1999 British Formula Three Championship

1999 British Formula Three season
Previous:	1998	Next:	2000

The 1999 British Formula Three season was the 49th British Formula Three Championship season. It commenced on 21 March, and ended on 17 October after sixteen races. Marc Hynes was the champion, although the season is best remembered for 19-year-old future F1 champion Jenson Button marking himself out as one to watch. Martin O'Connell took the spoils in Class B.

Drivers and teams

The following teams and drivers were competitors in the 1999 season. Class B is for older Formula Three cars.

Team No Driver Class Chassis Engine Rounds Stewart Racing 1 Luciano Burti A Dallara F399 Mugen-Honda All 2 Andrew Kirkaldy A Dallara F399 Mugen-Honda All Fortec Motorsport 3 Matt Davies A Dallara F399 Mugen-Honda All 4 Kristian Kolby A Dallara F399 Mugen-Honda All Promatecme UK 5 Aluizio Coelho A Dallara F399 Renault Sodemo All 6 Jenson Button A Dallara F399 Renault Sodemo All Alan Docking Racing 7 Yudai Igarashi A Dallara F399 Mugen-Honda 1–15 Warren Hughes 16 8 Alex Yoong A Dallara F399 Mugen-Honda 3–6 Doug Bell 7–14 SpeedSport F3 9 Toby Scheckter A Dallara F399 Mugen-Honda All 10 Warren Carway A Dallara F399 Mugen-Honda All 57 John Ingram B Dallara F398 Mugen-Honda 8–9 Nick Eliades 13–16 Carlin Motorsport 12 Narain Karthikeyan A Dallara F399 Mugen-Honda All 14 Michael Bentwood A Dallara F399 Mugen-Honda All 54 John Bender B Dallara F398 Mugen-Honda 3–5, 8–9, 11–16 S.S. Sport 15 Tim Spouge A Dallara F399 Opel Spiess All 16 Doug Bell A Dallara F399 Opel Spiess 1–3 Manor Motorsport 17 Marc Hynes A Dallara F399 Mugen-Honda All 18 Tor Sriachavanon A Dallara F399 Mugen-Honda All Graff Racing 19 Alex Yoong A Dallara F399 Mugen-Honda 9 ASM 20 Sebastien Dumez A Dallara F399 Renault Sodemo 14 21 Tiago Monteiro A Dallara F399 Renault Sodemo 14 22 Julien Beltoise A Dallara F399 Renault Sodemo 14 JB Motorsports 23 Walter Van Der Lent A Dallara F399 Opel Spiess 14 24 Yves Olivier A Dallara F399 Opel Spiess 14 Prema Powerteam 25 Peter Sundberg A Dallara F399 Opel Spiess 14 26 Juan Manuel López A Dallara F399 Opel Spiess 14 27 Giorgio Pantano A Dallara F399 Opel Spiess 14 Opel Team BSR 28 Christijan Albers A Dallara F399 Opel Spiess 14 29 Patrick Friesacher A Dallara F399 Opel Spiess 14 RC Benetton 30 Gabriele Varano A Dallara F399 Opel Spiess 14 Rowan Racing 51 Martin O'Connell B Dallara F398 TOM'S-Toyota 1–7, 10–16 Stephen Shanly 8–9 52 Gavin Jones B TOM'S 037F TOM'S-Toyota 6, 8–9 Charles Hall B Dallara F398 TOM'S-Toyota 13–14 JSR 75 Jeremy Smith B Dallara F398 Opel Spiess 1–8, 10 Diamond Racing 77 Takuma Sato B Dallara F398 Mugen-Honda 9–12, 14–16

Icon Class A Class A B Class B

• Entries 20-30 were regular entrants in other European Formula Three Championships, and only competed at the round at Spa-Francorchamps. They were eligible to score points.

