A speedy update on the Asian Formula 3

The excitement of the ongoing 2004 Asian Formula 3 season shifts into high gear as the country’s top drivers go up against their international counterparts on August 14-15, 2004 at the Goldenport Circuit in Beijing, China. This year’s series is a lot more competitive as local favorites Pepon Marave, Jojo Silverio, Richard Joson, Mike Tuason and Roland Hermoso; and young guns Enzo Pastor, Don Pastor, Dado Peña and Tyson Sy match driving skills with international drivers John O’Hara, Christian Jones, Aaron Caratti, Mark Goddard and Kenkou Miura.

No less than seven potential race winners in the field and even the top five Promotion Class runners could win races outright. Based on the last race held in Subic, Australian driver Christian Jones is the points leader followed by Irish John O’Hara and Filipino drivers Tyson Sy and Enzo Pastor with British driver Mark Goddard rounding up the top five. Here’s a brief rundown on the teams going into the next leg in Beijing:

Kinetic Racing

DRIVERS CAR NATIONALITY

#1 Pepon Marave Dallara F301 Torii Filipino

#2 John O’Hara Dallara F301 Torii Irish

Reigning AF3 champion Pepon Marave is having a difficult campaign this year. But current Formula Ireland champion John O’Hara more than made up for the team by finishing second overall during the Batangas and Subic races, making him a good bet for championship honors. For Marave, two first lap accidents in Batangas and a crash in Subic resulted in zero points for the defending champion. The team is sponsored by Shell, Fila, La Corona, Brothers Burger, Fontana, Clark Development Corporation, Auto Industriya, Sagawa and Hanjin.

Joson Formula 3

DRIVERS CAR NATIONALITY

#3 Richard Joson Dallara F301 Tom’s Toyota Filipino

#4 Kenkou Miura Dallara F398 Tom’s Toyota Japanese

(Promotions Class)

JF3 had an up-and-down weekend at Batangas but were more competitive at Subic. Team leader Richard Joson got back into the groove in the morning race and gave his all to finish 4th in the afternoon. After taking a podium finish at 3rd place in the Promotions Class in Batangas, teammate Kenkou Miura bagged 1st place in Subic after Tyson Sy committed a yellow flag violation. JF3 is a team with a strong international profile as reflected in its international line up of off-shore sponsors namely Denso and Sagawa Express of Japan, Hanjin of Korea and now PTT of Thailand. MOF Shipping, Allen Isidro Auto Painting, Autoindustriya.Com, and Compass Internet are the team’s local sponsors.

Christian Jones Motorsports

DRIVERS CAR NATIONALITY

#18 Christian Jones Dallara F301 Mugen Australian

#8 Dado Peña Dallara F398 Tom’s Toyota Filipino

(Promotions Class and PNF3)

After finishing 1st place four consecutive times this season, Christian Jones is certainly in top form and will continue to be ultra-competitive this year. He has the latest specification Neil Brown Mugen engine giving him one of the best packages in the series. Chinese driver Alan Wong will drive the Dallara 398 TOM’S car of Christian Jones Motorsport in Beijing. Wong, who has an office at the Goldenport Circuit, will replace Dado Peña who is currently in 2nd place at the Promotions Class and is competing in the Formula BMW Asia race on the same day.

Christian Jones, who leads the overall AF3 series with a clean sweep of race wins to date, says he is looking forward to running a Chinese driver in his home race and is sure Wong will be competitive in the race to win the China Driver F3 trophy. Christian Jones Motorsport is sponsored by MOF Company Inc., Hanjin Shipping, Elf Petroleum, Jacinto Color Roofing and Richfield Estate.

Speedtech Asia

DRIVERS CAR NATIONALITY

#15 Jojo Silverio Dallara F301 Tom’s Toyota Filipino

#16 Roland Hermoso Dallara F398 Tom’s Toyota Filipino

(Promotions Class and PNF3)

Speedtech Asia, an expansion team in this year’s AF3 Series, hopes to put its disappointing season back on track in Beijing, China. What many expected to be a promising weekend for Silverio, who placed fourth in Rounds 1 and 2 at the Batangas Racing Circuit, turned into disaster. At the start of Round 3, Silverio lost first gear right before the green light and had to be pushed off the track. In round 4, a broken driveshaft again retired him on the starting grid.

Roland Hermoso had his share of misfortunes, too. The former Philippine Formula Toyota champion finished third in the Promotion Class despite reverting to an older and slower spare engine after the ECU on his 03-spec TOM’S engine broke. In Round 4, he lost second gear and retired. Speedtech is sponsored by Petron, Aitech, Hanjin, MOF and Sagawa.

AutoPlus

DRIVERS CAR NATIONALITY

#25 Mike Tuason Dallara F398 Mugen Filipino

(Promotions Class and PNF3)

#33 Carlos Anton Dallara F398 Mugen Filipino

(Promotions Class and PNF3)

Being part of the new breed of AF3 drivers, Mike Tuason had a good run in Batangas and Subic considering that he is a rookie in AF3. Filipino Touring Car driver Carlos Anton has yet to participate in this year’s AF3 season but is expected to make a good debut in Beijing. Team Autoplus is sponsored by Senator Lines.

TEAM GODDARD

DRIVERS CAR NATIONALITY

#27 Mark Goddard Dallara F301 Tom’s Toyota British

#28 Tyson Sy Dallara F398 Tom’s Toyota Filipino

(Promotions Class and PNF3)

2002 champion Mark Goddard struggled with the performance and reliability of the Spiess engine last year but gave a remarkable performance by placing 3rd overall for both heats during the season opener in Batangas. But the Subic race was unforgiving to Goddard when he spun out of the race on the entry to the bus stop on lap six of the first race and experienced engine failure on the second race.