|
The CPA Australia
Formula 3 team had so far experienced two disastrous weekends,
including the accident in Adelaide and a rear suspension failure in
Tasmania. Sitting last in the championship Paul and the team were hoping
for a turnaround of luck.
During
preparation for the round the team had a lot of trouble getting parts
for the car in time for Oran Park and arrived at the track late Thursday
night with still many hours of work to be done on the car. After working
well into the night, the car seemed ready for Friday's practice.
First
practice and after only a few laps of the session, Paul complained of a
real ‘squirmy' feeling in the back of the car under power. It was
decided to bring the car in and assess the problem. It turned out to be
a slight setup problem and again the team were confident for the next
session.
With
the setup problem fixed, the afternoon session saw more problems for the
team when Paul noticed a real drop in fuel pressure. Again the car was
brought in after only a few laps of practice and was assessed. It was
believed the problem was either a fuel pump or a fuel regulator. With
that, the team decided to drive to Sydney early Saturday morning to buy
the parts in hope to be back in time for qualifying.
Unfortunately
the team were not able to have the car together until the 2nd
qualifying. However, once fitted the fuel pressure never improved. With
help from other teams, the problem was found to be a split in a fuel
line which sits in the tank. A quick repair and the fuel pressure was
back to normal and the car was ready for qualifying.
Paul
had not yet completed any fast laps around the track, but in the 20
minute session he still managed a competitive time which put him on pole
for Race 2 in Level 2 and 9th overall.
The
team was filled with excitement for Race 1. Paul had to start rear of
field in a car that had not been setup to its full potential due to
earlier problems. However Paul got a fantastic start and had worked his
way from the rear of the field into 8th position. An
unfortunate spin for James Cressey saw the safety car for a few laps. At
the restart Paul jumped into 5th place overall and 1st
in Level 2. This was how the race would finish and the CPA Australia
team was delighted the car not only finished the race but finished 1st
in class and 5th outright.
Paul
felt the car could be a lot quicker in many areas of the circuit.
However the team decided not to make any dramatic changes to the
unstable car, as a race was not the time for experimenting. Paul started
from 9th on the grid, but unfortunately stalled on the line
and was left half a lap behind the field. However he kept a cool head
and managed to bring the car through the field into 2nd in
Level 2 giving him enough points to bring him up to 2nd in
the Championship.
The
team has 6 weeks between Oran Park and Round 4 at Winton. They will be
making considerable improvements to the car and hopefully testing at
Mallala, in the hope of achieving maximum points at the next event.
 |
|
Pos
|
Car
#
|
Driver
|
Vehicle
|
Fastest
Lap
|
Gap
|
|
1
|
60
|
Will
Power
|
Dallara
F397
|
1:06.1801
|
-
|
|
2
|
8
|
James
Manderson
|
Dallara
F301
|
1:07.9278
|
0:01.7477
|
|
3
|
4
|
Darren
Palmer
|
Dallara
F301
|
1:09.3362
|
0:03.1561
|
|
4
|
37
|
Rod
Anderson
|
Reynard
893
|
1:14.1447
|
0:07.9646
|
|
5
|
32
|
Ricky Occhipinti
|
Dallara F396
|
1:15.7186
|
0:09.5385
|
|
6
|
34
|
Paul
Trengove
|
Dallara
F390
|
1:21.0043
|
0:14.8242
|
|
7
|
14
|
Matt
Fitzgerald
|
Dallara
F398
|
1:21.2338
|
0:15.0537
|
|
8
|
9
|
Jeffrey
Brewer
|
Dallara
F301
|
1:23.8881
|
0:17.7080
|
|
9
|
99
|
Neil
Caswell
|
Reynard
923
|
1:25.0341
|
0:18.8540
|
|
10
|
50
|
James
Cressey
|
Dallara
F301
|
1:46.4593
|
0:40.2792
|
|
 |
|
Pos
|
Car
#
|
Driver
|
Vehicle
|
Fastest
Lap
|
Gap
|
|
1
|
8
|
James
Manderson
|
Dallara
F301
|
1:06.1977
|
-
|
|
2
|
60
|
Will
Power
|
Dallara
F397
|
1:06.7544
|
0:00.5567
