2006 Formula Three Euroseries season

The 2006 Formula Three Euroseries season was the fourth championship year of Europe’s premier Formula Three series. As in previous years, there were ten rounds – each with two races – held at a variety of European circuits. Each weekend consisted of one 60-minute practice session and one qualifying session, followed by one c.110km race and one c.80km race. In a revised qualifying system that used only one session, the starting order for race 2 was determined by the finishing order of race 1, with the top eight positions reversed.

Event Schedule

Circuits
Round	Circuit	Country	Date
1	Hockenheim		7-9 April
2	Lausitzring		28-30 April
3	Oschersleben		19-21 May
4	Brands Hatch Indy		30 June-2 July
5	Norisring		21-23 July
6	Nürburgring		18-20 August
7	Zandvoort		1-3 September
8	Circuit de Catalunya		22-24 September
9	Le Mans Bugatti		13-15 October
10	Hockenheim		27-29 October

Summary

2006 saw the Euroseries make its debut at three venues: Brands Hatch in the UK, the Circuit de Catalunya near Barcelona in Spain, and Le Mans. This was the first time that rounds had been held in Britain and Spain.

A number of regulatory changes took place prior to the 2006 season. Mid-season testing was heavily restricted to a maximum of 10 days per driver/car, with no testing at race venues, leaving teams and drivers to make the most of the race weekend test sessions. The qualifying session for race 2 was dropped in favour of a result-based reverse grid system. The finishing order of race 1 decided the grid for race 2, with the top eight finishers reversed. Chassis specifications of between two and four years old (from 2002-2004) were permitted for the first time, with the creation of the Drivers' Trophy title. Eligibility for this award was restricted to drivers who were not more than 22 years old.

After Lewis Hamilton's domination of the 2005 season, the 2006 championship battle was considerably closer. The title was again won by a British driver – Paul di Resta – who ended the year 11 points ahead of Germany's Sebastian Vettel. For much of the season, di Resta and Vettel were exchanging the points lead, but the German's focus wavered towards the end of the year. BMW-Sauber's motorsport director Mario Theissen attributed this to the busy schedule that Vettel undertook as his team's test driver in the last three Grands Prix of the 2006 F1 season. Other drivers worthy of note included Kamui Kobayashi, who finished on the podium twice on the way to winning the Rookie Cup, and race winner Kazuki Nakajima, whose performances attracted a testing contract with Williams.

Not surprisingly, the two main championship contenders were team-mates at ASM Formule 3, the French-based team that has dominated the Euroseries for the last three seasons with three Drivers' and Teams' Championship titles in succession. 2006 saw another improvement in form from Manor Motorsport – a former multiple champion team in British F3. With Japan's Kohei Hirate and the experienced Esteban Guerrieri, it was frequently ASM's closest challenger and finished 2nd in the Teams' Championship standings. This year, Manor was no longer the sole British team in the Euroseries – it was joined by entries from Hitech Racing and Fortec Motorsport at Hockenheim (round 1) and Brands Hatch (round 4).

With only one race win for an Opel-powered car – from a reverse-grid pole position – it was another season of domination by the HWA-built Mercedes engine. Dallara was the de-facto sole supplier of chassis, with the Signature SLC project on indefinite hold and the Mygale chassis still yet to race in this series.

2006 Entry list

Key: ^R = Series rookie. ^DT = Drivers' Trophy class.

