The first Australian Formula 3 National Championship was held in 1999, and witnessed the start of a dominating run in the category by Melbournian Paul Stephenson.

Driving a F396 Dallara, Stephenson crushed the field taking the championship out with 230 points, a massive 84 markers ahead of second-placed Chas Jacobson. Peter Rees rounded out the top three in the championship. Stephenson’s winning margin is still the largest ever winning margin by an Australian F3 champion.

Photo : Paul Stephenson in action at Winton Motor Raceway, 1999.

The year 2000 was yet another rout from Stephenson, but it was a season that would prove the promise the category had on Australian shores. The series was won with 195 points, a young gun from Sydney called Peter Hackett proving he was a star of the future in second 64 points behind the series’ winner.

Behind Hackett – who drove for both Team BRM And Piccola Scuderia in ’00 – it was close, Chas Jacobson (104), Darren Palmer (103) and James Manderson (102) tightly bunched in a close battle for the minor championship positions.

2001 would see a changing of the guard, Hackett and Palmer close for a majority of the year before Pete gave Piccola their first championship title driving a 398-model Dallara. Palmer gave Team BRM their best season result with second, whilst a Kiwi driver named Daynom Templeman became one of the first international drivers to try his hand at the series’, finishing fourth.

A record five different race winners took a turn on top of the podium in 2002, James Manderson (Team BRM) and a hotshot youngster called Will Power (Cooltemp Racing) shared the race wins with six apiece but Manderson won the series, giving BRM their first title in the debut of the new 01-dallara chassis.

Above Photo : Peter Hackett (Piccola Scuderia F398)
at Oran Park in his championship season.
Power was, however, stunning, and finished second in the series despite missing the opening two rounds (Four races) of the championship. Darren Palmer was third, whilst Kiwi driver James Cressey impressed in his rookie season with Piccola.

A record nine drivers stood on the podium in 2002, the series reaching a new level thanks to better TV and showings at big events like the Gold Coast Indy event, which hosted the final round of the championship.

2003, however, would be bigger and better again. Thanks to network TV coverage and rising levels of competition in the ranks big fields and great racing were produced all season long, culminating in the closest championship battle in the series’ history.

All season long rookies Michael Caruso and Barton Mawer battled. And all season long the pair were hardly separated by a handful of points, meaning that the series went down to the final round at Wakefield Park in Goulburn.

History will record that Michael Caruso won the day, taking the championship by just two points (233 – 231) ahead of Mawer after a classic battle.

Caruso won seven races ahead of Mawer’s four, whilst James Cressey was a factor in the championship and won five races, but was let down by unreliability.

Photo : Mick Caruso celebrates the hardest - fought Australian F3 title ever after winning the championship at Wakefield Park

2004 might not have had the big fields of the year before, but it still produced an epic championship battle and some frantic racing.

After making his debut the year before, West Aussie driver Karl Reindler was the eventual champion after eight very competitive rounds, a year long arm wrestle with (Early on) Ian Dyk and (Later) Chris Gilmour saw Reindler win in a final race showdown with 238 points to Gilmour’s 235, the second closest winning margin in series history.

Five drivers won races in ’04, notable moments including a first off win from Tim Slade at Mallala, a three from three winning display from soon to be Champ Car driver Marcus Marshall at Indy, and the debut of aggressive production car driver Chris Alajajian. The year would also be notable for the consistent improvement throughout the year from Aaron Caratti, who seemed to be building to something better in 2005.

Above Photo: Karl Reindler en route to the '04 title at Indy
And as well all know so well by now, Caratti did build to something big – winning the ’05 series after crushing everyone in the middle of the series.

Once again, five different drivers won races throughout the season – including four from the first four races.

But it was a mid-season stretch of eight wins from ten races that gave Caratti the championship with a record 242 points. A late season flourish from Michael Trimble saw him second, whilst Alajajian and Gilmour were next.

Notable’s included debuts from Leanne Tander (nee Ferrier) and Lauren Gray, the series’ debut at both the Australian Formula 1 Grand Prix and the A1 Grand Prix of Nations, and the first time that drivers could compete for the prestigious CAMS Gold Star award.

2006 will go down as a watershed year for the category, with international representation and a plethora of massive storylines.

Ben Clucas (Photo, Left) won the championship, winning 11 of the first 12 races at a canter in a crushing performance. Ben would go on to be the first ever British winner of the Australian Drivers Championship and the Australian Formula 3 Championship.

Standout performances also came from Michael Trimble, who finished third in the championship, as well as Tim Macrow, who put in a late season run of wins to leap into second in the championship.

Leanne Tander, Stuart Kostera, Chris Gilmour and Chris Alajajian all featured in the results which – despite the Clucas domination on the stats sheet – was an ultra – competitive season.

 

2007 Marked a truly remarkable year for the Australian Formula 3 Championship. Eight drivers won races. Eleven stood on the podium - from four different countries - and the championship came down to a three way fight in the final round with the title dramatically being won in the final race of the season.

Tim Macrow beat home Leanne Tander and Charlie Hollings in a thrilling showdown at Oran Park after the most amazing year of Formula 3 on record.

highlights included Leanne Tander's heroic and historic first ever win at Phillip Island earlier in the year - coupled with another later in the season where she passed two cars within the final two laps to win.

Macrow's consistency and the amazing raw speed of Hollings - and British stablemate James Winslow - featured all year long - Charlie's dominating Oran Park win earlier in the year the most commanding of the season.

Other highlights included the inugural Formula 3 SuperPrix in Tasmania, won superbly by Barton Mawer, as well as the start of a new relationship with Opes Prime that would lift the stakes higher in years to come.

Can 2008 be better? it'd want to be a mighty year if its going to be..