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James Jakes Confident in 55th Macau Gp despite shunt

James Jakes is confident that he can still fight for victory in this weekend's Macau Grand Prix, despite a heavy crash cutting short his first qualifying session today.

He was fifth quickest in morning practice and was lying third 15 minutes into qualifying this afternoon when he lost control of his ART car exiting Curva R and spun into the barrier.

"It's a shame because it was going really well," said Jakes. "I was pushing quite hard because I wanted to get a reference for the new tyres ahead of tomorrow, but it just got away mid corner.

"As soon as I felt it slide I knew it was going to be a crash. But it was ok, the damage wasn't too bad and it should be all fixed by tomorrow morning."

Jakes still finished the session in tenth place, despite sitting out the last half hour when the circuit was at its quickest.

"I'm quite positive because I know there pace is there," he added. "I wasn't pushing that hard in the morning and we were fifth, and I was P1 for a while this afternoon.

"Obviously it would have been better without the crash and the missed track time, but it shouldn't be too much of a problem. We've just got to come back tomorrow and get it right. We came here to win."

F3 Euroseries race 1 report

James Jakes' difficult weekend at Hockenheim continued on Saturday as contact with several of his rivals left him struggling with a damaged car in the first race.

The British driver had been optimistic of a points finish after qualifying inside the top 10, but his hopes were dented at the very start as Koudai Tsukakoshi made contact with him.

James then suffered further hits from other drivers throughout the opening lap, which meant he had to complete the rest of the race with damaged suspension, and he had to fight hard to eventually finish 11th.

"I don't know what was going on out there, people just kept driving into me," said James. I was hit five times early on, and the car was so hard to drive after that.

"Even when I gave other guys room they still found a way to drive into me. It just summed up the kind of season we've had really.

"For tomorrow's race, we've just got to go out there and see what we can do. There's talk of rain, which would obviously open things up for us, but we've just got to go for it and see what happens."

Season Finale : Hockenheim Qualifying report

James Jakes had a difficult start to his final F3 Euro Series weekend of the season at Hockenheim on Friday, as the British driver was disappointed despite qualifying in the top 10.

James had high hopes for the session, but a broken damper caused him problems during the session, and he had to battle on to eventually get his car up to ninth on the grid.

"I don't really know where we could have ended up without the problems," James said afterwards. "Considering that, to be inside the top 10 is a pretty good effort, but I'm still disappointed."

The result does at least offer James a good chance of finishing his season with some points, and the possibility of getting himself in contention for Sunday's race 2 thanks to the reverse grid rule.

"We'll have to see what we can do," he added. "It's frustrating really because we've had more bad luck, and it seems like things like this keep holding us back."

Watch James LIVE!!!

This weekend James Jakes is taking a break from the Euroseries and stepping up to race in the GP2 Asia Series.

James is hoping a series of good results can lead to him securing a seat in next years GP2 Championships.

The race is being broadcast LIVE on Eurosport from Shanghai, China at 9.00am Saturday 18th October.

Last years Inaugural GP2 Asia series saw the likes of Romain Grosjean, Bruno Senna, Kamui Kobayashi and Ben Hanley make a name for themselves, and this year is James' chance.

Competing for Super Nova Racing, James has been given a real opportunity as GP2 is the official feeder series into Formula 1, James' ultimate goal.

Super Nova is one of the most successful teams in international motor sport. Founded in 1991 by Nozumo Saruhashi and David Sears, the team has contested the principle Formula One feeder series ever since, first in Formula 3000 and laterly in GP2 � both in Europe and Asia. Before the demise of Formula 3000 at the end of 2004, Super Nova won the Championship a record four times, and set just about every other record in the series along the way, with more poles, more podiums and more wins than any other team in the Championship�s 20-year history.

Formula 3000, and now GP2, was always seen as the penultimate step on the motor sport ladder, and in this respect, again, Super Nova excelled, with 16 of its drivers making the final step to the very top of the sport, again more than any other team. Many Super Nova drivers have gone on to race not only in Formula One, but also at the highest level in America (sometimes both), and Super Nova Racing still maintains excellent relations with many of the top Formula One, IRL and Champ Car teams.

The series is to be run over six events, all of which take place throughout continental Asia.

Shanghai, China 17/10/2008 - 19/10/2008
Dubai Autodrome, United Arab Emirates 05/12/2008 - 07/12/2008
Sakhir, Bahrain 23/01/2009 - 25/01/2009
Dubai Autodrome, United Arab Emirates 27/02/2009 - 01/03/2009
Sepang, Malaysia 03/04/2009 - 04/04/2009
Sakhir, Bahrain 17/04/2009 - 19/04/2009

James Jakes race 1 report Le Mans

James Jakes came away from Le Mans having salvaged a top five finish from a difficult weekend after two fighting drives in France.