Driver changes

Changed Teams

• Michael Bentwood: Speedsport → Carlin Motorsport
• Warren Carway: Rowan Racing → SpeedSport F3
• Marc Hynes: Promatecme UK → Manor Motorsport
• Tiago Monteiro: Signature Team → ASM Fina
• Peter Sundberg Venturini Racing → Prema Powerteam

Entering/Re-Entering British Formula 3

• Julien Beltoise: Championnat de France Formule Renault & Formula Renault Europe (Mygale) → Fortec Motorsport
• John Bender: British Formula Renault Winter Championship (Manor Motorsport) → Carlin Motorsport
• Jenson Button: British Formula Ford Championship (Haywood Racing) → Promatecme UK
• Doug Bell: British Formula Renault Championship & Formula Renault Europe (Manor Motorsport) → S.S. Sport
• Aluizio Coelho: British Formula Renault Championship (Manor Motorsport) → Promatecme UK
• Matthew Davies: Championnat de France Formule Renault & Formula Renault Europe (Mygale) → ASM Fina
• Nick Eliades: Debut → SpeedSport F3
• Patrick Friesacher: Formula Renault Campus France → Opel Team BSR
• Charles Hall: Sabbatical → Rowan Racing
• Gavin Jones: British Formula Renault Championship (Haywood/Eiger) → Rowan Racing
• Andrew Kirkaldy: Formula Opel Europe → Paul Stewart Racing
• Walter van Lent: Formula Ford Zetec Benelux → JB Motorsport
• Juan Manuel López: Sabbatical → Prema Powerteam
• Yves Olivier: German Formula Three Championship (JB Motorsport) → JB Motorsport
• Giorgio Pantano: Karting → Target Racing
• Toby Scheckter: Formula Opel Europe → SpeedSport F3
• Takuma Sato: All-Japan Formula Three Championship (Dome Project) → Diamond Racing
• Stephen Shanly: Debut → Rowan Racing
• Jeremy Smith: Debut → Jeremy Smith Racing
• Tor Sriachavanon: British Formula Renault Championship (Manor Motorsport) → Manor Motorsport
• Gabriele Varano: Sabbatical → RC Motorsport

Leaving British Formula 3

• Enrique Bernoldi: Promatecme UK → International Formula 3000 (Red Bull Junior/RSM Marko)
• Mark Boost: Speedsport → British Formula Renault Championship (Haywood)
• Sébastien Bourdais: La Filière → French Formula Three Championship (La Filière)
• Ben Collins: Intersport Racing → Indy Lights (Johansson Motorsports)
• David Cook: DC Cook Motorsport → Retirement
• Paula Cook: DC Cook Motorsport → British Touring Car Championship (DC Cook Motorsport)
• Marcel Fässler: La Filière → German Formula Three Championship (Bemani F3 Team)
• Gabriele Gardel: Team Ghinzani → German Formula Three Championship (KMS Benetton Junior Team)
• Mario Haberfeld: Paul Stewart Racing → International Formula 3000 (West Competition)
• Steve Hayr: Tarry Falcon Racing → Retirement
• Warren Hughes: Portman Arrows Racing → MGF Cup
• Mike Kirkham: Speedsport → Retirement
• Darren Manning: Speedsport → All-Japan Formula Three Championship (TOM'S)
• Ricardo Mauricio: Alan Docking Racing → International Formula 3000 (Super Nova Racing)
• Lei Kit Meng: Carlin Motorsport → Sabbatical
• Andrej Pavicevic: Fortec Motorsport → International Formula 3000 (Fortec Motorsport)
• Mikael Santavirta: Alan Docking Racing → Sabbatical
• Philip Scifleet: Rowan Racing → Sabbatical
• Topi Serjala: Portman Arrows Racing → Formula Palmer Audi
• Jamie Spence: Martin Donnelly Racing → Euro Open MoviStar by Nissan (Glückmann Racing)
• Benoît Tréluyer: Signature → French Formula Three Championship (Signature)
• Stephen White: Tarry Falcon Racing → Sabbatical
• Adam Wilcox: TOM'S → Formula Palmer Audi

Results

Round	Circuit	Date	Winning driver Class A	Winning driver Class B
1	Donington Park	21 March	Marc Hynes	Jeremy Smith
2	Silverstone	28 March	Marc Hynes	Martin O'Connell
3	Thruxton	11 April	Jenson Button	Martin O'Connell
4	Brands Hatch	25 April	Luciano Burti	Martin O'Connell
5			Narain Karthikeyan	Martin O'Connell
6	Oulton Park	3 May	Luciano Burti	Martin O'Connell
7	Croft	6 June	Marc Hynes	Martin O'Connell
8	Brands Hatch	20 June	Narain Karthikeyan	John Bender
9*	Silverstone	10 July	Marc Hynes	Takuma Sato
10	Snetterton	25 July	Luciano Burti	Martin O'Connell
11	Pembrey	15 August	Kristian Kolby	Martin O'Connell
12			Jenson Button	Martin O'Connell
13	Donington Park	5 September	Marc Hynes	John Bender
14	Spa-Francorchamps	26 September	Luciano Burti	Takuma Sato
15	Silverstone	10 October	Jenson Button	Takuma Sato
16	Thruxton	17 October	Luciano Burti	Martin O'Connell

