Paul Trengove wins the Australian Formula 3
National Series
Surfers Paradise, Saturday October 26,
2002
When the Australian Formula 3 season
started in March this year, Paul Trengove set himself a single goal; to
win the Australian Formula 3 National Series for Level 2 cars. It’s
taken him all year, but finally Paul finds himself at the top of the
championship standings. Going in to the final round at Surfers Paradise,
Paul was in 2nd place in the Series, some 13 points adrift and
needed to not only win both races over the weekend, but also hope that his
main rival, Series leader Rod Anderson, finished no higher than 3rd
in at least one race. South Australian based Paul said, “It’s going to
be tough for me to win the Series…in fact it’s now beyond my control.
Even if I win both of this weekend’s races, I still have to rely on Rod
not finishing second in at least one race. So it’s completely out of my
hands. I can only do what I have to do and hope that luck takes care of
the rest.”
Driving his CPA Australia Racing Dallara
Alfa Romeo, Paul has trailed Rod Anderson all season after his
less-than-auspicious start to the season at the Clipsal 500 in Adelaide.
Trengove did briefly take the lead in the Series at the Phillip Island
round after Race 1, only to see his lead disappear later that day after
his Dallara developed water pump problems, sidelining him for Race 2 and
handing the championship lead back to Anderson.
“The Phillip Island race was crucial to
my Series aspirations. I had to win both races to at least give myself a
shot at the title. When I won Race 1, I was feeling confident, but when we
started the car for the second race, I knew immediately that something
major was wrong and that my Series chances had gone up in smoke.”
After a solemn trip back to Adelaide, the
CPA Australia Racing team working overtime to repair the damaged Dallara
Alfa Romeo in time for the season finale at the Honda Indy 300 in Surfers
Paradise.
“We still weren’t sure if we had
fixed the car 100%. There was no time to run proper tests. All we could do
was arrive on the Gold Coast, fire her up and hope for the best.”
The first Qualifying session was held on
Thursday afternoon through the tricky street circuit that is the Surfers
Paradise track. After a disappointing morning warm-up, where Paul found
himself a long way behind Anderson, Paul set about making up some of the
gap. The CPA Australia Racing crew opted for a lower downforce setting and
this seemed to help as Paul closed the gap to Anderson in qualifying and
would line up just behind him on the grid for the first race.
“The car seemed to handle a lot
better”, said Paul. “Although there’s still fair gap to Rod and
barring a mistake from him, I’m going to find it tough to beat him.”
Qualifying 2 took place on Friday morning
and told much the same story with Paul once again just behind Anderson.
“I honestly don’t know how I’m
going to beat him”, commented Paul. “So far he’s been quicker than
me all weekend and we’ve tried everything to close the gap and while we
have caught him a little, we’re still a fair way behind.”
Race 1 took place on a warm and sunny
Friday afternoon. After a lengthy delay, the race Stewards shortened the
race from 8 laps to 5 around the tricky street circuit, once again, a move
not in Trengove’s favour. And then Paul’s luck changed for the better.
As the lights turned green, the cars of James Cressey and Barton Mawer
stalled on the grid side-by-side, leaving only a small amount of room for
the cars that followed to squeeze through. Several cars didn’t make it
and careened into the backs of the stricken cars, while others, including
Series rival Anderson, were forced to stop before threading their way
through the debris. Paul saw his chance and squeezed his Dallara through a
small gap in the traffic jam and set about building a buffer between
himself and Anderson who had by now found a way through the mess.
Fortunately, nobody was hurt in the accident, other than the chequebooks
of those involved. At the end of Lap 1, Paul in the CPA Australia Racing
Dallara Alfa led Rod Anderson in his Reynard VW by a little over a second.
Anderson however, was in the quicker car and set about catching Paul.
Midway through the second lap, Anderson had caught Trengove and was all
over the Dallara’s gearbox. With a Series at stake, Anderson made a move
to pass Trengove going into one of the several chicanes, missed his
braking point, and ploughed the Reynard into the ever-present concrete
walls that line the Surfers Paradise street circuit. All Paul had to do
now, was win the race and he would be finally leading the Formula 3
National Series. For three more agonising laps, Paul nursed home his
Dallara, not wanting to push too hard, preferring instead to save the car
for Race 2. Staying out of trouble, Paul took the chequered flag and the
win and with it, a 7 point lead in the Series.
