Formula 3 news round-up
Brazilian hotshot Pizzonia will leave Snetterton this Sunday as the British Formula 3 Champion if he wins the 12th round of the 14-round championship with arch rival Tomas Scheckter finishing third or lower.
The Brazilian has won four rounds with his Manor Motorsport Dallara compared to Scheckter's two wins for Stewart Racing. However, Scheckter was faster when the teams tested at the Norfolk circuit last week, with Pizzonia third fastest behind RC Motorsport's Nicolas Kiesa.
Pizzonia's task could be made easier as there is an outside chance that Scheckter may miss the race, having injured an arm when he crashed during the formation laps for last Saturday's Formula 3000 race at Spa-Francorchamps.
Alain Menu could return to Formula 3 in 2001 after a 12-year interval. This won't be as a driver, but as a team owner. The Swiss touring car ace is looking to move his team up from Formula Ford to the British F3 series, entering a pair of Mugen-powered Dallaras. The enterprise will be run by Mike Bake who, incidentally, ran Alain in F3 under the Racefax banner back in 1989.
Menu is up for the graduation, telling Autosport: "We did F3 before and struggled with a low budget. It's somehting that we're looking at, but there's nothing definite yet."
Baker is also excited by the prospect: "The new double-header format looks interesting. It would be a step in the right direction and would mean that we have a team in the TOCA package [Formula Ford] and one in Power Tour [F3]."
Dominant Formula Renault champion Kimi Raikkonen is expected to move up Manor Motorsport's ladder and head the team's expanded three-car attack on next year's British Formula 3 Championship.
Managed by former Indy Lights star Steve Robertson out of the same management stable as F1 ace Jenson Button, the Finn is seen as the key signing by Manor boss John Booth, with other possible signings expected to fall into place after Raikkonen's destiny is known. Formula Ford frontrunner Mark Taylor and American Formula Renault racer Jeffrey Jones are also in contact with the team.
Raikkonen clinched the British Formula Renault title at Brands Hatch on Monday when he scored his seventh win from 10 starts to put himself out of the reach of nearest rival Ryan Dalziel.
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