|
|
3
|
4
|
Darren
Palmer
|
Dallara
F301
|
1:07.3732
|
0:01.1755
|
|
4
|
14
|
Matt
Fitzgerald
|
Dallara
F398
|
1:09.3068
|
0:03.1091
|
|
5
|
32
|
Ricky Occhipinti
|
Dallara F396
|
1:09.9473
|
0:03.7496
|
|
6
|
37
|
Rod
Anderson
|
Reynard
893
|
1:12.2510
|
0:06.0533
|
|
7
|
9
|
Jeffrey
Brewer
|
Dallara
F301
|
1:12.2519
|
0:06.0542
|
|
8
|
50
|
Jame
Cressey
|
Dallara
F301
|
1:14.1350
|
0:07.9373
|
|
9
|
34
|
Paul
Trengove
|
Dallara
F390
|
1:26.2526
|
0:20.0549
|
|
 |
|
Pos
|
Car
#
|
Driver
|
Vehicle
|
Fastest
Lap
|
Gap
|
|
1
|
60
|
Will
Power
|
Dallara
F397
|
1:04.4283
|
-
|
|
2
|
8
|
James
Manderson
|
Dallara
F301
|
1:05.4265
|
0:00.9982
|
|
3
|
4
|
Darren
Palmer
|
Dallara
F301
|
1:06.3186
|
0:01.8903
|
|
4
|
50
|
James
Cressey
|
Dallara
F301
|
1:06.6114
|
0:02.1831
|
|
5
|
14
|
Matt
Fitzgerald
|
Dallara
F398
|
1:08.3471
|
0:03.9188
|
|
6
|
32
|
Ricky Occhipinti
|
Dallara F396
|
1:08.8546
|
0:04.4263
|
|
7
|
15
|
Mike
Beeley
|
Dallara
F398
|
1:09.9224
|
0:05.4941
|
|
8
|
37
|
Rod
Anderson
|
Reynard
893
|
1:10.1631
|
0:05.7348
|
|
9
|
9
|
Jeffrey
Brewer
|
Dallara
F301
|
1:11.1241
|
0:06.6958
|
|
10
|
35
|
Bill
Maddocks
|
Dallara
F389
|
1:13.1166
|
0:08.6883
|
|
11
|
99
|
Neil
Caswell
|
Reynard
923
|
1:15.8213
|
0:11.3930
|
|
 |
|
Pos
|
Car
#
|
Driver
|
Vehicle
|
Fastest
Lap
|
Gap
|
|
1
|
60
|
Will
Power
|
Dallara
F397
|
1:05.0794
|
-
|
|
2
|
8
|
James
Manderson
|
Dallara
F301
|
1:05.3621
|
0:00.2827
|
|
3
|
4
|
Darren
Palmer
|
Dallara
F301
|
1:05.7640
|
0:00.6846
|
|
4
|
50
|
James
Cressey
|
Dallara
F301
|
1:06.4265
|
0:01.3471
|
|
5
|
14
|
Matt
Fitzgerald
|
Dallara
F398
|
1:07.5603
|
0:02.4809
|
|
6
|
32
|
Ricky Occhipinti
|
Dallara F396
|
1:09.0763
|
0:03.9969
|
|
7
|
9
|
Jeffrey
Brewer
|
Dallara
F301
|
1:09.6037
|
0:04.5243
|
|
8
|
15
|
Mike
Beeley
|
Dallara
F398
|
1:09.8209
|
0:04.7415
|
|
9
|
34
|
Paul
Trengove
|
Dallara
F390
|
1:11.0958
|
0:06.0164
|
|
10
|
37
|
Rod
Anderson
|
Reynard
893
|
1:11.6750
|
0:06.5956
|
|
11
|
35
|
Bill
Maddocks
|
Dallara
F389
|
1:13.1900
|
0:08.1106
|
|
12
|
99
|
Neil
Caswell
|
Reynard
923
|
1:14.1810
|
0:09.1016
|
|
 |
|
Pos
|
Car
#
|
Driver
|
Vehicle
|
|
1
|
60
|
Will
Power
|
Dallara
F397
|
|
2
|
8
|
James
Manderson
|
Dallara
F301
|
|
3
|
4
|
Darren
Palmer
|
Dallara
F301
|
|
4
|
14
|
Matt
Fitzgerald
|
Dallara
F398
|
|
5
|
34
|
Paul
Trengove
|
Dallara
F390
|
|
6
|
32
|
Ricky Occhipinti
|
Dallara F396
|
|
7
|
37
|
Rod
Anderson
|
Reynard
893
|
|
8
|
9
|
Jeffrey
Brewer
|
Dallara
F301
|
|
9
|
99
|
Neil
Caswell
|
Reynard
923
|
|
10
|
50
|
James
Cressey
|
Dallara
F301
|
|
DNF
|
35
|
Bill
Maddocks
|
Dallara
F389
|
|
DNF
|
15
|
Mike
Beeley
|
Dallara
F398
|
|
 |
|
Pos
|
Car
#
|
Driver
|
Vehicle
|
|
1
|
60
|
Will
Power
|
Dallara
F397
|
|
2
|
8
|
James
Manderson
|
Dallara
F301
|
|
3
|
4
|
Darren
Palmer
|
Dallara
F301
|
|
4
|
50
|
James
Cressey
|
Dallara
F301
|
|
5
|
14
|
Matt
Fitzgerald
|
Dallara
F398
|
|
6
|
15
|
Mike
Beeley
|
Dallara
F398
|
|
7
|
9
|
Jeffrey
Brewer
|
Dallara
F301
|
|
8
|
37
|
Rod
Anderson
|
Reynard
893
|
|
9
|
32
|
Ricky Occhipinti
|
Dallara F396
|
|
10
|
34
|
Paul
Trengove
|
Dallara
F390
|
|
11
|
99
|
Neil
Caswell
|
Reynard
923
|
|
DNS
|
35
|
Bill
Maddocks
|
Dallara
F389
|
|
|
|
|
Driver
|
Team
|
Points
|
|
Level 1
|
|
|
|
James Manderson
|
Team BRM
|
103
|
|
Darren Palmer
|
Team BRM
|
78
|
|
James Cressey
|
Timberworld/Cactus
Comm.
|
70
|
|
Will Power
|
Cooltemp Pty
Ltd
|
73
|
|
Mike Beeley
|
MSpeed Racing
|
36
|
|
Matt Fitzgerald
|
MSpeed Racing
|
35
|
|
Chris Coombs
|
Daikin
Australia
|
30
|
|
Jeffrey Brewer
|
Timberworld/Cactus
Comm.
|
20
|
|
Glenn Coombs
|
Carrier
Airconditiong
|
16
|
|
John Boothman
|
John Boothman
|
14
|
|
Ricky Occhipinti
|
Formula Uno Racing
|
13
|
| |
|
|
|
Level 2
|
|
|
|
Rod Anderson
|
Hack Anderson
Thomas
|
95
|
|
Paul Trengove
|
CPA Australia
|
47
|
|
Bill Maddocks
|
Softelm Pty Ltd
|
37
|
|
Neil Caswell
|
Total
Recruitment
|
24
|
|
Paul's Oran Park Gallery
|