“That was awesome”, said Paul. “I
came here not thinking I could win the Series, and suddenly I am in front.
There’s still a lot of work to be done though. I still have to finish
Race 2 in 2nd place at the very least. I can’t afford any
mistakes and more importantly I hope the car holds out for 8 more laps.”
Meanwhile, Anderson’s car was towed
back to the pits where it was shipped off to the local TAFE boys for some
urgent overnight repairs.
Race 2 was on Saturday morning, on a
clear and sunny day. Once again, Paul would line up behind Rod Anderson on
the grid. This time however, a little of the pressure was of as a second
place for Paul would be enough to secure the Series for him. There was
still the matter of reliability.
“It’s always nerve-wracking when you
bring a newly-repaired car to a race without having a proper test first.
You have no way of knowing if you have got it right and that the car will
stay in one piece. And now that the Series has come down to the last race,
I’m especially nervous.”
“All I want to do is finish the race
and finish 2nd. That’ll do it for me.”
This time, as the lights turned green,
all the cars got away safely, with Paul tucking in behind Anderson being
quite happy to stay there for the full 8 laps. But it didn’t quite pan
out that way when halfway through the first lap, Anderson suffered
terminal gearbox problems and had to park his Reynard, out of the race and
out of title contention. Race over and Paul was now
the new Australian Formula 3 National Series champion before he’d even
completed a lap of Race 2.
“As soon as Rod went off in front of
me, I was ecstatic. This is it. I’ve done it. And as I completed my
first lap I could see my crew waving their arms madly and clapping. It
felt awesome. Despite the pressure being off me, the only thing I wanted
to do now was win the Series in style by winning the 2nd
race.”
And after 8 nail-biting laps, Paul took
the chequered flag to win Race 2 and to officially become the 2002
Australian Formula 3 National Series champion.
After the race, Paul was elated. “This
is awesome. I didn’t think we could do it at the start of the weekend.
But we did it.” Paul is then mobbed by his crew and his family and only
emerges after several minutes of backslapping and high-5s.
“This Series win really has to go out
to my crew. I might have driven the car, but it was the crew who were
constantly fixing the car or looking for those few extra 10ths. I also
couldn’t have done it without the help of CPA Australia. Their support
has been just awesome. And finally my Dad. He has worked harder than
anyone so that I could realise my ambition and without him, I wouldn’t
be racing here today.”
Paul now hopes to secure sponsorship to
enable to compete with the big boys in the Level 1 Championship.
“While the Dallara Alfa Romeo has been
fun to drive, if not a little frustrating at times, it’s time to test
myself against the Level 1 boys. I hope to secure a budget to enable me to
buy a Dallara 2001. This will allow me to be competitive in Level 1 and
who knows? Maybe I can back up this Series win with the Level 1
championship next year”.
Stay tuned. We feel we haven’t heard
the last of Paul Trengove.
