Asian Motor Sports

Motorsport Ireland Young Racing Driver of the Year Niall Quinn started his Formula 3 career in fine style with two second place finishes and a fastest lap in Batangas Race Circuit today.

The 19-year-old from Dunboyne steered his Aran Racing run Dallara-TOMS Toyota to second place finishes in rounds five and six of the Asian Formula 3 series having finished fifth in round four the previous day.

Surpassing all expectations Niall quickly came to terms with the increase in power and grip on his single test day before the race weekend began in earnest on Friday, setting times within three tenths of his more experienced rivals.

Belying his lack of pre-event running Niall qualified third for the first of four races on the packed programme of races, just three tenths of a second off the pace set by German F3 championship runner up Frederic Vervisch.

“I was on pole until a few minutes to go until I went slightly the wrong way on set up which I suppose is okay given my lack of experience in the car,” said Niall afterwards.

More gratifying was the fact that he had outqualified former British Formula BMW race winner Matthew Howson and former South American F3 front runner Rafael Suzuki.

Starting third on the grid for his first F3 race on Saturday, Niall was undaunted by the wet conditions and was soon into second but was caught out by the tricky conditions and went off track into a gravel trap from which his car could not be retrieved.

Starting from the back in race two, Niall worked his way into an eventual fifth in the tricky conditions, the position he would start race three from the following day.

Niall made a great getaway and was soon on the tail of Howson disputing fourth position. Pulling out of the Englishman’s slipstream to pass, the two cars touched and Niall performed a dramatic 360 degree spin on the main straight before gathering himself up to resume the chase.

He soon caught Howson again and this time passed without difficulty before turning his attentions to Suzuki. The Brazilian soon fell prey to Quinn’s relentless pace and the young Meathman set his sights on former British Formula 3 racer Formula BMW World finalist Hamad Al Fardan.

His searing pace netted him fastest lap but time ran out before Quinn could mount an overtaking attempt on the Bahrain driver, finishing on the tail of his rival’s Dallara in what would turn out to be second following a penalty applied to first man home, Vervisch.

Quinn started race four from second and he duly finished in that position, completing a fine weekend in the company of top drivers. Afterwards he was delighted with every aspect of his weekend.

“It was a busy weekend but I had good pace and scored podiums and a fastest lap which is great,” said Niall. “I was able to last the pace all weekend as well which was reassuring and I got lots of quality mileage ahead of my debut with the A1 team Ireland squad at Sydney in two weeks time.

“I’m happy with the result. I did what I came out for and I’m looking forward to coming back for the next event,” he added.

After fulfilling his duties for the A1 team Ireland team in Australia, Quinn has a short sojourn in Dublin before heading back to Asia for the next four races in the AF3 series on February 9th/10th