|
20th
April 2003
MICHAEL
ENDS DIFFICULT WEEKEND ON A HIGH NOTE
WITH TOP TEN FINISH
Michael showed his true mettle this weekend when the
young Irishman battled back from a retirement in the
first race to finish in the top ten for Round Four of
the British F3 Championship at Snetterton Circuit today
(Sunday).
Having
qualified way down the grid for both races, after car
problems in qualifying, Keohane had to dig deep from
18th position on the grid to secure eighth place in
the second race this afternoon. Unquestionably the comeback
drive of the day, Keohane was pleased to end the weekend
on a positive note:
"Well,
it’s been a tough weekend alright – certainly different
from Donington Park two weeks ago! Although it’s not
a great result on paper, I’m pleased with my eighth
place this afternoon. I’m going to put Snetterton behind
me now and concentrate on preparations for Croft, where
I expect to be back battling for podium positions again."
ROUND
THREE Result: DNF (Q: 18th) After two desperate qualifying
sessions yesterday, when Keohane struggled with an ailing
car after a testing accident on Friday, the young Irish
star was fired up for the first of the day’s encounters.
Although faced with a tall order from 18th on the grid,
Keohane made a blinding start to steam round the outside
of several cars into the first corner, continuing his
charge over the opening lap. Unfortunately a spinner
on the first lap drastically delayed Keohane and he
went into his second tour way back down the field in
20th. An electrifying lap followed as he bullied his
Dallara past no less than five cars in five corners,
and soon Keohane was incredibly up to 14th and on a
charge. But luck wasn’t on his side today. After a three-lap
Safety Car period, precipitated by an incident at the
Bombhole Corner, Keohane was right with Scholarship
Class leader Christian England and looking for a way
past. Having made a clean move on him into the Esses
complex, Keohane was then forced onto the grass mid
corner as England over-cooked things. Although the Irish
charger kept control, the two touched as he rejoined,
putting both out on the spot.
ROUND
FOUR Result: 8th (Q: 17th) Hopeful of better fortunes
in the second of the day’s encounters, Keohane knew
he had to make up places quickly at the start to give
himself the best chance of a decent finish. But the
race had barely got underway when the Safety Car was
deployed for a multi-car accident at the second corner.
Keohane had nevertheless already forced his way up to
tenth place and the young Irish charger was sitting
pretty with the leading group. When the field went green
after four Safety Car laps, Keohane soon found a way
past Scholarship runner Christian England at the Esses
complex to secure ninth and was gaining fast on Clivio
Piccione. Three laps later and he blasted past the Monegasque
driver at Coram Curve to take eighth. Unfortunately
the Safety Car was deployed for the second time shortly
after and Keohane had to spend six frustrating racing
laps in line waiting for the track to go green. When
racing finally resumed, Keohane was all over Danny Watts
for position who, likewise, was harrying sixth placed
Ernani Judice. Forced to play a waiting game, Keohane
pushed hard to the flag, but was unable to usurp the
scrabbling duo.
------------------------------------------------------
MICHAEL
ENDURES MISERABLE F3 QUALIFYING AT SNETTERTON
After
demonstrating his championship potential at Donington
Park two weeks ago by taking an impressive podium finish
in the first race, Michael started his Snetterton weekend
with a bang, literally. A huge off in testing on Friday,
saw his Promatecme outfit in a race against time to
repair the young Irishman’s Dallara F303 chassis - and
the accident left Keohane nursing a bruised back on
the eve of the second F3 race meeting of the year.
And
the weekend didn’t get any better today during official
qualifying. A lacklustre performance in the first session,
which saw Michael down in 18th, was later attributed
to problems with his fuel pressure pump – but not until
after the second session when the part finally failed,
leaving the desolate Irishman languishing again way
down the order, in 17th position.
Michael
said :
"Well,
it can’t get much worse! We think the fuel pump problem
is a legacy of my crash in testing but it didn’t come
to light until the second session. This makes things
difficult for the two races, but tomorrow’s another
day and I’m sure the team will make the car good overnight."
Qualifying
– Round 3
Prepared to attack the first of the day’s two 20-minute
qualifying session with his usual gusto and verve, Michael
nevertheless took to the track unsure of the characteristics
of his rebuilt race car. And it was soon obvious that
something wasn’t right. Having taken provisional pole
position within the first few minutes, Keohane found
himself slowly bumped down the order and unable to respond
as his rivals improved throughout the session. At the
half way point, he was battling valiantly to stay within
the top ten, but to no avail. Despite improving his
own lap time on several occasions, he finished the session
in a hugely disappointing 18th place overall.
Qualifying
– Round 4
The Promatecme team worked hard between sessions to
try and isolate the root cause of his problems during
first qualifying. Unbeknown to them, the problem lay
with the fuel pressure pump which produced an intermittent
misfire from the start, leaving Keohane to try and drive
round the debilitating condition. However, he soon had
other things to concern himself with, as one of the
SYR team drivers collided with the unlucky Irishman
at the chicane during the opening few laps. Having pitted
for a new nose cone, Keohane could only rejoin the track
and try to make the best of a difficult situation, knowing
that the misfire was costing valuable time. A sterling
effort enabled him to climb up from 21st to 17th with
two minutes remaining, but the damage was done and Michael
will start the second of tomorrow’s two races from a
traditionally hectic mid-field position.
|
