Briton Darren Manning put in a brilliant effort on Saturday
to claim pole position for tomorrow's first ever International
Formula 3 Korea Grand Prix. The TOM'S driver had only been seventh
fastest overall at the end of the morning's first qualifying
session and had been left frustrated with traffic, which had
blocked him on his fastest laps.
But in the final session, with time running out, he drove brilliantly
to move to the top of the time sheets. His pole position spot
was confirmed when the best driver in the second session, Japanese
Formula Three rival Toshihiro Kaneishi, could not beat his time.
"I am delighted with this result," said Manning, who
stands to win $100,000 if he wins both heats at the Changwong
circuit on Sunday. "I was annoyed this morning when my
best lap was ruined by a slower car, but this afternoon I got
everything right and I am overjoyed. As far as the money goes,
I am not worried about the pressure at the moment but, if I
am leading the second heat, I am sure I will be thinking about
it."
Kaneishi put in his quick lap in the dying minutes of the second
session to deny Briton Jenson Button a front row place on the
grid. The Prema Racing driver, who had been drafted into the
team as a replacement for the injured Juan Manuel Lopez, was
looking forward to Sunday's race.
"I have raced with Darren all year in Japan, so I know
what he is like and what his equipment is like," he explained.
"But I am in a different car with a different engine to
what I am used to, so we will have to see what happens on Sunday."
Third place on the grid went to Dutchman Christijan Albers,
who enjoyed a session long battle with Manning that delighted
the Korean crowd which had turned out in force to watch the
drivers compete. But the German Formula Three Champion admitted
that the six-tenths gap to Manning was more than he had hoped
for.
"I could not have gone any faster," Albers revealed.
"I was pushing to the limit throughout the session and
I am disappointed that Manning is so much faster. It will be
difficult to match him if he is that fast in the race tomorrow."
Button was disappointed that he could not improve his provisional
pole position time which he had set in the first session. "I
don't know whether it was the track conditions or because of
the car," he said. "We were only just quicker on new
tyres in that session, so something was not right."
There were several incidents during both qualifying sessions.
Seiji Ara and Matt Davies caused the first session to be stopped
when they crashed their cars, while Davies damaged his car in
the second session as well.
