Bang bang at Brands Hatch
Tuesday, 22nd September, 2009
Team West-Tec was looking to end the British F3 season with a bang at Brands Hatch on the weekend of 18th to 20th September. This was achieved – although not in the manner expected!
Max Snegirev showed well in free practice and took a good fourth on the National Class grid for race one.
Ma Qing Hua was struggling to reacquaint himself with Formula 3 but improved each time he took to the track and, despite qualifying sixth for both races, he was looking to move up in those races.
For race one, Max made a strong start to the race to hold on to his fourth position but, on the second lap, just caught the grass at the fearsomely fast Hawthorn corner which catapulted him into the retaining wall and leaving the crew a big repair job between races.
Ma Qing Hua hung on well to start with, before dropping back a little, although he recorded a good fourth placed finish.
Having worked hard to repair the car for Max, the team was looking for good results to finish the year, although Ma Qing Hua suffered driveshaft failure at the very start.
Max, though, made a great start and moved up to run in a great second position, battling with new National Class Champion, Daniel McKenzie.
Falling behind Dan on lap four Max tried to hang on to try and retake the position and clipped a kerb at
Max Snegirev: The crew had done a great job to fix the car for race two, and I was really sorry for what happened. I have learnt a great deal this year and I would like to thank my crew for all of their efforts.
Ma Qing Hua: It was a disappointing weekend for me, and I was quite rusty having been out of the car all year until now. I am now looking ahead to next year, though, and making plans.
John Miller, Co-Team Principal: There are two places at Brands GP where you really don’t want to shunt – and Max managed to at both of them!
We were hoping for him to return to the podium here, and he had the pace to do so. He has improved a lot this year though, and he has been a pleasure to work with.
The broken driveshaft was heartbreaking for Ma Qing Hua in race two although at least he got fourth in race one. The Brands Hatch GP circuit is very hard work to drive on though, and a Formula 3 car is very physically demanding to drive which was also a problem for him.
We now have an extensive testing programme scheduled as we finalise our drivers for next year, when we hope to capitalise on this season’s experience and challenge to win the National Class Championship!