 |
|
Pos
|
Car
#
|
Driver
|
Vehicle
|
Fastest
Lap
|
Gap
|
|
1
|
60
|
Will Power
|
Dallara F301
|
1:53.3014
|
-
|
|
2
|
75
|
Kenny Habul
|
Dallara F396
|
1:54.8098
|
0:01.5084
|
|
3
|
8
|
James Manderson
|
Dallara F301
|
1:54.8682
|
0:01.5668
|
|
4
|
33
|
Barton Mawer
|
Dallara F396
|
1:55.3075
|
0:02.0061
|
|
5
|
16
|
Christian Jones
|
Dallara F301
|
1:55.9177
|
0:02.6163
|
|
6
|
2
|
Michael Caruso
|
Dallara F301
|
1:56.2974
|
0:02.9960
|
|
7
|
55
|
James Cressey
|
Dallara F301
|
1:56.4683
|
0:03.1669
|
|
8
|
4
|
Darren Palmer
|
Dallara F301
|
1:57.5882
|
0:04.2868
|
|
9
|
1
|
Peter Hackett
|
Dallara F301
|
1:59.0591
|
0:05.7577
|
|
10
|
7
|
Paul Stephenson
|
Dallara F396
|
1:59.7162
|
0:06.4148
|
|
11
|
32
|
Ricky Occhipinti
|
Dallara F396
|
2:01.6003
|
0:08.2989
|
|
12
|
21
|
Graeme Holmes
|
Dallara F396
|
2:02.1851
|
0:08.8837
|
|
13
|
56
|
Justin Watt
|
Dallara F301
|
2:04.0101
|
0:10.7087
|
|
14
|
3
|
Matt Fitzgerald
|
Dallara F398
|
2:05.0130
|
0:11.7116
|
|
15
|
22
|
Chris Coombs
|
Dallara F396
|
2:05.0720
|
0:11.7706
|
|
16
|
37
|
Rod Anderson
|
Reynard 893
|
2:05.7206
|
0:12.4192
|
|
17
|
6
|
Glenn Coombs
|
Dallara F396
|
2:06.0927
|
0:12.7913
|
|
18
|
88
|
Ross Seller
|
Dallara F396
|
2:09.0484
|
0:15.7470
|
|
19
|
35
|
Bill Maddocks
|
Dallara F389
|
2:09.8687
|
0:16.5673
|
|
20
|
34
|
Paul Trengove
|
Dallara F390
|
2:12.7753
|
0:19.4739
|
|
21
|
12
|
John Boothman
|
Dallara F396
|
2:13.5760
|
0:20.2746
|
|
 |
|
Pos
|
Car
#
|
Driver
|
Vehicle
|
Fastest
Lap
|
Gap
|
|
1
|
60
|
Will Power
|
Dallara F301
|
1:51.1657
|
-
|
|
2
|
8
|
James Manderson
|
Dallara F301
|
1:51.2480
|
0:00.0823
|
|
3
|
33
|
Barton Mawer
|
Dallara F396
|
1:52.3113
|
0:01.1456
|
|
4
|
55
|
James Cressey
|
Dallara F301
|
1:52.7847
|
0:01.6190
|
|
5
|
4
|
Darren Palmer
|
Dallara F301
|
1:52.8467
|
0:01.6810
|
|
6
|
1
|
Peter Hackett
|
Dallara F301
|
1:52.9273
|
0:01.7616
|
|
7
|
2
|
Michael Caruso
|
Dallara F301
|
1:52.9721
|
0:01.8064
|
|
8
|
16
|
Christian Jones
|
Dallara F301
|
1:53.1412
|
0:01.9755
|
|
9
|
75
|
Kenny Habul
|
Dallara F396
|
1:53.6367
|
0:02.4710
|
|
10
|
3
|
Matt Fitzgerald
|
Dallara F398
|
1:54.7961
|
0:03.6304
|
|
11
|
7
|
Paul Stephenson
|
Dallara F396
|
1:55.1801
|
0:04.0144
|
|
12
|
56
|
Justin Watt
|
Dallara F301
|
1:56.2615
|
0:05.0958
|
|
13
|
32
|
Ricky Occhipinti
|
Dallara F396
|
1.57.7989
|
0:06.6332
|
|
14
|
22
|
Chris Coombs
|
Dallara F396
|
1:59.9076
|
0:08.7419
|
|
15
|
6
|
Glenn Coombs
|
Dallara F396
|
2:01.4040
|
0:09.2383
|
|
16
|
37
|
Rod Anderson
|
Reynard 893
|
2:02.8453
|
0:11.6796
|
|
17
|
12
