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 Klien
cleans up at Masters
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Austria's Christian Klien took a lights to flag victory at the 2003
Marlboro Masters of Formula 3 race at Zandvoort on Sunday, beating
hot favourite Nelson Piquet and F3 Euroseries title contender Ryan
Briscoe into second and third places on the podium.
Klien had already made the best use of his Kumho ECSTA racing tyres
to pull out a healthy gap between himself and the chasing pack before
the safety car was called out for several laps to allow a damaged
car to be removed. Once back up to racing speed he continued where
he had left off but as the race drew to a close he was being steadily
reeled in by a fast charging Piquet who had reduced the deficit to
some 0.32 seconds by the time the chequered flag fell.
Klien and his team, ADAC Berlin-Brandenburg, were delighted with the
performance of his Kumho tyres and praised their consistency throughout
the race. Like many other drivers, Klien set his fastest time on lap
22. Kumho Fastest Lap award winner Ryan Briscoe demonstrated a similar
ability to save his best until last, recording a rapid 1 minute 35.693
just five laps before the end of the race. His trophy was fittingly
presented by J H Kim, executive vice president of sales and marketing,
together with a cheque for 1,000 Euros.
Before the race there had been much talk amongst the top drivers about
different tyre strategies with Piquet opting to start the race on
worn tyres and Briscoe on a new set. Piquet, however, made a poor
start and Briscoe was unable to capitalise on the advantages of fresh
rubber in the early stages.
Kumho's European motorsport manager, Steve Thompson, was delighted
by the responses of both teams and drivers to this year’s Masters
tyre: "Our tyres were praised by teams from both the F3 Euroseries,
for which Kumho is the Official Tyre Supplier, and the British and
Italian championships.
"We make a batch of tyres specially for the Marlboro Masters
to create a level playing field for all and it is especially gratifying
to receive so much positive feedback from drivers competing in non-Kumho
tyred F3 championships."
Kumho became the Official Tyre Supplier to the Marlboro Masters of
F3 last year under a five-year contract with Zandvoort race circuit.
This year Kumho was chosen to supply the control tyres for the new
F3 Euroseries and is also the Official Tyre Supplier to the international
F3 races at Changwon in Korea and Pau in France.
This year's race was watched by a crowd of at least 55,000 spectators
under ideal warm, sunny weather conditions. The entire race was broadcast
live by RTL and worldwide audience figures of around 800 million can
be expected. |
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