#	Driver	Nationality	Team	Chassis	Engine
1	Sebastian Vettel		ASM Formule 3	Dallara F305	Mercedes
2	Paul di Resta		ASM Formule 3	Dallara F305	Mercedes
3	Kohei Hirate		Manor Motorsport	Dallara F305	Mercedes
4	Esteban Guerrieri		Manor Motorsport	Dallara F305	Mercedes
5	Alejandro Nuñez		Prema Powerteam	Dallara F306	Mercedes
6	Ronayne O'MahonyR		Prema Powerteam	Dallara F305	Mercedes
7	Sébastien BuemiR		ASL Mücke Motorsport	Dallara F305	Mercedes
8	Jonathan SummertonR		ASL Mücke Motorsport	Dallara F305	Mercedes
9	Guillaume Moreau		Signature-Plus	Dallara F305	Mercedes
10	Romain GrosjeanR		Signature-Plus	Dallara F305	Mercedes
11	Richard Antinucci		HBR Motorsport	Dallara F305	Mercedes
14	Filip Salaquarda		Team ISR	Dallara F306	Opel
16	Giedo van der Garde		ASM Formule 3	Dallara F305	Mercedes
17	Kamui KobayashiR		ASM Formule 3	Dallara F305	Mercedes
18	Kazuki Nakajima		Manor Motorsport	Dallara F305	Mercedes
19	João UrbanoR		Prema Powerteam	Dallara F306	Mercedes
20	Charlie KimballR		Signature-Plus	Dallara F306	Mercedes
21	Tim SandtlerR		Signature-Plus	Dallara F305	Mercedes
22	Michael HerckR		Bas Leinders JRT	Dallara F306	Mercedes
23	Giacomo Ricci		Bas Leinders JRT	Dallara F305	Mercedes
24	Peter Elkmann		Jo Zeller Racing	Dallara F306	Opel
25	Julia Kuhn		Kuhn Motorsport	Dallara F305	Opel
26	Yelmer BuurmanR		Fortec Motorsport	Dallara F305	Mercedes
29	James JakesR		Hitech Racing	Dallara F306	Mercedes
30	James Walker		Hitech Racing	Dallara F306	Mercedes
40	Anthony JaniecR DT		Janiec Racing Team	Dallara F302	Renault
41	Ahmet Cemil CipaR DT		HBR Motorsport	Dallara F304	Opel
42	Kevin FankR DT		SMS Seyffarth Motorsport	Dallara F304	Mercedes
43	Julian TheobaldR DT		SMS Seyffarth Motorsport	Dallara F304	Mercedes
44	Bruno Rudolf FechnerR DT		SMS Seyffarth Motorsport	Dallara F304	Mercedes
46	Julien AbelliDT		Janiec Racing Team	Dallara F304	Mercedes

Additional participations

Prema Powerteam's third entry was taken over by Italy's Paulo Maria Nocera for four rounds, starting at the Nürburgring. He in turn was replaced by Brazil's Roberto Streit at the final round of the season. Bruno Rudolf Fechner started five races in SMS Seyffarth Motorsport's #44 entry, but was substituted by fellow German Dominik Schraml in round 3 at Oschersleben. The #44 car was not present at every round. Schraml made a one-off return at the Norisring, driving a Dallara-Opel for FS Motorsport. Kevin Fank's #42 SMS Seyffarth Motorsport entry returned at the Norisring in the hands of Gina Maria Adenauer before it, too, failed to make another appearance. Like the drivers that they replaced, Schraml and Adenauer were eligible for the Drivers' Trophy. Julien Abelli, of Janiec Racing, did not make any appearances until the Le Mans round.

In round 5 at the Norisring, F3 rookie Natacha Gachnang of Switzerland drove a second entry for Jo Zeller Racing. She also competed in rounds 6, 9, and 10. In the F3 Masters at Zandvoort, ATS F3 Cup team Van Amersfoort Racing made a one-off appearance with two cars for its Cup regulars, Dominik Muermans and Récardo Bruins Choi.

