Title battle moves to Brands

Stewart Racing's Luciano Burti and Manor Motorsport's Marc Hynes are equal on points as they lead the way to Brands Hatch for round eight this weekend.

The race takes place on the fabulous 2.6 mile Grand Prix track, and could be one of the last chances the drivers get to race on the circuit before the new layout is constructed ready for the return of the British Grand Prix in 2002.

When the championship came to Brands in April, Burti took a victory in the first race, but everyone looked second best - compared with the spectacular Indian Narain Karthikeyan in race two.

His car control is second-to-none, and although he still makes the occasional mistake, the man from Madras is likely to be at the front this weekend.

The British newcomers haven't yet made the impact they would like. Although Jenson Button won at Thruxton, his poor starts have cost him a lot of points this year.

The Promatecme driver has been practising his lightning getaways since the last race and we could see the fruits of this labour at Brands.

Andrew Kirkaldy and Matt Davies are taking a little longer to settle in to the formula, but both have climbed the podium already.

Another man needing to make progress is Kristian Kolby, who is beginning to fall out of title contention.

Amazingly, the Dane has yet to win his first F3 race, and will be desperate to do so this weekend.

Others in a similar predicament are Toby Scheckter, Doug Bell and Martin O'Connell, all of whom expected more from this season.