After a tough qualifying session that left him scratching his head, James made steady progress in the first race of the weekend, and then came through a chaotic second race to get into the points.

Only half points were awarded due to a long red flag in the middle of the race, but James can at least add one more to his tally for this season thanks to the fifth-place finish.

"I haven't really enjoyed this weekend, but it's good to get something out of it considering how it started in qualifying," said James.

"In the first race, there was only so much I could do from starting that far back. In the end it was just too hard to pass any more people in the dry.

"But the second race was much better. We were a little bit stronger in the wet but not much, I just was able to get past people, and stay out of trouble at the same time.

"It's nice to get another point on the board, but when I look at how close the championship battle for second is, it's frustrating because if a couple of races had gone out way we'd be really close to that fight. That just sums up our year really."

Qualifying report from Le Mans

James Jakes will start Saturday's F3 Euro Series further down the grid than he is used to after a difficult qualifying session at Le Mans.

The 21-year-old struggled with the handling of his car for most of the session, but he was on a much better lap when he went off in the dying minutes, ending his day in the gravel trap at the final corner.

"We just struggled for grip all round," said James after the session. "It's so cold here, and that's really turned the field on its head. I was going to improve at the end there, but I just braked too late and couldn't get it back.

"It's strange because we were looking ok in practice. The session was wet, but it was drying out by the end, and we were pretty quick. I think the temperature has played a part in our performance â�� it's so cold here.

"I've just got to go out in the race and have some fun now. There are some heavy braking zones, so overtaking might be possible, we'll just have to see."

James' difficult session leaves him down in 24th on the grid for the first race of the weekend on Saturday.

James Jakes at F3 Euroseries Event in Barcelona - Race report 2

James Jakes salvaged more points from the second F3 Euroseries race despite a heavily damaged car on Sunday.

The British driver was involved in a first lap collision with Dani Clos, but he kept his car on the road, and managed to keep up with the leaders despite a visibly damaged rear wing that was affecting his handling.

James kept out of further trouble to bring his ART Dallara-Mercedes home in fourth place, adding to the fifth place he scored in Saturday's event.

"That was hard work," he said afterwards. "We were lucky that the damage wasn't worse, but the angle of the rear wing after the accident meant I had too much downforce on the straights.

"Considering the damage our pace was ok in the end. It's good to get some more points on the board, because we've had so much bad luck this year, so to get points from two races in a weekend is good to achieve.

"Now we can take this performance, and try to move this on for the final races. For me now, it's just about taking it one race at a time, and trying to put together a whole weekend where everything goes well."

F3 Euroseries Race report 1 Barcelona

James Jakes put in a charging performance to take a top five finish in the first F3 Euroseries race of the weekend at Barcelona.

The British driver made his way up from 11th on the grid to score points on Saturday, and put himself in contention for a race victory in Sunday's reverse grid race.

"I'm pretty happy because we've got a chance of winning the second race," said James. "My aim was to get into the top eight, and we did that.

"I had a mega start, I was already passing people before we got to the first corner. After that the car wasn't bad. I struggled a bit as the tyres went off, but it was a good result.

"We've not been that quick all weekend, but we've been improving the car. I struggled to get the best out of it in qualifying, but we'll be in good shape tomorrow."

James will start the second race from the second row of the grid in his ART Dallara-Mercedes.

Race Report 2 - Brands Hatch Round 7 Formula 3 Euroseries

James Jakes came away from his home race in the F3 Euro Series disappointed to miss out on valuable championship points.

The British driver, who had qualified in the top five, was set for a fifth place finish in race one before he was taken out by his team-mate. That relegated him to the back of the field to race two, while he would have been in contention for a podium in race two due to the reverse grid rule had he made the top five.

"It's disappointing because it's another weekend where we were in good shape," said James. "We clearly had the pace â�� we were challenging at the front in the first race â�� so we would have definitely been in the hunt for a podium in the second one.

"I made up a few places at the start of the second race, but after that it was difficult to do any more at this track because overtaking is so hard."

James will now turn his attention to the next round of the series at Barcelona, where he will be looking to turn his season around.

"I'm looking forward to Barcelona, I like the track and we were quick there last year," he said. "I just hope that we can get the results that our pace deserves though, because we've had so many weekends where we've had front-running pace and something has gone wrong."

James Jakes Race 1 Report for the F3 Euro Series Round 7 - Brands Hatch

James Jakes was robbed of a fighting fifth place in Saturday's F3 Euro Series race at Brands Hatch after he was taken out by his team-mate in the closing stages.

