Foster wins on F3 debut; Tung wins for JB
23.04.2006 by Harry Hogge
Lola's Formula Three car - the B06/30 made a stunning debut in the
Recaro F3 German Cup at Oschersleben over the weekend, winning both races and proving to be the fastest of the three chassis represented in the series.
Both Joey Foster (HS Technik Lola) and Ho-Pin Tung (JB Motorsport Lola) took a win apiece on the twisty circuit near Magdeburg. Foster also cemented his growing reputation by claiming fastest laps in both events.
The first race was held on Saturday afternoon after the grid had been decided during a wet qualifying session. Ho-Pin Tung put his yellow Opel-Spiess Lola on to the front row of the grid and sprinted off the line in to an instant lead, perfectly executing a convincing win which emulated his success at the same venue last season.
"It is fantastic to score a first win in the Lola chassis," said Tung after the race. "It hasn't been easy with so little testing but this is a great to start the season for us. The team did a great job as usual."
The Dutch/Chinese drivers team mate, Ferdinand Kool drove through from 8th on the grid to secure 5th position, delighting the Belgium based JB Motorsport squad. Race one saw some appalling luck for the HS Technik team as Joey Foster's team mate Martin Hippe spun off on the warm up lap.
Foster himself had started in the midfield pack after being among many drivers to be penalized for a yellow flag infringement in qualifying. He soon moved his way up through the field to as high as 6th place before a car ahead spun, clipping the unlucky black and white Lola. This incident necessitated a lengthy pit stop and effectively ended his race. However, the tenacious Cornishmen set the fastest lap of the race despite feeling his car was not handling as well after the incident.
As in the first qualifying session, the second one, held on Sunday morning, was also held in wet conditions. This time Foster claimed 3rd position on the grid with Tung lining up 11th and Kool 12th.
"I actually didn't get a great start," confirmed Foster. "I could see that there was an accident behind me as well which helped with a slight breakaway for the front running cars. As soon as my tires kicked in on around lap 3, the Lola was really strong and I easily caught and overtook Azzoli (Target SLC) and was then following Bruins (Van Amersfort Dallara) very closely, looking for a way to take the lead."
"Coming on to the back straight he (Bruins) made a slight mistake and I took advantage. Unfortunately he turned in and we touched, he went off in to the wall and I broke my front wing and did a quick 360!"
On a track which is usually deemed almost impossible to overtake on, Foster was almost irresistible as he took the lead. However, with spots of rain falling on the track, Foster was now under pressure from the highly rated Nicolas Hulkenburg (JK Dallara) but the cool, former Formula Ford Festival adapted his driving with the damage to his car, to claim a superb win on his Formula Three debut.
"It feels brilliant to have won on my F3 debut," said Foster from the podium. "But most of all I need to thank the team and Lola for a great job this weekend. We have shown that the chassis has so much potential and Michael Hascic (HS Technik owner) deserves the success for running such a professional team."
Rounding off a great weekend for Lola was Ferdinand Kool who came through to 5th, scoring more points for the JB Motorsport squad. Ho Ping Tung went to the head of the points table after finishing in 6th place just behind his team mate.
Martin Hippe battled away for a 12th placed finish in his HS Technik Lola. The young German recovered from an earlier spin and lapped quickly, boosting his confidence for the following rounds of the series which take place at the home of the German Grand Prix at Hockenheim near Heidelberg this weekend.
RACE ONE RESULTS
| 1 | Ho Ping Tung (PRC/NL) | JB Motorsport Lola-Spiess | 25m02.508s |
| 2 | Renger Van Der Zande (NL) | SMS Dallara-Mercedes | 25m04.751s |
| 3 | Dominik Schrami (D) | Swiss Team Dallara-Spiess | 25m10.576s |
| 4 | Riccardo Azzoli (I) | Target Racing SLC-Spiess | 25m11.566s |
| 5 | Ferdinand Kool (NL) | JB Motorsport Lola-Spiess | 25m11.892s |
| 6 | Recardo Bruins (KOR) | Van Amersfort Dallara-Spiess | 25m12.206s |
| 7 | Salvatore Gatto (I) | Target Racing SLC-Spiess | 25m14.946s |
| 8 | Harald Schlegelmilch (LAT) | HS Technim Dallara Spiess | 25m15.402s |
| 9 | Hiroyuki Matsumura (JPN) | Swiss Team Dallara- Spiess | 25m15.873s |
| 10 | Ronny Wechselberger (D) | SMS Dallara-Spiess | 25m16.690s |
| 23 | Joey Foster (GB) | HS Technik Lola-Spiess | + 1 lap |
Fastest Lap: Joey Foster (GB) HS Technik Lola-Spiess 1m22.810s
RACE TWO RESULTS
| 1 | Joey Foster (GB) | HS Technik Lola-Spiess | 25m16.490s |
| 2 | Nicolas Hulkenburg (D) | JK Racing Dallara Spiess | 25m16.976s |
| 3 | Harald Schlegelmilch (LAT) | HS Technik Dallara-Spiess | 25m22.092s |
| 4 | Riccardo Azzoli (I) | Target Racing SLC-Spiess | 25m26.405s |
| 5 | Ferdinand Kool (NL) | JB Motorsport Lola-Spiess | 25m28.109s |
| 6 | Ho-Pin Tung (PRC/NL) | JB Motorsport Lola-Spiess | 25m31.345s |
| 7 | Dominik Schrami (D) | Swiss Team Dallara-Opel | 25m42.722s |
| 8 | Ronny Wechselberger (D) | SMS Dallara-Spiess | 25m49.941s |
| 9 | Natacha Gachnang (CH) | Bordoli Dallara-Spiess | 25m50.480s |
| 10 | Salvatore Gatto (I) | Target Racing SLC-Spiess | 25m51.124s |
| 11 | Martin Hippe (D) | HS Technik Lola-Spiess | 25m51.954s |
Fastest Lap: Joey Foster (GB) HS Technik Lola-Spiess 1m21.926s