Phil Giebler Silverstone qualifying notes

American driver Phil Giebler impressed the British racing community today by qualifying 10th for the final two rounds of the Power Tour/Green Flag British Formula 3 Championship. Giebler entered the event as a result of a last-minute deal with first-year team Duma Racing. After finishing second in the 2000 French Formula 3 Championship with ELF/La Filiere and winning the Formula Palmer/Audi Winter Championship, Giebler has spent the 2001 season racing and testing for various British and German F3 teams, including six races of the German F3 championship earlier this year.

Having never before driven the Silverstone circuit, Giebler qualified tenth for both main events after a combined total of only 55 minutes in the cockpit prior to qualifying. At the start of the first race, Giebler experienced severe wheel spin in the rain and dropped to sixteenth. Giebler quickly charged back into the top ten, finishing ninth and setting the fourth fastest lap of the race. In race two he got a much better start, passing two cars on the first lap. He eventually made it up to seventh before a tap from the eighth-place car of Mark Taylor knocked Phil into the gravel trap and ending his day.

Giebler will be testing through the month of October in England and Spain, and plans to compete in British F3 in 2002, another step towards his goal of being the first American driver to reach Formula one in the new millennium.