• Round 9 was held as part of the British Grand Prix weekend, and was thus held on a Saturday

Standings

Championship Class

Pos Driver DON SIL THR BRH OUL CRO BRH SIL SNE PEM DON SPA SIL THR Pts 1 Marc Hynes 1 1 3 3 6 10 1 4 1 2 6 4 1 2 3 4 213 2 Luciano Burti 3 3 Ret 1 3 1 2 2 3 1 3 8 3 1 DSQ 1 209 3 Jenson Button 2 6 1 8 7 5 Ret 6 2 11 2 1 2 4 1 Ret 168 4 Kristian Kolby 5 2 4 7 13 2 12 7 4 4 1 3 6 3 5 2 153 5 Matt Davies Ret 5 5 Ret 4 3 14 5 6 3 5 2 8 Ret 2 6 113 6 Narain Karthikeyan 4 Ret Ret 2 1 13 3 1 5 7 12 7 Ret 12 6 Ret 104 7 Andrew Kirkaldy 9 7 2 Ret 16 4 11 3 12 Ret 8 11 5 9 7 Ret 64 8 Michael Bentwood 7 Ret 8 6 8 8 7 10 9 Ret 4 5 9 13 15 Ret 50 9 Aluizio Coelho 8 Ret 9 11 10 7 5 8 NS Ret 13 Ret 13 5 4 9 45 10 Tim Spouge 10 Ret 10 13 11 9 4 Ret 8 8 11 6 7 11 Ret 5 42 11 Alex Yoong 6 5 2 6 11 37 12 Toby Scheckter Ret 10 11 9 12 14 Ret 12 7 Ret 10 12 4 10 NS 7 27 13 Doug Bell 6 8 Ret 9 11 10 6 Ret Ret 10 14 22 14 Tor Sriachavanon Ret Ret Ret 12 Ret 18 6 9 14 Ret 7 9 Ret Ret 12 12 17 15 Yudai Igarashi 11 9 NS 10 9 12 8 Ret 13 Ret NS NS Ret 20 10 14 16 Warren Hughes 3 12 17 Warren Carway 12 11 13 Ret Ret 15 Ret Ret 15 9 Ret 13 11 Ret 11 13 7 18 Yves Olivier 6 6 19 Tiago Monteiro 7 4 20 Julien Beltoise 8 3 21 Christijan Albers 25 1 22 Giorgio Pantano 15 0 23 Walter Van Der Lent 16 0 24 Juan Manuel López 17 0 25 Patrick Friesacher 21 0 26 Peter Sundberg 23 0 27 Gabriele Varano 24 0 Sebastien Dumez Ret 0 Pos Driver DON SIL THR BRH OUL CRO BRH SIL SNE PEM DON SPA SIL THR Pts

Colour Result Gold Winner Silver 2nd place Bronze 3rd place Green Points finish Blue Non-points finish Non-classified finish (NC) Purple Retired (Ret) Red Did not qualify (DNQ) Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ) Black Disqualified (DSQ) White Did not start (DNS) Withdrew (WD) Race cancelled (C) Blank Did not participate (DNP) Excluded (EX)

Class B

Pos	Driver	DON	SIL	THR	BRH		OUL	CRO	BRH	SIL	SNE	PEM		DON	SPA	SIL	THR	Pts
1	Martin O'Connell	Ret	4	7	4	5	11	10			5	9	10	Ret	19	9	8	241
2	John Bender			Ret	14	14			13	18		15	14	12	Ret	13	10	140
3	Jeremy Smith	13	12	12	15	15	17	13	16		NS							111
4	Takuma Sato									16	10	14	Ret		18	8	11	103
5	Gavin Jones						16		14	17								45
6	Nick Eliades													14	Ret	14	14	35
7	Stephen Shanly								15	19								22
8	Charles Hall													Ret	22			12
9	John Ingram								Ret	20								8
Pos	Driver	DON	SIL	THR	BRH		OUL	CRO	BRH	SIL	SNE	PEM		DON	SPA	SIL	THR	Pts

• Points System: 20-15-12-10-8-6-4-3-2-1 for first 10 finishers, with 1 point awarded for fastest lap.

References

http://www.motorsport.com/news/series.asp?S=BF3&Y=1999