Jamie Chadwick becomes first woman to win in British F3

By Aug 5, 2018, 4:05 PM EDT
Photo courtesy of BRDC British Formula 3
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British driver Jamie Chadwick became the first woman to win a race in the BRDC British Formula 3 Championship on Sunday, taking the win in the second race of the weekend at the famous Brands Hatch circuit.

The 20-year-old Chadwick actually took the checkered flag in second behind Pavan Ravishankar, but Ravishankar received a penalty for having made a false start when the race began. He never served it during the race, and was handed 10-second time penalty afterward.

The penalty elevated Chadwick, who tailed Ravishankar throughout, to the victory.

“It’s a big weight off my shoulders I think, and something I’ve been chasing for a long time now,” Chadwick said afterward. So to finally get it here at Brands Hatch, which is a good circuit one that I’ve always racing at – to get my first win and get it here is just an amazing feeling.”

Video of her post-race interview is below.

The current version of what is now called BRDC British Formula 3, formerly the BRDC Formula 4 Championship, took over the British F3 moniker in 2016 – the champion that year was Matheus Leist, driver of the No. 4 ABC Supply Chevrolet for A.J. Foyt Racing in the Verizon IndyCar Series.

However, a number of notable drivers have graduated from British F3 championships. Such names include current IndyCar drivers Takuma Sato and Jordan King, and current Formula 1 star Daniel Ricciardo. Other notable British F3 champions include former F1 star Rubens Barrichello, Indianapolis 500 winner Gil de Ferran, two-time Formula 1 world champion Mika Hakkinen, and three-time F1 champions Nelson Piquet and Ayrton Senna.

A full report on the race can be found on the BRDC British F3 website.

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Roger Penske discusses flying tire at Indy 500 with Dallara executives: ‘We’ve got to fix that’

By May 30, 2023, 6:00 PM EDT
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INDIANAPOLIS – Roger Penske spoke with Dallara executives Monday morning about the loose tire that went flying over the Indianapolis Motor Speedway catchfence and into a Turn 2 parking lot.

The left-rear wheel from Kyle Kirkwood’s No. 27 Dallara-Honda was sheared off in a collision at speed as Kirkwood tried to avoid the skidding No. 6 Dallara-Chevrolet of Felix Rosenqvist on Lap 183 of the 107th Indianapolis 500.

No one seriously was hurt in the incident (including Kirkwood, whose car went upside down and slid for several hundred feet), though an Indianapolis woman’s Chevy Cruze was struck by the tire. The Indy Star reported a fan was seen and released from the care center after sustaining minor injuries from flying debris in the crash.

During a photo shoot Monday morning with Indy 500 winner Josef Newgarden at the IMS Yard of Bricks, Penske met with Dallara founder and owner Gian Paolo Dallara and Dallara USA CEO Stefano dePonti. The Italian company has been the exclusive supplier of the current DW12 chassis to the NTT IndyCar series for 11 years.

“The good news is we didn’t have real trouble with that tire going out (of the track),” Penske, who bought Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 2020, told a few reporters shortly afterward. “I saw it hit. When it went out, I saw we were OK. I talked to the Dallara guys today. We’re going to look at that, but I guess the shear (force) from when (Rosenqvist’s) car was sitting, (Kirkwood’s car) went over and just that shear force tore that tether. Because we have tethers on there, and I’ve never seen a wheel come off.

“That to me was probably the scariest thing. We’ve got to fix that. We’ve got to fix that so that doesn’t happen again.”

Asked by NBC Sports if IndyCar would be able to address it before Sunday’s Detroit Grand Prix or before the next oval race at Iowa Speedway, Penske said, “The technical guys should look at it. I think the speed here, a couple of hundred (mph) when you hit it vs. 80 or 90 or whatever it might be, but that was a pinch point on the race.”

In a statement released Monday to WTHR and other media outlets, IndyCar said that it was “in possession of the tire in Sunday’s incident and found that the tether did not fail. This is an isolated incident, and the series is reviewing to make sure it does not happen again. IndyCar takes the safety of the drivers and fans very seriously. We are pleased and thankful that no one was hurt.”

IndyCar provided no further explanation for how the wheel was separated from the car without the tether failing.

IndyCar began mandating wheel suspension tethers using high-performance Zylon material after a flying tire killed three fans at Charlotte Motor Speedway during a May 1, 1999 race. Three fans also were struck and killed by a tire at Michigan International Speedway during a July 26, 1998 race.

The IndyCar tethers can withstand a force of more than 22,000 pounds, and the rear wheel tethers were strengthened before the 2023 season.