Moreno first in Asian F3 Pacific class Melbourne race one - Mar 15 07

Moreno Soeprapto finished first in the AF3 Pacific Class in a dramatic Australian F3 support race at the Melbourne F1 GP event. Dillon Battistini was second in class with Edwin Jowsey third. Philip Forsman was fourth with Paul Ip fifth and second in the Promotions Class behind Battistini. Ex- Asian F3 racer, Charlie Hollings won the race overall from Tim Macrow and Marco Mapelli.

Pole man Karl Reindler lost out at the start to another ex-AF3 runner, Walter Grubmuller, but the later ran wide at the first turn allowing Reindler to take the lead. Henri Karjalainen made a storming start to fourth place with his Team Goddard team mate, Moreno, in sixth as the end of the first lap. However the safety car came out whilst a beached car was removed and at the re-start Hollings got a tow from Karjalainen and dived up the inside of the Finn into the first turn. Hollings front wheel made contact with the side pod of his rival pitching Karjalainen into an aerobatic spin and dumping him in the gravel.

A fine sunny day had turned into drizzle just as the safety car came out and Walter Grubmuller spun down the field to ninth place, fastest race lap his only consolation. James Winslow had run off the track early in the race and dropped down the field but a fight back drive saw him just miss out on third place at the flag, Marco Mapelli holding him at bay. Hollings took over the lead when Reindler was forced to take a drive through penalty presumably for jump start.

Moreno had lost three places at the restart and found himself behind Dillon Battistini. "I wanted to finish first in the AF3 class so I took it easy then pushed for the final couple of laps" reported Moreno. Gearbox problems for Battistini made it easy for the Indonesian to take the lead. Edwin Jowsey finished third for Aran Racing with his team mate, Philip Forsman fourth with an engine that lost power during the race. Dado Pena had looked like he would be third but a spin into the wall at the last turn out paid to his hopes. "I collided with Dillon at the start and it must have bent the suspension" reported a disappointed Pena. Paul Ip was happy with second in the Promotions Class.

The second of four races over the event will take place tomorrow, Friday, and will be particularly interesting for Karjalainen and Pena who will start 29th and 28th respectively.