The fourth event of Nordic F3 Masters at Botniaring is cancelled due to reasons beyond Formula 3 Finland’s control. More information on possible replacement will be released later.

Estonian driver Raivo Tamm won the first race on his home ground in Pärnu, Estonia on Saturday morning. The current championship leader Jani Tammi finished second. Risto Tonteri was third despites he ran out of fuel few laps before checkered flag.

In race two on afternoon, Tammi was unbeatable. Tamm was running second when he had a contact with Formula Renault driver, spun of the track and retired. Tonteri finished the race second.

The reigning champion Kimmo Joutvuo, who failed to start in race one due to broken drive shaft, didn’t finish race two either.

Qualifying for the third event of Nordic F3 Masters took place today on the short, fast and bumpy track of Pärnu.

Kimmo Joutvuo took the poleposition in Rolling Rocks Dallara-Mugen. Kimmo clocked the lap of 50.292 s. Jani Tammi (Oakra F3, Dallara-Opel) was second less than two hundreths slower. Local ace Raivo Tamm (T.T. Racing, Dallara-Opel) was third.

The two races take place tomorrow at 10:15 and 15:30 o’clock.

Reigning champion Kimmo Joutvuo got his car ready for second event at Alastaro Circuit. The champ skipped test days too, but was still the fastest in qualifying with a clear margin to the championship leader Jani Tammi.

Joutvuo didn’t, how ever, start from the pole position. Nordic F3 Masters was once again in the same grid with NEZ FR2.0. The starting order was by class so that FR started in front of F3.

First race was on wet track. Joutvuo overtook majority of the Renault field on the first lap. He was running third after just one lap and passed the “overall” race leader on lap 3. Unfortunately his driver shaft broke on the same moment he got the first position and his race was over.

After Joutvuo’s retirement, Jari Koivisto took the lead and won the Nordic F3 Masters race. Jani Tammi was second and Risto Tonteri third. Tonteri, who spun in early stages, had a good race. He managed to catch Tammi and put some good pressure on him, but didn’t manage to pass him. Timo Pitkäniemi, who started his season from Alastaro like Joutvuo, was fourth and Pekka Rinne fifth.

The track was a bit damp and there were slight showers in race two, but it was still clearly a slicks conditions. Joutvuo was again clearly the fastest F3 driver. This time his car worked fine and Kimmo won the race.

Jani Tammi was again second and remained his series lead. Koivisto, currently second in the standings, put some pressure on Tammi but made a mistake and run wide after the main straight. After return to the track he spun on dirty tyres and lost his position to Rinne. Pekka had earlier managed to pass Tonteri, who spun again, and Pitkäniemi, and finished the race third.

In the Las Palmas hairpin Koivisto lost two more positions as Tonteri and Pitkäniemi passed him under brakes.

Jani Tammi leads the Nordic F3 Masters with maximum points prior to round 2 at Alastaro circuit near to Virttaa village in Loimaa this weekend.

Kemora race was disappointing in numbers, but we’ll have a stronger grid at Alastaro. The reigning champion Kimmo Joutvuo, who had to skip the opening round due to technical issues, has got his Dallara-Mugen race ready and will open his season this weekend. There are at least couple of other drivers to join too.

NF3M will join the NEZ FR2.0 in the same grid, just like in Kemora. This means, there’ll be 20 winged formulae racing together. Testing at Alastaro starts Wednesday afternoon, but the first official session is Free Practice in Friday June 11 at 11:30AM. Qualifying takes place at 4PM. The two races, 20min each, are in Saturday at 1:10PM and 4:45PM. There’s no Live timing druing the test days but the link will appear on NordicF3Masters.eu during the race days.

Jani Tammi, Oakra F3

Jani Tammi won the both two Nordic F3 Masters races at Kemora circuit in Veteli and leads the series with maximum points.

Unfortunately several competitors had to skip the first event of the season for various reasons. Because of the small number of participants, Nordic F3 Masters joined NEZ Formula Renault grid at Kemora. Jari Koivisto qualified fastest over all in Friday thunderstorm but to maximise the show, F3 started behind the F Renaults.

In first heat Jani Tammi managed to overtake the majority of FR’s and won the opening round of Nordic F3 Masters by great margin. Pekka Rinne and Risto Tonteri had a nice fight for the second place until Tonteri made a mistake and spun off and retired. Jari Koivisto had engine problems but finished third.

Tammi won the second race also but this time the winning margin was much smaller. Koivisto was finished second and Tonteri third. Rinne did not finnish.

You can follow the first round of 2010 Nordic F3 Masters at Kemora circuit in Veteli live, using the live timing. “Live” link appears also on the top navigation bar of this site when ever the live timing service is in available. Qualifying is today (Fri) at 3,35 pm and the two races take place tomorrow (Sat) at 11.25 am and 4,35 pm. All times are local. Full timetable.

Krohn ja Vähämäki juhlivat Saksassa

Nordic F3 Masters is a proven ladder on route to higher ranks of single seater racing.

The 2008 Finnish champion Mika Vähämäki finished second in German F3 Trophy last year and 2007 vice champion Jesse Krohn raced in German, Italian and Spanish F3 championships in 2009. This year Jesse will compete in Italian F3. Nikolay Martsenko and Marko Vähämäki also made guest appearances in German series during last season.

In 2010, Aki Sandberg, who finished 3rd last year, will also try his changes in German F3. Just like the Vähämäki brothers, who drove ADRF cars in Germany, Sandberg will use the very same car that he already drove last year in our Northern European series. Sandberg Motorsport isn’t the only team heading to the Central Europe after a successful year in Finland; Russian MaxTravin Racing Team will enter two cars for it’s drivers Nikolay Martsenko (4th in 2009) and Maxim Travin (6th).  This season, we’ll see at least three drivers form Nordic F3 Masters competing each other and their new challengers in an international F3 series.

Nordic F3 Masters is an excellent series for new teams and drivers to learn the tricks of F3 machinery in financially reasonable environment. As the example of ADRF and Sandberg Motorsports prove, it is possible to move to highly recognised European series even with the very same cars used at the Nordic series. But Nordic F3 Masters is not just for young guns, there are also several experienced racers in the series. Racing against these “old foxes” give young hot shoes precious experience.

The technical regulations of the Nordic F3 Masters are similar to FIA regulations. There are only just some minor tweaks to make slightly older cars competitive. This makes the series not only an excellent ladder for those teams and drivers reaching up in the single seater world, but also a great series for so called gentleman drivers.

There is a new car for sale on our Buy/Sell page.