James had fought hard to maintain his position throughout the 58-lap race, as his car had sustained slight damage after a first lap collision with Sam Bird.

He had closed up on those ahead of him after learning how to drive around his problems though, and was challenging former championship leader Edoardo Mortara for fourth when Jules Bianchi crashed into the side of him at Druids.

"It's really frustrating, because Jules is a good driver but he just didn't use his head," said James. "We all know how hard it is to overtake here, so I don't know what he was thinking.

"I had made a good start, it was a shame that we collided with Sam at the start, and after that it took me a few laps to get used to the car. Then I was just saving my tyres for later in the race, and we were looking really good towards the end.

"I was happy to be fifth, it would have put us in good shape for the second race, but now we're going to have a really hard time. Even if it rains tomorrow, I'm not sure what we can achieve."

James Jakes F3 Euroseries Qualifying - Round 7 Brands Hatch

James Jakes secured a top-five grid position during qualifying for the first of his two races on home soil at Brands Hatch this weekend.

The British driver was pleased to put himself in contention for a solid weekend, but he was also disappointed that he was unable to repeat his pole position effort from the same race last year.

"On the positive side we're back up the front, so the plan is obviously to come away with two points finishes," said James. "I think a podium is possible if we can make a good start in the race, because we have a good car here.

"Obviously I'm not entirely happy though, because I really believe we could have been on pole here, and I'm disappointed that I didn't manage it. It's frustrating, because I came here with high hopes."

James also hasn't given up on climbing the championship table in the final rounds of the series.

"Third place certainly isn't out of reach, so I'm aiming for a strong finish to the season," he added. "We've had a lot of bad luck recently, but hopefully we've got it all out of the way now."

James Jakes Race 2 Report - Round 5 F3 Euroseries, Zandvoort

James Jakes narrowly missed out on a points-scoring position in the second F3 Euro Series race at Zandvoort on Sunday.

The British driver finished seventh in the race, but he has turned his attention to the next event at the Nurburgring after a difficult weekend in Holland.

"We had another good race today, but we used our new tyres in the first race to try and get in the points, so it was always going to be harder today," said James, who had worked his way up from 16th to 10th in Saturday's race.

"It doesn't look very good to not score points, and we need to bounce back at the Nurburgring, but this isn't the end of the world.

"The pack is so close here that if you have a bad day you fall back a lot. I've had two good races this weekend, and the team has done a good job, but we've just paid for our qualifying performance.

"I had a good weekend at Nurburgring last year though, so I think we can do well there. We've had a lot of bad luck in the last few races, but we know what we're capable of so we'll keep our heads up."

James Jakes Race 1 Report - Round 5 F3 Euroseries, Zandvoort

James Jakes battled his way into the top 10 from the eighth row of the grid during the first F3 Euro Series race at Zandvoort on Saturday.

The British driver made his way up from 16th to 10th during the race, but he was still slightly disappointed to lose time stuck behind championship leader Edoardo Mortara, who eventually spun out of the race after a long battle between the two.

With Mortara out of the way, James then put pressure on those ahead as he pushed to make his way up to eighth, which would have earned him pole position for Sunday's race if he could have got there.

"It was a good race, and we did well to get as far up as we did," said the 20-year-old. "But obviously it's disappointing because two more places would have given us pole.

"We were one of the only ones really going for it out there, but I lost so much time battling Mortara. It was a good fight, but I thought I was through at one point then I felt a tap on my inside.

"The car felt good, but my tyres went off while I was chasing him so I didn't have as much pace when I was trying to get into the top eight.

"We can still do something tomorrow though. It would be good if it rains, but if it doesn't we'll just have to take a gamble and see what we can do."

James Jakes qualifying report - Zandvoort, The Netherlands

James Jakes has set himself a target of making up at least eight places in Saturday's F3 Euro Series race at Zandvoort after a difficult qualifying session on Friday.

The 20-year-old had been one of the frontrunners in free practice, but he had to settle for 16th on the grid after a challenging session, which included an off on one of his best laps.

James believes he can turn his weekend around though, and he is targeting a points finish in the first race, which could put him in contention for a race win in Sunday's reverse grid race.

"I just didn't get the best out of the car," said James. "I wasn't completely happy in practice but we were able to set a good time, and then I just didn't get it together in qualifying.

"I don't know if we had the ultimate pace, but we were capable of being in the top five. I had an off on what would have been my quickest lap though, which was a shame.

"I'm hoping the race will be wet because overtaking is difficult here in the dry. But I'm happy driving in the rain, and I'm looking to turn our weekend around by getting a good grid position for the second race. If we can get into the top eight, then we can have a good result on Sunday."

