The B06/30 Lola Formula Three car again tasted victory in the German Recaro F3 Cup at Hockenheim over the weekend as Britain’s Joey Foster made it three wins for the Huntingdon marque in just seven days.
In comfortably winning Saturday’s race during the Jim Clark memorial trophy meeting, Foster took his HS Technik Lola to the top of the points table, also claiming an extra point for fastest race lap. The former McLaren/Autosport Young Driver finalist has been the sensation of the series so far this season and is now three points ahead of his nearest rival.
The Spiess engined Lola started the first race of the weekend from 2nd place on the grid but an excellent getaway saw Foster out drag the fellow Lola of pole sitter Ferdinand Kool and quickly stretch out an impressive lead.
“After the first lap it was pretty comfortable for me in the lead,” said a delighted Foster after the race. “There were a few concerns towards the end as the fuel pressure light came on but I had full confidence in the Lola and there was never any chance of being caught, let alone passed by anyone.”
Joey’s demon start could not be repeated for race two as some wheel spin meant that he was down in 7th place by the first corner. However, Foster is proving to be as tenacious as he is clinical and the Cornishman soon overtook Recardo Bruins (Van Amersfort Dallara) and also the JB Motorsport Lola of Ho-Pin Tung. He eventually finished in 4th place at the notoriously difficult to overtake German Grand Prix venue, scoring more points in his and the teams quest to win the series.
“It was a very solid points haul this weekend but I was still slightly disappointed not to get on the podium for the second race,” said the HS Technik driver. “Getting the fastest lap shows that we could have challenged for victory again and upheld Lola’s 100% win record. Still, the team and Lola once again did a fantastic job and hopefully we can push on at Lausitzring in a few weeks and extend the advantage with more wins. I must also thank Mr Hasisc (HS Technik team owner) for the faith that he and the team have shown in me.”
JB Motorsport also had a fine weekend with Dutch driver Ferdinand Kool taking a 3rd place in Saturday’s event and a fighting 2nd on Sunday. This came after a superb qualifying performance on Saturday, which secured his first pole position of the year.
"It was a very good weekend with two good qualifying sessions and races and also a lot of important points. I am in a much better form than last year and I will show it with the Lola,” concluded Kool.
"After four races in the championship 2006 we are present near the front of the points table,” said Team Principal, Yves Olivier. “The potential of the car is great; the teething troubles are minimal. Now we have one full week for further improvements for the races at Lausitzring.”
JB Motorsports other driver, Ho-Pin Tung secured a 5th and a 6th placed finish
The next round of the series take place on May 13/14 at Eurospeedway, Lausitz.
RACE ONE RESULTS
1. Joey Foster (GB) HS Technik Lola-Spiess 26m15.747s
2. Recardo Bruins (KOR) Van Amersfort Dallara Spiess 26m19.386s
3. Ferdinand Kool (NL) JB Motorsport Lola-Spiess 26m23.029s
4. Renger Van Der Zande (NL) Seyffarth Dallara Mercedes 26m23.813s
5. Nicolas Hulkenburg (D) JK Racing Dallara Spiess 26m25.998s
6. Ho-Pin Tung (PRC/NL) JB Motorsport Lola-Spiess 26m26.525s
7. Harald Schlegelmilch (LAT) HS Technik Dallara-Spiess 26m27.443s
8. Riccardo Azzoli (I) Target Racing SLC-Spiess 26m35.219s
9. Johannes Theobald (D) Seyffarth Dallara-Mercedes 26m39.389s
10. Salvatore Gatto (I) Target Racing SLC-Spiess 26m40.182s
Fastest Lap: Recardo Bruins (KOR) Van Amersfort Dallara Spiess 1m37.285s
RACE TWO RESULTS
1. Nicolas Hulkenburg (D) JK Racing Dallara Spiess 26m23.468s
2. Ferdinand Kool (NL) JB Motorsport Lola-Spiess 26m25.570s
3. Renger Van Der Zande (NL) Seyffarth Dallara Mercedes 26m25.833s
4. Joey Foster (GB) HS Technik Lola-Spiess 26m27.659s
5. Ho-Pin Tung (PRC/NL) JB Motorsport Lola-Spiess 26m29.117s
6. Riccardo Azzoli (I) Target Racing SLC-Spiess 26m37.930s
7. Salvatore Gatto (I) Target Racing SLC-Spiess 26m48.388s
8. Johannes Theobald (D) Seyffarth Dallara-Mercedes 26m51.713s
9. Natacha Gachnang (CH) Bordoli Dallara-Spiess 26m53.689s
10. Ronny Wechselberger (D) Prinz Dallara-Spiess 26m 57.726s
Fastest Lap: Joey Foster (GB) HS Technik Lola-Spiess 1m37.439s
CHAMPIONSHIP POSITIONS AFTER 4 ROUNDS
1. Joey Foster (GB) 28pts
2. Nicolas Hulkenburg (D) 25pts
3. Ferdinand Kool (NL) 23pts
4. Ho-Pin Tung (PRC/NL) 20pts
5. Renger Van Der Zande (NL) 19pts
6. Riccardo Azzoli (I) 14pts
7. Recardo Bruins (KOR) 12pts
8 Harald Schlegelmilch (LAT) 9pts
9. Dominik Schrami (D) 8pts
10. Salvatore Gatto (I) 4pts
