JUNE 7, 2004

Piquet comes to the fore

Nelson Piquet Jr has moved to the top of the British Formula 3 standings with two wins at Snetterton over the weekend. The Brazilian, son of 1981 and 1983 World Champion Nelson Piquet, was dominant in two of the three races that took place, one being a replacement event for the race at Silverstone which was cancelled earlier this year.

The race was decided at the start with Australian Will Power in the lead at the first corner and Piquet ahead of poleman Danilo Dirani. Power and Piquet went into the second corner close together but the Australian went off and dropped down the order. This left Piquet ahead of a fast-starting Adam Carroll, who had been sixth on the grid. Championship leader James Rossiter stalled his car on the grid but ran in the midfield until his engine failed.

The second race saw Carroll lead after passing poleman Lucas di Grassi at the start and then overtaking Piquet. Rossiter made a bad start and then collided with Will Davison and was out of the race again. Carroll led but Piquet was obviously threatening and he moved back into the lead in the last few laps. Power finished third.

The third race saw Carroll take the lead from poleman Rossiter with Will Power coming home third after Lucas di Grassi was penalised for jumping the start. Piquet finished fourth but now leads the series with 119 points. Rossiter has fallen back to 98 points with Carroll third with 91 and Power fourth with 80.