|
John Boothman
|
Dallara F396
|
2:03.3555
|
0:12.1898
|
|
18
|
88
|
Ross Seller
|
Dallara F396
|
2:05.3934
|
0:14.2277
|
|
19
|
34
|
Paul Trengove
|
Dallara F390
|
2:05.6633
|
0:14.4976
|
|
20
|
35
|
Bill Maddocks
|
Dallara F389
|
2:08.2787
|
0:17.1130
|
|
21
|
21
|
Graeme Holmes
|
Dallara F396
|
2:13.0629
|
0:21.8972
|
|
 |
|
Pos
|
Car
#
|
Driver
|
Vehicle
|
Fastest
Lap
|
Gap
|
|
1
|
60
|
Will Power
|
Dallara F301
|
1:50.7044
|
-
|
|
2
|
8
|
James Manderson
|
Dallara F301
|
1:51.1245
|
0:00.4201
|
|
3
|
1
|
Peter Hackett
|
Dallara F301
|
1:52.6493
|
0:01.9449
|
|
4
|
4
|
Darren Palmer
|
Dallara F301
|
1:52.8695
|
0:02.1651
|
|
5
|
33
|
Barton Mawer
|
Dallara F396
|
1:52.8876
|
0:02.1832
|
|
6
|
2
|
Michael Caruso
|
Dallara F301
|
1:54.3562
|
0:03.6518
|
|
7
|
56
|
Justin Watt
|
Dallara F301
|
1:55.2852
|
0:04.5808
|
|
8
|
55
|
James Cressey
|
Dallara F301
|
1:56.1329
|
0:05.4285
|
|
9
|
75
|
Kenny Habul
|
Dallara F396
|
1:56.4350
|
0:05.7306
|
|
10
|
22
|
Chris Coombs
|
Dallara F396
|
1:59.3098
|
0:08.6054
|
|
11
|
6
|
Glenn Coombs
|
Dallara F396
|
2:01.5197
|
0:10.8153
|
|
12
|
37
|
Rod Anderson
|
Reynard 893
|
2:02.9240
|
0:12.2196
|
|
13
|
16
|
Christian Jones
|
Dallara F301
|
2:03.2540
|
0:12.5496
|
|
14
|
35
|
Bill Maddocks
|
Dallara F389
|
2:06.4032
|
0:15.6988
|
|
15
|
88
|
Ross Seller
|
Dallara F396
|
2:06.6687
|
0:15.9643
|
|
16
|
34
|
Paul Trengove
|
Dallara F390
|
2:06.9547
|
0:16.2503
|
|
* James Manderson
excluded after his Dallara F301 failed post-qualifying scrutineering. Started
Race 2 from back of the grid
 |
|
Pos
|
Car
#
|
Driver
|
Vehicle
|
|
1
|
60
|
Will Power
|
Dallara
F301
|
|
2
|
8
|
James Manderson
|
Dallara F301
|
|
3
|
33
|
Barton Mawer
|
Dallara F396
|
|
4
|
4
|
Darren Palmer
|
Dallara F301
|
|
5
|
2
|
Michael Caruso
|
Dallara F301
|
|
6
|
3
|
Matt Fitzgerald
|
Dallara F398
|
|
7
|
55
|
James Cressey
|
Dallara F301
|
|
8
|
7
|
Paul Stephenson
|
Dallara F396
|
|
9
|
32
|
Ricky Occhipinti
|
Dallara F396
|
|
10
|
21
|
Graeme Holmes
|
Dallara F396
|
|
11
|
22
|
Chris Coombs
|
Dallara F396
|
|
12*
|
75
|
Kenny Habul
|
Dallara F396
|
|
13
|
12
|
John Boothman
|
Dallara F396
|
|
14
|
34
|
Paul Trengove
|
Dallara F390
|
|
15
|
35
|
Bill Maddocks
|
Dallara F389
|
|
16
|
88
|
Ross Seller
|
Dallara F396
|
|
DNF
|
37
|
Rod Anderson
|
Reynard 893
|
|
DNF
|
1
|
Peter Hackett
|
Dallara F301
|
|
DNF
|
56
|
Justin Watt
|
Dallara F301
|
|
DNF
|
6
|
Glenn Coombs
|
Dallara F396
|
|
DNS
|
16
|
Christian Jones
|
Dallara F301
|
|
* Competitor
#75 - 30-second penalty applied
 |
|
Pos
|
Car
#
|
Driver
|