James Jakes sets fastest lap in second race at Norisring

James Jakes had to take comfort from setting the fastest lap in the second F3 Euro Series race at the Norisring, as his weekend of misfortune continued on Sunday.

The 20-year-old ART Grand Prix driver had to fight his way through the field from 25th on the grid after he was hit at the start in Saturday's race, but his chances were hindered by a long race stoppage which reduced the race to just 19 laps.

James ran as high as 14th, but his race ended prematurely after a collision with Daniel Campos-Hull at the first corner in the closing stages.

" It was a shame they red flagged the race because I'd made a good start, " said James. " After that there just wasn't enough time to get through the field.

" The speed has been there all weekend, as the fastest lap shows, but we've just had a lot of bad luck here as a team.

" We've been quick since Pau, but in some ways that makes it worse that we haven't had the luck to get some good results. We'll go to Zandvoort now though, and hopefully our luck will change there. "

The next round of the Euroseries F3 will take place between the 11 and 13 July 2008, at Zandvoort in the Netherlands

Formula 3 Euroseries - Norisring, Race 2 results

Pos	Driver	Team	Car	Time
1	Christian Vietoris	Mucke	D/M	38:22.220
2	Robert Wickens	Signature	D/V	+ 4.692
3	Edoardo Mortara	Signature	D/V	+ 6.643
4	Jean-Karl Vernay	Signature	D/V	+ 7.223
5	Renger van der Zande	Prema	D/M	+ 8.125
6	Stefano Coletti	Prema	D/M	+ 9.380
7	Kazuya Oshima	Manor	D/M	+ 9.788
8	Sam Bird	Manor	D/M	+ 10.046
9	Jules Bianchi	ART	D/M	+ 11.686
10	Jens Klingmann	RC	D/V	+ 12.248
11	Daniel Campos	HBR	D/M	+ 13.103
12	Michael Klein	Jo Zeller	D/M	+ 13.265
13	James Jakes	ART	D/M	+ 13.502
14	Cheng Cong Fu	RC	D/V	+ 14.177
15	Franck Mailleux	Signature	D/V	+ 14.697
16	Richard Philippe	Carlin	D/M	+ 15.174
17	Niall Breen	Manor	D/M	+ 15.726
18	Mika Maki	Mucke	D/M	+ 17.711
19	Yann Clairay	SG	D/M	+ 18.574
20	Maximilian Gotz	RC	D/V	+ 42.420
21	Basil Shaaban	HBR	D/M	+ 1 lap
22	Erik Janis	Mucke	D/M	+ 1 lap

Retirements:

Driver	Team	Car	Laps
Jon Lancaster	ART	D/M	6
Martin Plowman	RC	D/V	4
Nico Hulkenberg	ART	D/M	3
Rodolfo Gonzalez	Carlin	D/M	1
Koudai Tsukakoshi	Manor	D/M	0
Henkie Waldschmidt	SG	D/M	0
Daniel Clos	Prema	D/M	0

D/M = Dallara-Mercedes, D/V = Dallara-Volkswagen

James Jakes had the pace - but chances ruinied on first lap incident

James Jakes had his chances of adding another F3 Euroseries win to his tally ruined by a first lap accident in race one at the Norisring.

The 20-year-old was confident heading into the race after qualifying on the second row despite having flat-spotted his tyres with a spin. He was tucked up behind eventual second place finisher Kodai Tsukakoshi into the first corner at the start, but he was then punted out of the race by Jean-Karl Vernay, who went on to finish third.

After some quick repairs to the rear of his car by his ART crew, James rejoined the race several laps down, but he was able to set laptimes that were just two tenths of a second slower than the pace of his team-mate Nico Hulkenberg who won the race.

" It's a shame because we had good pace, " said James. " Even when I went back out and the car wasn't perfect I was still able to do good laptimes, so who knows what we could have done if we'd been up the front.

" I had made a good start, and I was sitting behind Tsukakoshi. There wasn't any room on the inside, and even when I saw there was a car there I tried to leave some room but he still hit me.

