Hat-trick for Firman

PAUL Stewart racing had a day of mixed fortunes at Oulton Park June 8,
scene of the seventh round of the British Formula 3 Championship.
Although one of the team's drivers, Jonny Kane, stalled at the start
after claiming pole position earlier in the day, his team-mate Ralph
Firman dominated the race and extended his championship lead to 26
points.

Kane's sensational pace in qualifying earned him his first pole position
since graduating to F3 at the start of the season, but the advantage the
Ulsterman held was wasted when he let his engine die on the grid.
Although Kane and the fourth-placed Juan Pablo Montoya had both stalled
and were waving their arms, the race was allowed to be started. Firman,
caught by surprise by this, lurched away from second on the grid and had
to fight to keep Belgium's Kurt Mollekens behind him.

Firman pulled out a gap over the first lap and was able to defend his
lead comfortably for the remaining 19 laps. Ralph's win was his third
consecutive triumph, and the 1995 championship runner-up is already
looking likely to go one better this year.

Said Firman: "We've been qualifying well all season and now the results
are starting to flow. I was caught out when they decided to start the
race despite the stalled cars and had to defend strongly, but after that
it was no problem."

Behind Mollekens - for whom second place represented his best-ever F3
finish - Frenchman Nicolas Minassian and erstwhile championship leader
Jamie Davies fought over third place in a race-long dice. Minassian
eased home just ahead of the Briton.

Round one winner Guy Smith and young Briton Darren Manning staged a
monumental tussle for fifth place, with Smith just managing to hold on
ahead at the flag.

Paula Cook, recovered from her multiple roll at Donington Park a month
ago, was in trouble again - her car hit a fence at the super-fast Druids
corner in qualifying and was destroyed. Paula was shaken but otherwise
unhurt.

ROUND SEVEN RESULTS
1 Ralph Firman (Dallara-Mugen)
2 Kurt Mollekens (Dallara-Mugen)
3 Nicolas Minassian (Dallara-Renault)
4 Jamie Davies (Dallara-GM)
5 Guy Smith (Dallara-Mitsubishi)
6 Darren Manning (Dallara-Mugen)
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Best in British Motor Sport
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