Vehicle
|
|
1
|
60
|
Will Power
|
Dallara
F301
|
|
2
|
2
|
Michael Caruso
|
Dallara F301
|
|
3
|
1
|
Peter Hackett
|
Dallara F301
|
|
4
|
56
|
Justin Watt
|
Dallara F301
|
|
5*
|
55
|
James Cressey
|
Dallara F301
|
|
6*
|
16
|
Christian Jones
|
Dallara F301
|
|
7
|
7
|
Paul Stephenson
|
Dallara F396
|
|
8
|
32
|
Ricky Occhipinti
|
Dallara F396
|
|
9
|
22
|
Chris Coombs
|
Dallara F396
|
|
10
|
21
|
Graeme Holmes
|
Dallara F396
|
|
11
|
6
|
Glenn Coombs
|
Dallara F396
|
|
12
|
34
|
Paul Trengove
|
Dallara F390
|
|
13
|
12
|
John Boothman
|
Dallara F396
|
|
14
|
35
|
Bill Maddocks
|
Dallara F389
|
|
15
|
88
|
Ross Seller
|
Dallara F396
|
|
16*
|
75
|
Kenny Habul
|
Dallara F396
|
|
DNF*
|
3
|
Matt Fitzgerald
|
Dallara F398
|
|
DNF
|
4
|
Darren Palmer
|
Dallara F301
|
|
DNF
|
33
|
Barton Mawer
|
Dallara F396
|
|
DNF
|
8
|
James Manderson
|
Dallara F301
|
|
DNF
|
37
|
Rod Anderson
|
Reynard 893
|
|
* Competitor
#3 - 30-second penalty applied
* Competitor
#16 - 30-second penalty applied
* Competitor
#55 - 30-second penalty applied
* Competitor
#75 - 30-second penalty applied
Appeals still pending - final result not confirmed
 |
|
Driver
|
Team
|
Points
|
|
Level 1
|
|
|
|
James Manderson
|
Team BRM
|
241
|
|
Will Power
|
Cooltemp Pty
Ltd
|
204
|
|
Darren Palmer
|
Team BRM
|
186
|
|
James Cressey*
|
Timberworld/Starion
Peugeot
|
143
|
|
Michael Caruso
|
Nova Veloce/F1
Magazine
|
91
|
|
Peter Hackett
|
Fisher &
Paykel/Cactus Group
|
86
|
|
Ricky
Occhipinti
|
Formula Uno
Racing
|
56
|
|
Matt Fitzgerald
|
Gyrotorque
|
48
|
|
Paul Stephenson
|
ebanctrade
|
43
|
|
Chris Coombs
|
Daikin
Airconditioning
|
37
|
|
Mike Beeley
|
MSpeed Racing
|
36
|
|
Graeme Holmes
|
GHK Powdercoating
|
24
|
|
Glenn Coombs
|
Carrier Airconditioning
|
21
|
|
Jeffrey Brewer
|
Fisher &
Paykel/Cactus Group
|
20
|
|
Justin Watt
|
Fisher &
Paykel/Cactus Group
|
17
|
|
John Boothman
|
John Boothman
|
16
|
|
Mark Rundle
|
RGP Motorsport
|
14
|
|
Barton Mawer
|
Bob John
|
12
|
|
Christian Jones
|
Toll/IPEC
|
6
|
|
Sean Whelan
|
Sean Whelan
|
3
|
|
David Borg
|
RGP Motorsport
|
1
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Level 2
|
|
|
|
Paul Trengove
|
CPA Australia
|
219
|
|
Rod Anderson
|
Hack Anderson Thomas
|
192
|
|
Bill Maddocks
|
Softelm Pty Ltd
|
163
|
|
Peter Rees
|
Peter Rees
|
30
|
|
Andrew Weber
|
Andrew Weber
|
28
|
|
Neil Caswell
|
Total
Recruitment
|
24
|
|
Frank Cascone
|
Frank Cascone
|
16
|
|
* James Cressey was excluded
from the Sandown Round after his car did not pass post-race scrutineering
Paul's
Surfers Paradise Gallery
|