" I haven't lost hope for race two though, anything can happen here, which is part of the reason we went back out with the damaged car. With the speed that we have, we can still do something tomorrow. "

Formula 3 Euroseries - Norisring, Race 1 results

Pos	Driver	Team	Car	Time
1	Nico Hulkenberg	ART	D/M	39:41.600
2	Koudai Tsukakoshi	Manor	D/M	+6.651
3	Jean-Karl Vernay	Signature	D/V	+17.875
4	Edoardo Mortara	Signature	D/V	+18.394
5	Jon Lancaster	ART	D/M	+19.324
6	Christian Vietoris	Mucke	D/M	+28.077
7	Robert Wickens	Signature	D/V	+28.834
8	Erik Janis	Mucke	D/M	+29.605
9	Henkie Waldschmidt	SG	D/M	+32.769
10	Renger van der Zande	Prema	D/M	+34.826
11	Stefano Coletti	Prema	D/M	+43.554
12	Rodolfo Gonzalez	Carlin	D/M	+44.366
13	Kazuya Oshima	Manor	D/M	+46.387
14	Sam Bird	Manor	D/M	+51.230
15	Jens Klingmann	RC	D/V	+1 lap
16	Cheng Cong Fu	RC	D/V	+1 lap
17	Daniel Campos-Hull	HBR	D/M	+1 lap
18	Franck Mailleux	Signature	D/V	+1 lap
19	Michael Klein	Jo Zeller	D/M	+1 lap
20	Basil Shaaban	HBR	D/M	+1 lap
21	Dani Clos	Prema	D/M	+2 laps
22	Richard Philippe	Carlin	D/M	+3 laps

Retirements:

Driver	Team	Car	Laps
Martin Plowman	RC	D/V	40 laps
Niall Breen	Manor	D/M	39 laps
James Jakes	ART	D/M	39 laps
Maxi Gotz	RC	D/V	1 lap
Jules Bianchi	ART	D/M	0 laps
Mika Maki	Mucke	D/M	0 laps
Yann Clairay	SG	D/M	0 laps

Fastest lap: Nico Hulkenberg - 48.902 = 169.318 km/h (lap34)

James Jakes qualifies 4th on the grid for Norisring

James Jakes came out of a frantic qualifying session at the Norisring on Friday happy to have secured a starting slot on the second row of the grid for Saturday's opening F3 Euro Series race.

Despite the strong showing, the 20-year-old is also aware that more could have been possible, were it not for a bizarre moment in the second half of the session that caused him to spin.

James had been the pacesetter in the session until it was red-flagged mid-way through, but he was bumped down the order after flat-spotting his rear tyres heavily when his engine cut-out and forced him into a spin at the final corner.

Despite dropping as low as 11th towards the end of the session, the ART Grand Prix driver pulled a lap out of the bag in the dying moments to salvage fourth position, and he was pleased afterwards.

" I'm happy considering the condition of the tyres, and the fact that I did my best lap without a tow from another car, " said James. " That shows that we clearly have the pace to win here, and we've been strong all along so it bodes well.

" I don't really know what happened with the spin, the car just died briefly. After that it was hard to see because of the vibration from the flat-spotted tyres, but overall it's looking good. "

After winning his first race of the season last time out at Pau, James is upbeat, as a repeat performance would really help his championship chances with current points leader Edoardo Mortara only 10th on the grid.

" There's a good chance to make up some of that points gap this weekend, " he added. " A lot can happen here, there are always incidents, but it's also one of the few tracks where we can really overtake, so there's no reason why we can't get another win. "

James Jakes wins at unforgiving Pau

James Jakes kickstarted his F3 Euroseries title campaign with an inch-perfect drive to his first win of the year around the streets of Pau.

After a difficult start to the season while he adapted to the unique driving style required by the ART Grand Prix car, James Jakes led from start to finish to convert pole position into his second career Euroseries win. His drive was especially impressive given the number of his rivals who were caught out by the drying conditions - just 10 cars made the finish as the unforgiving Pau barriers claimed their victims.

" I made a terrible start but took a bit of a risk through the first corner and got to the hairpin in the lead," said James. " First place is a good position to be in, but it's very difficult when you're the first driver to experience the conditions in every corner!

" I just tried to take it as carefully as possible and do everything you need to do in a race like that. There were a lot of cars off so when the yellow flags were out I backed off and I didn't need to set fastest lap so didn't take any risks. "

Despite leading almost from start to finish, Jakes twice had his lead slashed by the safety car being deployed, which allowed the rest of the field to catch up. He also had to worry about a battery warning light which came on early in the race.

" The light appeared on the third lap and I wasn't sure how long I was going to last, " said James. " I just tried to short shift where possible and make the car keep going!

" I just had to concentrate on making no mistakes because there is no margin for error around here. I'm just really pleased to have been able to win at such an historic circuit. It has been a difficult start to the year, but now I'm getting to grips with how to get the best out of the car.

" My season really starts here - the championship is definitely still possible. "

James Jakes gets Pole at Pau, by half a second.

James Jakes put in a stunning performance to claim pole position around what is recognised as the toughest circuit on the F3 Euro Series calendar - Pau.

