Joining Mark at Alan Docking Racing for the British Formula 3 Championship, are two young Japanese drivers. Nineteen year old Haruki Kurosawa comes from a very well known Japanese motor racing family. Both his father, Motoharu, and his elder brother, Takuya are highly respected competitors, while Haruki has competed in three rounds of the Japanese F3 Championship as part of his graduation prize from the Honda Racing School at Suzuka. The youngest member of the team is the 18 year old Yudai Igarashi. Yudai has six years experience of karting and has recently competed in the New Zealand FF1600 series.

Alan Docking Racing
Since it was formed in 1975, Alan Docking Racing (ADR) has established itself as one of the UK's most versatile teams, having participated in single-seater, sports car and saloon car racing at national and international level. However, these days the team is best known for its achievements in British Formula 3, having evolved into one of the most accomplished teams of the current decade. It enjoys an outstanding track record and has become the preferred option for overseas drivers looking to carve a name for themselves in the world's toughest and most prestigious single-seater category. Based in spacious premises on the doorstop of Britain's premier motor racing circuit, Silverstone, the team is owned and run by Alan Docking, who first came to the UK in 1973 after being involved in motorsport at an amateur level in his native Australia. In 1975, his newly-formed team made its debut in F3, contesting the BP and Vandervell F3 Championships. Two of the UK's most promising young drivers of the time, Rupert Keegan and Stephen South, drove for ADR in 1976 and 1977 respectively, and both won championship titles.

In 1978, ADR expanded its racing operation to include a Formula Two team which competed in the European Championship. A number of notable drivers featured in the team's line-up, including former Grand Prix drivers, Huub Rothengatter, Kenny Acheson and Stefan Johansson. The team was a consistent race winner and its best result was third place overall in the championship. It also proved the most successful private team and later ran the second works Toleman/Hart team.

In 1983, ADR re-launched its British F3 programme, while at the same time assisted with the design and development of a racing sports car for Mazdaspeed Japan. This particular project was a tremendous success and the car competed in Japan and Europe, culminating in victory at Le Mans.

In 1987 and 1988 ADR also ran a British Touring Car programme with a Holden Commodore for Englishman, Mike O'Brien. The car showed its potential with a victory at Snetterton. After Mazdaspeed's withdrawal from its sports car programme in 1989, ADR concentrated its efforts on F3, and has continued to do so to this day.

Current Grand Prix star, Mika Salo is arguably one of ADR's most successful drivers. Mika raced with the team in 1989 and 1990, and in his second season finished runner up in the 1990 British F3 Championship to Mika Hakkinen, after scoring six wins. The following year, ADR driver Hideki Noda, became the first Japanese driver to win a British F3 Championship race, while Belgian youngster, Phillipe Adams, finished runner-up in the 1992 Championship for ADR. Lola Grand Prix driver, Ricardo Rosset, drove for the team in 1993, while 1994 and 1995 was the turn of young English hopefuls, Warren Hughes and Gareth Rees. Hughes finished fourth in the championship, while Rees gave ADR a splendid win in the Marlboro Masters at Zandvoort, The Netherlands.

After a learning year with the team in 1995, another young Belgian driver, Kurt Mollekens, showed a new turn of speed in 1996 to take second place in the British Championship, after some strong performances in the second half of the season. Mollekens also scored an emphatic victory in the Marlboro Masters to give ADR its second successive win in this prestigious event.

ADR has also been a regular entrant in the annual Macau F3 Grand Prix. Formula One drivers, Heinz Harald Frentzen and Jacques Villeneuve, both raced ADR cars at Macau, while Salo finished second in the 1990 event.

Racing Calendar 1997

	DATE	CIRCUIT	RESULT
	March 23	Donington Park	6th
	April 6	Silverstone GP	5th
	April 13	Thruxton	Did Not Finish (DNF)
	April 27	Brands Hatch	1st
	May 11	Silverstone GP	8th
	May 18	Croft	4th
	June 22	Oulton Park	8th
	July 12	Silverstone GP	2nd
	August 1-3	Zandvoort	3rd
	August 17	Pembrey	3rd
	August 24	Donington Park	3rd
	September 14	Snetterton	5th
	September 28	Spa-Francorchamps	4th
	October 5	Silverstone	3rd
	October 12	Thruxton	7th
	November 15,16	Macau	4th

Final Standings

		1997 BRITISH FORMULA 3 CHAMPIONSHIP 1. Jonny Kane (GB) Paul Stewart Racing 199 pts 2. Nicolas Minassian (F) Promotecme 183 pts 3. Peter Dumbreck (GB) Paul Stewart Racing 149 pts 4. Mark Webber (AUS) Alan Docking Racing 131 pts 5. Enrique Bernoldi (BR) Promotecme 127 pts 6. Mario Haberfeld (BR) Fortec 108 pts

Car facts

It costs about a third of a million pounds to race in Formula 3.
It's the penultimate step of a driver's racing career before he negotiates a deal to drive, or test, for a Formula 1 team.

