Asaro Scores Season-High Finishes at Rockingham

Canadian Racer Looking for Late-Season Rally

August 5, 2003 (Toronto, Canada): Billy Asaro scored two impressive top-ten finishes in the British Formula 3 Championship, Sunday, as the series held a pair of races at Rockingham International Raceway in Northamptonshire, England. The seventh and eighth-place finishes represent the 21-year-old Canadian’s best results since moving up to the super-competitive Formula 3 Championship Class this year.

The finishes are even more impressive considering they were both achieved against the odds. The eighth-place came as Asaro brought home a car with a deflating tire, while the seventh-place finish came in spite of being punted off the track late in the race.

Qualifying sessions for Sunday’s races were held on Saturday and Asaro ran well, ranking 13th and 10th in class.

When the first race was given the green, Asaro rocketed away gaining several places as the pack rushed toward the first corner. The first lap went into the record books with Asaro’s #27 shown seventh. Sadly, a deflating tire began to upset the handling of his car and on the fifth lap he dropped back to eighth. He hung on as best he could for the rest of the fifteen-lap run and, incredibly, did not lose another position.

“That was tough,” said Asaro. “The handling slowly got worse as my tire lost air. I was lucky that the race went without any cautions and only lasted about twenty minutes. If we had gone longer, I would have had a flat.”

In the second race, Asaro made another great start, this time capturing two places to sit eighth on the opening lap. Four laps later he was up to seventh and on lap nine of the eighteen-lap sprint he was sixth.

A full-course caution saw the field line up behind the safety car on lap ten with racing resuming three laps later. Unfortunately, Asaro was knocked off the track on the restart, losing two places. He recovered quickly and was soon back in the battle. He finished seventh in class.

“I’m happy with the results from this weekend,” Asaro said of the Rockingham races. “The P1 team is constantly working to make the car faster. We’re improving all the time and we’re creeping up on the top teams. I hope to be fighting with the top cars very soon.”

There are just four events (eight races) left in the 2003 British Formula 3 season. Next on the schedule is Truxton Aug 16-17.