- EDWARDS STORMS TO POLE POSITION
First American to claim a British Formula 3 pole position in
9 years!
Norfolk, England. Today, Paul Edwards became the first American
driver,
since Elton Julian in 1992, to earn pole position for a British
Formula
3 championship race. Edwards claimed the honour at Snetterton
circuit in
Norfolk, England, and simultaneously served notice that he would
be a
serious Championship contender. The British Formula 3 series
is the most
prestigious junior level championship in the world and series
graduates
have claimed more Formula One race and championship victories
than
graduates from any other series.
-
- Edwards, driving a Mugen-Honda powered Dallara, claimed pole
position
for round four of the Championship in difficult wet/dry conditions
that
played straight to the Californian's strengths. In earlier qualifying,
for round three of the Championship, Edwards was relegated to
tenth
place by spinning cars and yellow flags on each of his flying
laps.
Edwards' is joined by his Alan Docking Racing teammate, Andy
Priaulx, on
the front row for the second of Sunday's two races.
-
- Edwards, an acknowledged star of the future, is enthused
about his
prospects for Sunday's races and knows the importance of performing
well: "I knew at the start of qualifying that I had a car
capable of winning
pole position. The car's setup was perfect and as always the
guys at
Mugen-Honda had provided me with a great engine. I was unlucky
in
qualifying for race 3, but in the second session I saw a gap
in traffic
and went for it. It is a nice feeling to win pole position for
a British
Formula 3 race in only your fourth attempt. Of course my performance
is
only part of a total team effort and without the support of Mugen-Honda;
the Alan Docking team; my engineer B.A. Mitchell; and my sponsors
I
wouldn't be here today. The challenge now is to build from this
pole
position and win tomorrow's race."
-
- Edwards' performance comes after a strong showing two weeks
ago in
rounds one and two of the Championship. In his first ever British
Formula 3 race, Edwards claimed fourth starting position and
moved to
the lead on the opening lap, only to finish fourth after overheating
his
tyres. While fourth was small consolation for such a brilliant
start,
his performance served notice of things to come.
-
- Edwards is sponsored by Doug Mockett and Company, a retailer
of high-end
architectural hardware; Logic Nutrition; Bell Helmets; and Aston-Green
Audi. He currently lies sixth in the Championship standings after
two races.
-
- SNETTERTON QUALIFYING SUMMARY: ROUNDS 3 & 4
Race 1 qualifying (dry track)
Pos, Driver
1 Matt Davies 1m02.247s
2 Derek Hayes
3 Nicolas Kiesa
4 Takuma Sato
5 Gianmaria Bruni
6 Andre Lotterer
7 Ryan Dalziel
8 James Courtney
9 Anthony Davidson
10 Paul Edwards
Race 2 qualifying (damp, but drying track)
Pos, Driver
1 Paul Edwards 1m12.415s
2 Andy Priaulx
3 Takuma Sato
4 Derek Hayes
5 Nicolas Kiesa
6 Milos Pavlovic
7 Alex Gurney
8 James Courtney
9 Mark Taylor
10 Gianmaria Bruni
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