Briton Darren Manning was quickest in Friday's opening practice
sessions for this weekend's inaugural International Formula
3 Korea Grand Prix despite damaging his car in a high-speed
accident. The winner of last week's Macau Grand Prix was three
tenths faster than his closest challenger, Briton Jenson Button,
but left his TOM'S team with plenty of work to do after ripping
off the right front corner of his car.
"Luckily only my pride is hurt," said Manning. "I
got to the apex of the corner okay but there is quite a bit
of dirt off the racing line and I unfortunately ran wide. The
car dug into the tyre wall and that was it. Other than that,
I have had quite a good day and we will be making a few modifications
before qualifying."
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Briton Jenson Button reported no problems with his car as he
enjoyed racing on the new Changwong circuit. "It's been
a fantastic experience coming here to Korea," he explained.
"We have been treated really well. The track is very demanding
and will make for some good racing on Sunday."
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Dutchman Christijan Albers was pleased with his third fastest
time but was cursing his luck after suffering a clutch problem
in the second practice session on what would have been his fastest
lap
"When I need some good fortune something always goes wrong,"
said the German Formula Three Champion. "That lap was three
tenths faster until I had the problem, so that is a little disappointing.
The car feels okay, but the gap to Manning is quite big and
it is going to be difficult to match him. The track is nice
and it is challenging trying to find the right set-up."
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Briton Andrew Kirkaldy was delighted with his fourth fastest
time, especially since he had started the first session with
the wrong kind of gear ratios.
"We were way off with our selection, but other than that
things have gone well," he said. "I'm not pushing
that hard at the moment because the most important thing is
to keep the car in one piece."
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Indian Narain Karthikeyan ended the day ninth overall despite
a gearbox problem which left him stranded out on the track during
the first session...Macau's Andre Couto, who had been one of
the pace setters in first practice, lost track time after suffering
an engine problem in the second session...Korean Kim Jungsoo
caused the final practice session to be stopped after crashing
heavily...Briton Marc Hynes was eighth fastest despite admitting
that he had gone completely the wrong way with the set-up on
his Manor Motorsport car.
