Drivers and Teams
Notable drivers who have graduated from Asian F3 include Indonesian A1GP driver Ananda Mikola and 2004 champion, Australian Christian Jones, the son of former world champion Alan Jones. The 2006 champion, Britain's James Winslow, received attention and praise for his dramatic rescue of a competitor who was trapped in his upturned car at Sentul in Indonesia. In acknowledgment, he received a Gregor Grant Award at the annual Autosport Awards ceremony in the UK, and a Bronze Award from the Royal Humane Society.
The series benefits from the involvement of the noted Japanese F3 team, Three Bond Racing, which carried Winslow to the drivers' title in its collaboration with JA Motorsports, and secured the teams' title in the process.
At the end of 2007 the championship became a "winter type series" naming it the AF3 Pacific Series, starting the championship in November 2007 and ending in May 2008. New teams have joined the series during that championship, Drew-Evans Motorsport Group, Team GFH Bahrain,Champ Motorsport and PTRS from Hong Kong along with some good drivers, namely Frederic Vervisch (the 2007-08 champion), Matthew Howson, Rafael Suzuki and Hamad Al Fardan. Ed Pead, Nial Quinn, Arturo Gonzales, Leonardo Valois, David Julien and Peter Kalpakiotis also raced at select rounds.
In the 2007 season Dillon Battisstini managed to beat Henri Karjalainen in the championship. Other notable drivers include Morenon Soerapto, Oliver Turvey, Paul Ip, Don Tacos, Philip Forsman, Walter Grubmuller, Robin Tato, Edwin Jowsey and James Littlejohn.
In 2006, the championship saw the first two lady drivers of the series, namely Gaby dela Merced for Speedtech Asia Team Indonesia and Michele Bumgarner for Team Goddard. The series also saw the return of Roland Hermoso (2001 Formula Toyota champion) in Formula 3 racing driving alongside Gaby in Speedtech Asia Team Indonesia,and a new team was put up by Mandy Borja and Jonh O"Hara naming it Aran Racing.
While in 2005 saw numerous Filipino drivers joined the championship, namely Tyson Sy and JP Carino for Speedtech Asia, Dado Pena for Team Goddard, John Marcelo (brother of Jovy Marcelo) for Christian Jones Motorsports, Pepon Marave for Kinetic F3 Racing, Renan Morales for Fujitsu-Ten Team TOM'S, JP Tuason for Tuason Racing School and Enzo Pastor for Team T.E.C. Pilipnas.
As the series first inaugurated in the early 2000, numerous teams have joined the series, in 2002, Team Vertex of Marchy lee, Paul and Jeffrey Chan, Michael Ho and Johnathan Chan. Christian Jones Motorsports return in 2004 after competing in the last few rounds of the series in 2003, along with Team BRM of Australia. Team Goddard was renamed Minardi Asia Team Goddard after the former F1 team joined the series and collaborated with Mark Goddard's team, while in 2009, the team opted to join the Formula 3 Australia series leaving the Asian Formula 3 which it had won numerous drivers and teams championship.
Read more about this topic: Asian Formula Three Championship
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