Motorsport: Keohane on front row for fourth round of British F3

Tomorrow’s fourth round of the British Formula 3 Championship at Donington Park will feature an all

Carlin Motorsport front row with Clonakilty ace, Michael Keohane joining pole sitter, James Courtney

(Australia).

The two drivers dominated the twenty-minute session at the Derbyshire track. Keohane held top spot for a number of the earlier laps until Courtney, a test driver with the Jaguar F1 outfit, claimed pole when he lapped the circuit in one minute 03.566 seconds.

Keohane only decided to race on Thursday afternoon following a test session - the first since his high speed accident in Brands Hatch where he suffered very severe muscle damage to his back.

Rob Austin and Robbie Kerr, who shares the championship lead with Courtney, are on the second row with another of the Carlin Motorsport drivers, Alan van der Merwe and Scholarship driver, Adam Carroll, from Northern Ireland, on row three. His fellow countryman Matthew Gilmore will begin his race from the tenth row.

Carroll’s performance amongst the Championship cars created quite a stir and having qualified as the top Scholarship driver for both races, it augurs well for his championship aspirations.

Other Irish drivers, Stephen Colbert is second fastest Scholarship driver with Gavin Smith (Meritus Racing) seventh in the category qualifier.

Grid for Round 4:

James Courtney

Michael Keohane

Rob Austin

Robbie Kerr

Alan van Der Merwe

Adam Carroll

Heikki Kovalainen

Fabio Carbone

Bruce Jouanny

Ronnie Bremer

In the Astra Stages Rally in Wales, Jonny Milner, with five fastest times in six stages continues to hold the advantage, his Toyota Corolla WRC is 38 seconds ahead of the Hyundai Accent WRC of Steve Petch.

Roger Duckworth (Subaru) is another four seconds behind. Kenny McKinstry (Subaru) is the top Irish

driver, he’s sixth - one minute and seven seconds off the lead.