25th September 2006

Manor Motorsport enjoyed one of its most successful race meetings of the 2006 Formula 3 Euroseries during the championship’s first ever visit to Spain over the weekend, all three of the team’s drivers finishing on the podium at the Circuit de Catalunya.

The famous venue near Barcelona, home of the Spanish Formula One Grand Prix, hosted rounds 15 and 16 of the season and while very heavy rainfall shortened the first encounter of the weekend on Saturday, Manor’s stars made the most of the conditions with Japanese driver Kohei Hirate finishing an excellent second from fourth on the grid.

Hirate had led the race but lost out to Sebastian Vettel on lap 22 while Argentinean team-mate Esteban Guerrieri secured his first podium result since round six of the season at Oschersleben with a good drive from fifth on the grid. Kazuki Nakajima also enjoyed a great run from the fourth row to follow Guerrieri home in fourth position.

Speaking at the end of the treacherous 15th round of the year, Hirate said: “Halfway through the race the rain suddenly became extremely heavy and Sebastian came closer and closer. Then I aquaplaned under braking, he took his chance and went past. I am a little bit disappointed not to win but I am also happy with second place.”

Guerrieri added: “Finally we’re back on the podium again after such a long time. That is a nice feeling and I am very happy. The conditions were very difficult though, towards the end of the race the rain became so strong that the car was barely driveable.”

Nakajima would be the team’s leading light in round 16, the Toyota Driver Development Programme member enjoying another podium finish to see all three of Manor’s drivers climbing the rostrum in Barcelona over the course of the weekend.

The reverse grid order for the second race saw Nakajima start from fifth with Guerrieri alongside him and Hirate one place further back, heading row four in seventh place.

After making a great start on the damp track, Nakajima was in contention for a podium finish right from the off and eventually crossed the line less in third place less than a second adrift of Charlie Kimball.

Countryman Hirate ended the race fourth, while also setting the fastest lap of the race in the process with a time of 1m 01.876 seconds, and Guerrieri followed his team-mates home in seventh place.

“I started on the outside which might have been an advantage”, said Nakajima at the conclusion of round 16, “There, the track was less damp than on the inside. After the start I tried to overtake Kimball but at the same time I also had to defend from Kohei. I am very happy with result as I have made it on the podium after starting fifth.”

The weekend’s results see Hirate remain third in the championship standings on 49 points with Guerrieri seven points adrift in fourth place and Nakajima now back into the top five with 36 points. Second-placed Manor, meanwhile, has seen its points tally boosted to 119 in the team’s classification.

The next stop on the 2006 Formula 3 Euroseries calendar is the world-famous Le Mans Circuit in France which will host rounds 17 and 18 of the season three weeks from now, 14th/15th October.