Run on the streets of the town of Pau in the Pyrenees, to be fastest around the historic circuit you need to be willing to run flat-out within millimetres of the unforgiving barriers, and it was James Jakes who proved to be the class of the field after setting a lap almost half-a-second faster than his nearest rival in the session.

With overtaking very difficult around the streets of Pau, ART driver James Jakes is now favourite to convert his superb qualifying performance into a first win of the season in this afternoon's first race.

" I knew that whoever crossed the line last would be first, because of the improving conditions," said James. "But I was the first in the bunch to cross the line and I am very pleased that the lap was good enough for pole, particularly as it was by half-a-second.

" I was already on pole before the red flag, but I hadn't quite put the complete lap together. The two seconds that we found on the restart was mainly in me. Granted, the track was drying out, particularly in the high speed corners, but most of the improvement came from me.

" The way this season has started it means a lot to be on pole here. I just wanted this year to get moving. I'm looking for a solid points haul - and I'm looking to get the maximum ten in today's race! "

James Jakes wins action-packed race at Pau

At Pau, British driver, James Jakes (ART Grand Prix) secured himself his first season win in the Formula 3 Euro Series. At the 2.76 kilometres long and very narrow street circuits beneath the Pyrenees, he took the chequered flag just ahead of Edoardo Mortara (Signature-Plus) and Jon Lancaster (ART Grand Prix). The race was marked by numerous accidents and two safety car interventions. Only ten out of the 30 young drivers made it to the finish. After five rounds, Edoardo Mortara is on top in the points' standings of the Formula 3 Euro Series, eight points clear of Finn Mika MÃ¤ki (MÃ¼cke Motorsport). Thus, a driver with a Volkswagen engine is the points' leader for the first time in history of the Formula 3 Euro Series.

At a drying track, Jakes led all the way from lights to flag in difficult conditions. It was the second time in his career after Magny Cours in 2007 that the Brit took the winner's trophy after a round of the Formula 3 Euro Series. Behind the man from Leeds, there were plenty of retirements, as the street circuit at parts provided little grip, many drivers losing control of their car. One of the drivers affected was Mika MÃ¤ki, who had been in the lead of the points' standings prior to the race. After the start, the Finn was second, but he already retired following a driver's error on lap three. Third-placed Nico HÃ¼lkenberg also retired early after hitting the barrier on lap eleven.

James Jakes (ART Grand Prix): "It was a difficult race as conditions were anything but ideal. I am really happy with my first win of the season, especially as the start of my season wasn't too good."

Edoardo Mortara (Signature-Plus): "So far, the weekend here at Pau has been quite good for me. After qualifying, I knew that I would be able to get a good result. On the third lap, I slightly clipped the wall. After that, I focussed on staying on the track and make it home safely."

Jon Lancaster (ART Grand Prix): "It was an exciting race. I hadn't expected being on the podium already after only my fifth race in the Formula 3 Euro Series, and from twelfth on the grid at that. I am happy."

Air temperature: 17.2 °C
Asphalt temperature: 18.8 °C

SOURCE : www.f3euroseries.com

James Jakes claims pole position at Pau

Pole position for the fifth season round of the Formula 3 Euro Series at the 2.76 kilometres long and challenging street circuit of Pau in the south of France has been taken by James Jakes (ART Grand Prix, 1:26.189 min). For today's race (start at 14.05 h), the Briton will be joined on the front row of the grid by Italian, Edoardo Mortara (Signature-Plus, 1:26.924 min). Points' leader, Mika MÃ¤ki (MÃ¼cke Motorsport, 1:26.618 min) and Nico HÃ¼lkenberg (ART Grand Prix, 1:27,172 min) are on the second row.

Because of the narrow track and the huge entry of 30 cars, qualifying took place in two groups for odd and even starting numbers respectively. The driver with the outright fastest lap time will be starting from pole position while the further drivers from his group will be lining up behind him on the pole position side. The fastest driver of the other group will be starting second with the other drivers from his group behind him.

The drivers with odd starting numbers were the first to go out on the track and they had the more damp conditions. Only in the final seconds, Mortara succeeded in beating HÃ¼lkenberg. Also towards the end, Richard Philippe (Carlin Motorsport, 1:28.314 min) moved up into fourth behind Christian Vietoris (MÃ¼cke Motorsport, 1:28.042 min).

Fastest driver in the second group was James Jakes from Mika MÃ¤ki. The two French drivers, Franck Mailleux (Signature-Plus, 1:27.233 min) and Yann Clairay (SG Formula, 1:27.461 min) also got themselves into a good position in third and fourth place respectively. With four minutes remaining, qualifying was briefly interrupted following an accident of Jules Bianchi (ART Grand Prix, 1:28.219 min).

