Race No. 4, Qualifying Round No. 7

Barton Mawer was impressive in the first qualifying session at Queensland Raceway this morning – the only driver to get into the 1:05’s. His car appeared to be well set up to cope with Queensland Raceway’s tricky combination of fast and slow corners.

Championship leader, Michael Caruso, was second quickest just a couple of tenths behind Mawer. Caruso wrested the Championship lead from New Zealander, James Cressey at the last F3 round two weeks ago at Wakefield Park. With the F3 season at the half way point, Caruso is keen to extend his lead over Cressey in Queensland. Peter Hackett continued to show that the Renault is fast, although he was half a second behind Caruso in third place. Christian Jones was fourth with a best time of 1:06.8695.

The session was twice interrupted by red flags. Chris Coombs had an off, which brought the session to a halt, and a stray cone found its way onto the track causing a delay while marshals removed it.

BRM’s Karl Reindler continued the good form he showed in race two at Wakefield Park. Feeling more confident and comfortable in the car as the season progresses, Reindler was fifth fastest, only marginally in arrears of Christian Jones.

James Cressey’s woes continued. With a fastest lap of 1:07.8896 he qualified ninth. Cressey has not raced at the Queensland circuit before, and spent yesterday’s practice sessions learning the track. Some adjustments were made to the set up of the car overnight, when Cressey reported that he was having trouble with two corners where he was losing time.

PSC’s Kenny Habul continues to improve, swapping times with BRM’s Fitzgerald and Palmer throughout the session. Habul qualified seventh with a very respectable time of 1:07.7291, sandwiched between Palmer in sixth, and Fitzgerald in eighth.

Bevan Carrick made a welcome return to the track, driving himself in the Dallara Toyota which he prepared for Will Power last season. Queenslander Carrick was tenth, ahead of “team-mate” Algadrie driving the other Cooltemp entry.

In the Yokohama Trophy class, young Queensland Formula Ford sensation, Chris Gilmour took pole for race one. Driving for Scud Racing, Gilmour was impressively fast, especially as he had never driven a Formula 3 race car before. Gilmour has a strong background in karting, and currently leads the Queensland State Formula Ford championship. He was tenth in the FFord race at the Formula 1 Grand Prix in Melbourne earlier this year. David Borg was second quickest, with Billy Maddocks in third.