2005 -- IF THE FIRST race of the fourth round of the 2005 Kumho Tyres Australian Formula 3 championship was the only one from the weekend that counted towards the series point score, team BRM would have said that they were happy with the outcome of the weekend.

However, that wasn't the case and both races were indeed counted, meaning that the team's drivers Michael Trimble and Marc Williams are now looking at their respective class rivals with significant championship leads after what can only be described as a tough day at the office at Queensland today.

The series leader heading into the round, Trimble (#20 Autosport Adelaide / Elf fuels / U Drive SA Dallara F304 Speiss) had a strong second place in the opening encounter, trading lap record times with Aaron Caratti for a majority of the race before eventually re setting the two year old record with a stunning 1m06.1s lap time towards the end of the race as he chased down the leader.

The second race was far less successful; Trimble enduring an engine down on power for the start of the race whilst holding down second position. After being shuffled down through the field to 5th place with a two laps remaining, the engine failed as he started his penultimate tour, the car stopping just after Queenslands high speed turn two.

"I felt the engine getting rough from the start," said a disappointed Trimble at the end of the day. "Losing the engine obviously wasn't the result we were after because we needed good points for the championship, but that's the way it goes and we'll just have to bounce back for the next round at Eastern Creek."

"It was good to get the lap record in the opening race, the car was really good and we only just missed getting past Caratti on a number of occasions. It was a strong second place for us and a really good battle for most of the event." He said.

Team BRM's Kumho tyres Australian F3 trophy Class points leader Marc Williams had a fantastic result in the opening race, winning the class and finishing well inside the top ten -- setting better lap times in the race than he had in Saturday's qualifying sessions. In a similar situation to Teammate Trimble, Williams' second race was filled with mechanical dramas, the 16-year-old Kiwi loosing 5th gear on the opening lap of the race, eventually retiring to pitlane in the races' early stages.

"It was really disappointing with what happened in the second race," said Williams. "We had a fantastic opening race where the car was really good and we were able to set some really good times as the race progressed, we also scored some good points in it as well," he said.

"The second race was disappointing considering we really needed the points for the championship to make sure we stayed in front. If It wasn't for the mechanical dramas I was really confident that we would have had a car capable of challenging more of the Championship class cars."

As it is, Trimble drops to a solid second in the outright championship behind Aaron Caratti after registering what is only his first non-finish this season. Williams' tough day means he drops four points behind Bill Maddocks in the race for the Trophy Class championship.

The next round of the Kumho Tyres Australian Formula 3 Championship will be at Sydney's Eastern Creek Raceway in three weeks time.

-brm-