Karjalainen had raced for the team in Indonesia last year and demonstrated great promise in the team's 301 car and when installed in a Team Goddard Dallara 304 TOM'S he was immediately setting the pace and was comfortably on pole position for race one. He went on to take a lights to flag finish from McLaren Autosport BRDC Award winner Oliver Turvey with Walter Grubmullerin third, the Finn never having to push to the limit and driving well within himself.
Race two was the same story whilst race three run in damp conditions spoilt the almost perfect weekend. A poor start dropped Karjalainen to second but he was soon back in the lead with a great pass on Dillon Battistini at turn 4. Oliver Turvey got a run on the exit of the same corner a couple of laps later and drew alongside Karjalainen at the flat out 200 kph turn 6. The resultant attempted pass saw Karjalainen out on the spot whilst Turvey survived to take the flag first. However the stewards took a dim view of the over aggressive driving and docked Turvey 30 seconds for causing an avoidable accident.
Karjalainen and Turvey are equal on points in the driver's championship. "The team gave me a perfect car and we almost had a perfect weekend" reported Karjalainen. "Henri barely out a foot wrong all weekend and he demonstrated he is a real talent and can follow in the footsteps of Hakkinen and Raikkonen. The fact that he beat Oliver Turvey in a straight fight reflects the speed he possesses and also how competitive Asian F3 is now" stated Team Boss, Mark Goddard.
Paul Ip, also in a Dallara 304 TOM'S, enjoyed his first F3 race and improved throughout the event to finish in fifth in the final race. "Paul's driving developed throughout the event and we were all very happy with his performance" said Goddard.
Renowned driver coach, Malcolm Smith, was on hand to help Paul Ip and his advice to both Paul and Henri certainly helped with their performances.
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