James Jakes (ART Grand Prix): "In the last couple of weeks, we have been working very hard to improve. On my final lap, I put my head down and didn't make any mistakes, as I wanted to have pole no matter what. Fortunately, it worked out."

Edoardo Mortara (Signature-Plus): "Although conditions were difficult, qualifying was good for me. Being fastest in my group is good for me and for my team."

Mika MÃ¤ki (MÃ¼cke Motorsport): "Qualifying was very difficult as the track firstly was wet, then dried out and rain set in again at the end. After the red flag, I only had one fast lap and that had to be right, as otherwise I would have started from the back. Fortunately, it went as planned."

SOURCE : www.f3euroseries.com

James Jakes Race 1 Report - Round 3 F3 Euroseries, Pau

James Jakes kickstarted his F3 Euroseries title campaign with an inch-perfect drive to his first win of the year around the streets of Pau.

After a difficult start to the season while he adapted to the unique driving style required by the ART Grand Prix car, Jakes led from start to finish to convert pole position into his second career Euroseries win. His drive was especially impressive given the number of his rivals who were caught out by the drying conditions - just 10 cars made the finish as the unforgiving Pau barriers claimed their victims.

"I made a terrible start but took a bit of a risk through the first corner and got to the hairpin in the lead," said James. "First place is a good position to be in, but it's very difficult when you're the first driver to experience the conditions in every corner!

"I just tried to take it as carefully as possible and do everything you need to do in a race like that. There were a lot of cars off so when the yellow flags were out I backed off and I didn't need to set fastest lap so didn't take any risks."

"The light appeared on the third lap and I wasn't sure how long I was going to last," said James. "I just tried to short shift where possible and make the car keep going!

"I just had to concentrate on making no mistakes because there is no margin for error around here. I'm just really pleased to have been able to win at such an historic circuit. It has been a difficult start to the year, but now I'm getting to grips with how to get the best out of the car.

"My season really starts here - the championship is definitely still possible."

James Jakes qualifying report - Pau, France

James Jakes put in a stunning performance to claim pole position around what is recognised as the toughest circuit on the F3 Euro Series calendar - Pau.

Run on the streets of the town of Pau in the Pyrenees, to be fastest around the historic circuit you need to be willing to run flat-out within millimetres of the unforgiving barriers, and it was Jakes who proved to be the class of the field after setting a lap almost half-a-second faster than his nearest rival in the session.

With overtaking very difficult around the streets of Pau, ART driver Jakes is now favourite to convert his superb qualifying performance into a first win of the season in this afternoon's first race.

"I knew that whoever crossed the line last would be first, because of the improving conditions," said James. "But I was the first in the bunch to cross the line and I am very pleased that the lap was good enough for pole, particularly as it was by half-a-second.

"I was already on pole before the red flag, but I hadnâ��t quite put the complete lap together. The two seconds that we found on the restart was mainly in me. Granted, the track was drying out, particularly in the high speed corners, but most of the improvement came from me.

"The way this season has started it means a lot to be on pole here. I just wanted this year to get moving. I'm looking for a solid points haul - and I'm looking to get the maximum ten in today's race!"

James Jakes qualifying report - Pau, France

James Jakes put in a stunning performance to claim pole position around what is recognised as the toughest circuit on the F3 Euro Series calendar - Pau.

Run on the streets of the town of Pau in the Pyrenees, to be fastest around the historic circuit you need to be willing to run flat-out within millimetres of the unforgiving barriers, and it was Jakes who proved to be the class of the field after setting a lap almost half-a-second faster than his nearest rival in the session.

With overtaking very difficult around the streets of Pau, ART driver Jakes is now favourite to convert his superb qualifying performance into a first win of the season in this afternoon's first race.

"The way this season has started it means a lot to be on pole here. I just wanted this year to get moving. I'm looking for a solid points haul - and I'm looking to get the maximum ten in today's race!"

James Jakes Race 2 Report - Round 2 F3 Euroseries, Mugello

James' weekend in Italy did not improve in the second F3 Euro Series race of the weekend, but despite the setbacks at Mugello he is already focused on improving things for the next race at Pau.

The 20-year-old had made up for his start in Saturday's race by making a great getaway this morning, but he was then hindered by another car stalling in front of him. While he was able to show flashes of speed after that when he wasn't running in traffic, it was another difficult race.

"It was unlucky that someone stalled in front of me," James said afterwards. "In the race things were ok when I could push, but I went off when I locked the rears and that was it. I'm still hopeful that we can improve things before Pau, and I've raced there before so I'm really looking forward to it.

"I like street circuits as well, so I'm definitely optimistic. I'm trying to stay relaxed about how the season has started, because I know that the team and me are working really hard together to improve, and I'm sure we can do the job.

