Media Release - For Immediate Release, July 23


PAIR OF F3 TOP 3 STARTS FOR PROTECNICA RACING IN SYDNEY

Protecnica Racing’s Chris Alajajian has secured a pair of top three starting positions for round five of the 2005 Kumho Tyres Australian Formula 3 Championship for the CAMS Gold Star at Sydney’s Eastern Creek International Raceway.

After losing some valuable running time on Friday with a mechanical problem, Protecnica Racing was looking to today’s qualifying sessions as another chance to make strides with the car.

In the first qualifying session, Alajajian recorded a time of 1:24.2037, almost two seconds faster than the time he set in Friday’s practice sessions.

It was four tenths of a second shy of the benchmark set by championship leader Aaron Caratti, but it was enough to claim a front row starting position for the opening race.

“Obviously, if you can’t get pole position, second is the next best thing,” said Alajajian. “The car was better in that session, so the changes we are making with the car have been good.

“We could have gone a little bit quicker, but I had a bit of a problem which meant I couldn’t flat shift while going up the gearbox.”

The second session saw the team continue its search for the optimum Formula 3 car setup. It was to remain elusive, with a lack of front grip thwarting Alajajian’s efforts, throughout the 20 minutes.

He was edged off the front row of the grid by Michael Trimble by under a tenth of a second, and relegated to third on the grid however Alajajian remains upbeat about what lies ahead on race day.

“Starting from second and third on the grid in the two races is a positive start,” said the 18 year old Sydneysider. “We have improved the car a lot all weekend and we didn’t really get a chance to see exactly how fast it was in the first session and it wasn’t quite right in the second qualifying session.

“But, tomorrow is another day, we are all still learning, and we are a lot closer to where we need to be now than we were this time in the Queensland round.”

The first of two races this weekend kicks off at 11:45am tomorrow, with the second – the 100th Formula 3 race in Australia – due to start at 3:00pm. In the series’ 98 race history to date, Alajajian is one of 18 drivers to have taken a race win.

Protecnica Racing thanks the ongoing support of Jack Hillermans Smash, Elf Oil, Scuderia Veloce Motors, Nudie, Workflow Systems, Bilstein, Moody Kiddell & Partners, Heasman Steering, Disc Brakes Australia, Hawk Performance, Monza Mens Boutique, H & R Springs and APT Signs.

For more about Chris Alajajian, check out www.TheChris.com.au

Eastern Creek Qualifying 1 Top 6;
1 Aaron Caratti - 1:23.8408
2 Chris Alajajian - 1:24.2037
3 Michael Trimble - 1:24.2204
4 Chris Gilmour - 1:25.4439
5 Matt Sofi - 1:25.8483
6 Stephen Borness - 1:28.2909

Eastern Creek Qualifying 2 Top 6;
1 Aaron Caratti - 1:24.5034
2 Michael Trimble - 1:25.1365
3 Chris Alajajian - 1:25.2028
4 Chris Gilmour - 1:26.2118
5 Matt Sofi - 1:27.3292
6 Stephen Borness - 1:27.7040