9th April 2006

Manor Motorsport took a strong early lead in the 2006 Formula 3 Euroseries standings at the weekend after seeing Japanese sensation Kohei Hirate make the perfect start to his championship challenge with victory in the first race of the season at Hockenheim.

Not only did the 20-year-old, a member of the prestigious Toyota Driver Development Programme, go on to take a seven point lead in the driver standings after a fourth place finish in Sunday’s second round, Manor was also boosted by two terrific performances from its other drivers, Kazuki Nakajima and Esteban Guerrieri.

All in all, it proved to be as close to a dream start as the Dinnington team could have wished for and the British outfit is now looking forward to the next round of the season at the Lausitz EuroSpeedway in three week’s time.

Hirate started the Hockenheim weekend in great style after outpacing Argentinean team-mate Guerrieri during Friday’s free practice with Nakajima, himself a part of the Toyota programme, fourth fastest – only a 10th of a second adrift of his Japanese countryman.

In qualifying, it would be Guerrieri who seized the advantage after snatching his first ever F3 Euroseries pole position with a time of 1m 33.651 seconds, a mere two 100ths of a second ahead of Hirate after an faultless final flying lap at the German venue; Nakajima would begin the opening race of the year fourth on the grid.

A startline incident necessitated the intervention of the safety car almost immediately during round one and Manor’s dreams looked close to being shattered when Guerrieri hit the back of team-mate Hirate’s car at the race re-start. Unfortunately, the accident would cause the Argentinean to drop down the field and he would cross the line in 14th position.

For Hirate though, the minor damage to one of his rear tyres didn’t cause any major problems and he went on to win the opening round – the first ever victory for a Japanese driver in the prestigious F3 Euroseries – by 2.4 seconds from Nakajima; the 21-year-old pouncing for second position when rival Giedo van der Garde spun off on lap 13.

Speaking after his win on Saturday, Hirate said: “I’m very happy to have won my first race in the F3 Euroseries, it’s fantastic the team has made such a strong start to the season. We knew we would be competitive but to lead the driver championship is a special feeling and I hope we will be as quick at the next round.”

Nakajima, celebrating a superb podium in his European race debut, commented: “I am overjoyed. Finishing second in my first ever race in Europe is just great. After the re-start Esteban dropped back and then Giedo (van der Garde) was in front of me and I just waited for him to make a mistake.”

In Sunday’s second round, the most impressive performance from a Manor driver came with a stunning drive to the podium by Guerrieri – even though the 21-year-old from Beunos Aires began the race a distant 14th on the grid. Team-mates Nakajima and Hirate started on the fourth row.

Guerrieri’s superb pace during round two was such, he crossed the line at the end of the race less than a second behind winner Sebastian Vettel and only half a second adrift of second-placed Guillaime Moreau. Hirate, meanwhile, finished an impressive fourth and Nakajima didn’t disgrace himself at all with sixth position.

“My strategy was to overtake as many cars as possible at the start and then make it through the first couple of laps before seeing how far I could go up the front”, said Guerrieri after the race, “That worked out quite well, I am very happy with third place.”

Manor Motorsport’s team boss, John Booth, was delighted to begin the new season with such an impressive performance from his all-new driver line-up and although it will be a long championship battle, he’s confident after such a great start to 2006.

Booth said: “All three of our drivers did the team proud this weekend, I don’t think we could have wished for a better start to the championship really. We’ve been quick during testing and when we topped the times in free practice I felt very confident we could fight at the front.

“Kohei’s win was superb, he made history by being the first Japanese driver to take a race victory in the F3 Euroseries, and both Kazuki and Esteban produced some great performances this weekend. I’m proud of them all and to be leading both the driver and team standings is a dream start. I’m absolutely delighted.”

Round two of the Formula 3 Euroseries will take place at the Lausitz EuroSpeedway in Germany three weeks from now on Saturday, 29th April, and Sunday, 30th April.