AUSF3: Albert Park Saturday report

SENNA SCORES AGAIN, AUSSIE CONTENDERS STRIKE DRAMAS AT ALBERT PARK Bruno Senna scored his second victory from three races in this afternoon's third Dodo F3 race at the 2006 Formula 1 Fosters Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne. After scoring his ...

Edited: Jul 2, 2009, 5:33 PM

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SENNA SCORES AGAIN, AUSSIE CONTENDERS STRIKE DRAMAS AT ALBERT PARK

Bruno Senna scored his second victory from three races in this afternoon's third Dodo F3 race at the 2006 Formula 1 Fosters Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne.

After scoring his historic first ever race victory yesterday, Senna lead from pole position in today's dramatic six lap encounter and was able to avoid the event's first lap carnage that saw three of the main contenders sent to the back of the field.

In bitingly cold conditions, the Brazilian driver held off a concerted challenge from James Winslow today to score another wildly popular victory on the streets of Albert Park.

"Today went as planned, I had to push had at the start to make the advantage," he said in between signing autographs for a new legion of dedicated fans.

"I could go a bit faster on the cold Tyres because I am so used to it after driving in Britain for last year.

"I had to push very hard at the end to keep the lead but I was calm and not too worried. I knew the car behind was faster because he had new Tyres so I pushed hard and was able to win.

"I came here with no wins and now I have two," he smiled.

"I am going to leave Australia with some very good memories"

Behind Senna, James Winslow posted his best drive of the weekend to finish second -- just over a second behind the winner.

Driving for Sydney's Piccola Scuderia Corse, Winslow has continued to improve throughout the weekend -- building on the momentum gained from his shock race one win. The British driver has impressed this weekend and is getting closer to his target of matching the leading cars on pace by tomorrow's fourth and final race.

"We were obviously a lot closer then," enthused Winslow.

"I really want to win a race without having the other contenders fall out this weekend so that will be the aim tomorrow.

"I'm going to sit down tonight with my engineers and I know that we can find the time we need to win.

"I hadn't driven a car for five months heading into the weekend so I was a bit rusty, but it's all coming together now." he said.

Third, again, was Tim Macrow, who took his Vicbet.com Dallara to a storming podium result after a turn one collision between the Melbournian, Michael Trimble and Leanne Tander sent all three to the back of the field just moments after the start of the race.

Macrow's charge saw him storm from the back of the top ten into the podium effort -- his third from three races this weekend - despite carrying damage to the rear of his car after the turn one touch.

"The car was oversteering really badly because we had a broken rear wing from the crash at turn one," he explained.

"But it was fun to be able to charge through the field and get a strong result and stand on the podium again. We need to fix the car for tomorrow and hopefully we will be able to run with the leaders."

Trimble and Tander were also caught up in the turn one incident -- surprisingly the first in Formula 3 for the weekend in a corner renowned for producing contact on race starts.

Trimble finished the race 7th -- just behind Stephen Borness- whilst Tander was able to work her way through the field to finish one place behind in eighth.

Local driver Laurent LePage produced a standout effort in just his third race in a Formula 3 open wheeler, finishing a storming fifth place after starting 13th following a tough second race yesterday.

21-year-old LePage made up a majority of his positions on the opening lap of the race, managing to avoid the carnage in turn one to score a sensational result in front of his home crowd.

"I made a great start and was able to steer clear of all the problems at the first corner," he explained.

"I'm really excited to have scored the result despite not having many laps in the car. The aim is to work forward again tomorrow - continue to improve - and try and get a podium finish."

Jason Vince and Maher Algadri rounded out the top ten -- the later posting another strong result in his return to Formula 3 after a year out of the seat.

Troubled driver Chris Alajajian again had a torrid day, ECU problems -- following the crash Thursday -- again causing strife and leaving the New South Wales-based driver without any race laps for the second consecutive day in Melbourne.

Tim Berryman scored the National Class honors with a strong fourth place (overall) result, the season-long battle between himself and local driver Ricky Occhipinti swinging towards the New South Welshman after two days of Occhipinti dominating proceedings.

Race two's Trophy Winner Graeme Holmes had a less successful day, ending up beached in the turn one sand trap -- causing a safety car period for two laps in the race.

Bill Maddocks took his place at the top of the class charts -- the third different winner for the weekend in the Trophy competition.

After a Herculean effort, local Lauren Gray was able to start today's race after her Scud Racing outfit completely rebuild the engine powering her car overnight.

Tomorrow's fourth and final eight-lap race will be held at 9:50am Sunday Morning.

-ausf3-

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