In the Championship class the Piquet Sports Dallara F303 in the hands of Nelson Piquet Jr. was third in the 2003 Championship and won the Championship in 2004 achieving 13 pole positions, 12 race wins and 19 podium finishes in two seasons.
T-Sports Dallara F300 won the 2004 British Formula Three Championship in the Scholarship Class by Ryan Lewis and was a car T-Sport bought with good pedigree from Carlin Motorsport in 2001 raced by such drivers as Takuma Sato and Anthony Davidson.
Team owner Christian Jones “These new cars for my team will ensure that CJM continues to be competitive and I look forward to continuing my relationship with Neil Brown Engineering with the supply of the powerful Mugen engines, there support the last two seasons has been outstanding, there a great engine partner to have and a real asset to CJM.”
Asked what car will be faster Christian said
“Its difficult to predict other than to say that I know where both cars are better than each other because I have raced both models, but the Asian Championship regulations like the Australian F3 Championship stay as in 2004 with the cars running to their original FIA minimum weight with driver, the 2002 to 2004 chassis minimum is 550kgs compared to 540kgs for the 99 to 2001 and 530kgs for the 98 and 97 chassis, so both of these new cars will be very similar speed wise, for the 2003 British Formula Three Championship they added ballast to the 99 to 2001 cars to make them the same weight as the newer cars because they were so similar speed wise in 2002.”
Christian asked what he thinks of the Asian F3 Championship
There will be over 20 cars at the first race on April 10 so the series is looking good and there is great coverage of the series in this region, sponsors can justify the cost of sponsoring a driver in relation to the exposure they get in return, this is a area that’s lacking in Europe at the moment and why so many drivers cant find the sponsors because they cant walk into a board room and justify to the sponsor what they get in return, the chance of making it to F1 is not enough for most and nor should it be, Europe is the best training ground for all drivers no doubt, but I would recommend to any driver in Europe that cant raise a budget to move into F3 in Europe get in contact with the teams here get on a plane and come and have a look, all teams will be testing before the first round in the Philippines so there are tests available, my team also.”
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