The F3 Champion will earn himself an FIA Super Licence, his passport to the world of F1.

The cost of a driver's racing suit would buy you a couple of Italian designer suits and the cost of a racing crash helmet alone would keep you in champagne with your Sunday lunch for the best part of a year.

Previous Champions

	YEAR	NAME	CHASSIS/ENGINE	ACHIEVEMENTS
	1979	Chico Serra	March-Toyota	F1 Arrows, Fittipaldi
	1980	Stefan Johansson	March-Toyota / Ralt-Toyota	F1 McLaren, Ferrari
	1981	Jonathan Palmer	Ralt-Toyota	F1 Zakspeed, Tyrell, BBC, ITV
	1982	Tommy Byrne	Ralt-Toyota	F1 Theodore
	1983	Ayrton Senna	Ralt-Toyota	3 x F1 World Champion
	1984	Johnny Dumfries	Ralt-VW	F1 Lotus, Le Mans winner
	1985	Mauricio Gugelmin	Ralt-Toyota	F1 march, Jordan
	1986	Andy Wallace	Ralt-Toyota	Le Mans winner, Jaguar
	1987	Jonathan Herbert	Reynard-VW	F1 Sauber, British GP winner, Le Mans winner
	1988	JJ Lehto	Reynard-Toyota	Benetton, Le Mans winner
	1989	David Brabham	Ralt-VW	F1 Brabham, Simtek, BTCC BMW
	1990	Mika Hakkinen	Ralt-Mugen	F1 Lotus, McLaren
	1991	Rubens Barrichello	Ralt-Mugen	F1 Jordan, Stewart Grand Prix
	1992	Gi de Ferran	Reynard-Mugen	Indycars, '95 Rookie of the Year
	1993	Kelvin Burt	Dallara-Mugen	F1 test driver, Ligier, BTCC Ford, Volvo
	1994	Jan Magnussen	Dallara-Vauxhall	F1, Stewart Grand Prix, DTM Mercedes
	1995	Oliver Gavin	Dallara-Vauxhall	ITC Opel
	1996	Ralph Firman	Dallara-Mugen	Japanese F3000

Points & Prize Money

	PLACE	PRIZE PER ROUND	POINTS PER ROUND
	1st	£750	20
	2nd	£600	15
	3rd	£450	12
	4th	£400	10
	5th	£350	8
	6th	£300	6
	7th	£300	4
	8th	£250	3
	9th	£200	2
	10th	£150	1

Technical Overview

More Power Means Lap Records will be Smashed
The opening round of the 1997 British Formula 3 Championship marked the British debut of the new F3 engine. Thanks to a rule change, all engines used in the series will be providing a power increase of around 30-35 bhp, which means that the existing lap records at circuits around the country will be shattered.

Prior to this season, the massive amounts of grip generated by the high-tech F3 chassis and Avon slick racing tyres has meant that the cars have seemed underpowered. Too often it was said that F3 was boring, as the cars were able to corner seemingly on rails and that overtaking was difficult. It was also felt that exuberant drivers, ie those who like to let the tail slide out a little too much, were being penalised for their flair by the technical regulations.

However, this year sees the power of the cars' two-litre engines increased to around 210-215 bhp, which has been achieved by opening up the diameter of the air intake restrictor by 2 mm to 26 mm. This has resulted in some rapid pre-season lap times, a typical example being at Oulton Park, where F3 cars are lapping some two-and-a-half seconds per lap faster than last season.

With Dallara chassis once again dominating the grid, the only challenge to the Italian manufacturer comes from the Norfolk-based TOM's GB team, the chief difference between the cars is their engines. The manufacturers represented include HKS (Mitsubishi), Mugen (Honda), Vauxhall/Opel, Toyota and Renault, the latter of whom views the British F3 Championship with such seriousness that it chooses to run its works team over here, rather than on home soil. The TOM's chassis made an impressive debut last season, scoring a memorable pole position at Donington Park, and has further refined its cars for 1997.

With the emphasis switching back towards driver input rather than technical superiority, though, it seems likely that it's not just the driver with the best package who is going to win the 1997 British F3 Championship.