FORMULA 3: Edwards on pace for British F3 opener
Posted By Terry CallahanMotorsports Editor, The Auto Channel
April 2, 2001
22-year-old American Paul Edwards nearly claimed pole position for his debut race in the Green Flag British F3 Championship, emerging fourth fastest after a chaotic close to qualifying for the first of this weekend's two races at Silverstone. Alan Docking Racing's wet weather set-up gave Edwards and teammate Andy Priaulx the edge over the 37-car field until the yellow flags came out for the final two laps in drying conditions.
"A lot of people didn't slow down at the yellows, and the drying track meant they set their fast times right at the end," Edwards explained. "The officials decided to let them off with a warning instead of disallowing so many times. In the end I dropped to fourth and Andy to fifth, which isn't too bad, but it would have been nice if they had taken off a few tenths for the drivers like us who did back off!"
Qualifying for race two was in the dry, and saw Edwards encountering handling problems which relegated him to 12th on the grid, four-tenths adrift of his teammate in seventh. "We only ran this layout at Silverstone in the rain during pre-season testing, so we were a bit behind on set-up," said Edwards.
Among Edwards' rivals on Sunday will be fellow Americans Jeffrey Jones and Alex Gurney, who experience mixed fortunes in qualifying. Jones was lucky to keep his sixth fastest time from the first session, and starts the second round in 21st spot. Gurney meanwhile will line up 19th and 17th for the two races.
"My goal for Sunday is to finish both races in the points, and go for a podium result in the first one," Edwards continued. "But the priority is to finish. The double-header format means making sure you don't do anything in race one that might prevent you from starting race two."
Text Provided By Marcia Edwards
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