2006 Championship Results

Key: Results in bold indicate Pole Position

1st place

2nd place

3rd place

Points finish

No score

Did not start

2006 race results and championship standings
	Driver	Round 1		Round 2		Round 3		Round 4		Round 5		Round 6		Round 7		Round 8		Round 9		Round 10		Points
1	Paul Di Resta	3rd	-	2nd	3rd	1st	-	1st	5th	1st	-	2nd	-	1st	-	-	6th	1st	6th	-	6th	86
2	Sebastian Vettel	5th	1st	3rd	6th	5th	-	2nd	-	2nd	-	1st	1st	-	2nd	1st	-	-	-	3rd	-	75
3	Kohei Hirate	1st	4th	-	-	4th	2nd		-	4th	-	5th	-	3rd	-	2nd	4th	5th	3rd	5th	-	61
4	Esteban Guerrieri	-	3rd	1st	5th	2nd	3rd	-	-	-		-	5th	8th	4th	3rd	-	6th	-	1st	4th	58
5	Richard Antinucci	7th	-	5th	2nd	-	-	3rd	-	-		7th	2nd	-	-	8th	1st	8th	1st	-	-	38
6	Giedo van der Garde	-	-	-	-	-	-	4th	-	6th	1st	3rd	-	2nd	5th	-	-	-	-	-	2nd	37
7	Kazuki Nakajima	2nd	6th	8th	1st	6th	5th	-	-	-	5th	-	-	-	3rd	4th	3rd	-	-	-		36
8	Kamui Kobayashi	6th	5th	-	-	-	-	6th	3rd	5th	2nd	8th	3rd	5th	-	5th	-		-	-	-	34
9	Jonathan Summerton	-	-	4th	-	-	-	-	-	3rd	-	-	-	6th	-	-	-	2nd	4th	8th	1st	32
10	Guillaume Moreau	4th	2nd	7th	-	8th	4th	-	-	-	6th	-	-	7th	-	-	-	3rd	5th	4th	-	32
11	Charlie Kimball	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	4th	-	6th	-	1st	6th	2nd	4th	2nd	6th	-	31
12	Sébastien Buemi	-	-	-	-	7th	1st	-	-	7th	-	4th	-	-	-	7th	5th	-	-	2nd	3rd	31
13	Romain Grosjean	-	-	6th	4th	3rd	6th	-	6th	-	-	-	-	4th	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	19
14	Peter Elkmann	-	-	-	-	-	-	8th	1st	-	3rd	-	4th	-	-							14
15	Michael Herck	-	-	-	-	-	-	7th	2nd	-	-	6th	-	-	-	-	-	7th	-	-	-	12
16	James Jakes	-	-					5th	4th													7
17	Roberto Streit																			7th	5th	4
18	Tim Sandtler	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	6th	-	-	-	-	-	-	1
19	João Urbano	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	8th	-											1
20	Yelmer Buurman	8th	-					-	-													1

The effects of the new reverse-grid system – which put the 8th-placed finisher from race 1 on pole for race 2 – can be seen clearly in this chart. 50% of the race 2 pole sitters went on to win, while there was only one double winner (Vettel in round 6) and no other race 1 winner even reached the podium in race 2.

Teams' Championship
	Team		Points
1		ASM Formule 3	197
2		Manor Motorsport	147
3		Signature-Plus	91
4		ASL Mücke Motorsport	69
5		HBR Motorsport	42
6		Jo Zeller Racing	18
7		Bas Leinders JRT	16
8		Hitech Racing	11
9		Prema Powerteam	7
10		Fortec Motorsport	2

Rookie Cup2
	Driver	Team	Points
1	K. Kobayashi	ASM Formule 3	119
2	J. Summerton	ASL Mücke Motorsport	107
3	T. Sandtler	Signature-Plus	104
4	J. Urbano	Prema Powerteam	53

Drivers' Trophy (class)1
	Driver	Points
1	Julian Theobald	73
2	Anthony Janiec	67
3	Ahmet Cemal Cipa	65
4	Bruno Rudolf Fechner	25
5	Gina Maria Adenauer	14
6	Dominik Schraml	10
7	Kevin Fank	6

¹ The Drivers' Trophy is restricted to drivers who are not more than 22 years old, using chassis specifications that are 2 to 4 years old.
² Rookie drivers are only eligible for the Rookie Cup title if they have not previously competed in a national or international Formula 3 championship.

See also

• Formula Three
• Formula racing

Sources

• Forix.autosport.com
• Formel3guide.com (German language)
• Speedsport Magazine

References