James also took heart from the fact that he showed good speed in qualifying, despite not yet feeling fully at home with the new 2008 Dallara F3 car.

"I wasn't entirely comfortable with the car here but we still had good pace in qualifying," he added. " Without a little mistake I would have been in the top three, so that bodes well because when I am comfortable with the car we'll be a lot faster. We'll get it together soon, it's just a shame we have to wait a few weeks for the next race."

James Jakes Race 1 Report - Round 2 F3 Euroseries, Mugello

James was left scratching his head after Saturday's F3 Euro Series race at Mugello, as he slipped down the order from his top six qualifying performance.

While the 20-year-old could understand why he lost places at the start, he then had to fight a rearguard action to fend off other cars as he struggled for grip throughout the race.

James eventually slipped back to 12th in the race, meaning he will have a lot of work to do in Sunday's event at the Italian track.

"I made a bad start, and I lost quite a few places there," he said. "Then the car was sliding a lot, and at first I was trying to look after the tyres, because this track is hard on them.

"When I did push to make up ground, the car was just sliding even more. We didn't have new tyres for this race because we used an extra set in qualifying, while most guys had a new set for today. We need to look at the data and see what we can learn from this."

Despite the setback, James is fired up for tomorrow's race, where he is optimistic about fighting through the field.

"I think it will be a case of taking a lot of wing off so we can be fast down the main straight," he said. "At least that should give us the opportunity to pass people into the first corner, and we'll be going for it tomorrow."

James Jakes qualifying report - Mugello, Italy

James Jakes was back on form in qualifying for the third race of the 2008 F3 Euro Series season at Mugello on Friday, putting his ART Grand Prix car sixth on the grid for Saturday's race.

James, 20, had a tough weekend in the opener at Hockenheim, but is feeling far more confident with his new car and was pleased with his performance ahead of the Italian races.

"We had a bit of work to do after testing here, but things went well in qualifying," he said. "I'm not totally satisfied because I lost a bit of time that would have put me in the top three, but we're among the frontrunners here, which is much better than it was last time.

"It's taken a bit longer than I expected to get used to the way this team works, the level here is so high. I knew we would be stronger once we had a chance to understand more about the car."

James is also optimistic for the races, as he believes there is more to come from him this weekend.

"We're in good shape, but I definitely think we can race well here," he added. "This field is so competitive this year, but we've got ourselves up the front and now I think we can really get our season started."

2008 Formula 3 Euro Series - Live Coverage in 20 Countries

The media interest in the most competitive young-gun series on our planet keeps on increasing consistently. In 2008, the Formula 3 Euro Series races will be covered live or re-live and at full length by 18 TV stations in 20 countries. In 24 countries, TV stations will bring the highlights of the 20 rounds of the season. Last year, the Formula 3 Euro Series coverage added up to a cumulated 700 hours in 58 countries.

For many years already, Germany's Pay-TV station Premiere has been a proven TV partner of the Formula 3 Euro Series. Just as it was the case in the past years,Premiere is going to again cover all the races live and at full length, this season. Race meetings will be brought on the Saturday and Sunday of every race weekend, at 18.00 and 19.00hrs CEST respectively (17.00 and 18.00hrs BST), on the German sports channel Deutsches Sport Fernsehen, DSF. At the same time, news channel n-tv also will report about the young-gun series. On every Tuesday following the respective race weekend, the magazine n-tv Speed, broadcasted from 16.30hrs CEST (15.30hrs BST) will bring Formula 3 Euro Series pictures.

In France, the station Motors-TV - that can be received via cable or satellite in many European countries - also reports about the Formula 3 Euro Series. In England, the races will be covered by the British subsidiary, Motors TV UK, and Sky Sports. The Italian motor-racing enthusiasts also can watch the Euro Series action: here, the races are covered by Nuvolari Channel.

Other countries covering the races or re-live are Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Israel, the Netherlands, Norway, Russia, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden and the USA.

The media data of the 2007 Formula 3 Euro Series as well as the complete survey of the stations covering the 2008 Formula 3 Euro Series season is available for the download at the official website, www.f3euroseries.com.

SOURCE : F3 Euroseries

James Jakes Race 2 Report - Round 1 F3 Euroseries, Hockenheim

James Jakes' difficult weekend at Hockenheim came to an end with an 11th place finish on Sunday, but the British racer is confident that things will go much better when the season resumes at Mugello next month.

The entire ART Grand Prix team endured a tough weekend, but after a spending most of his weekend fighting in the middle of this year's extremely competitive F3 Euro Series field, James believes things will be much better in Italy.

"It's a disappointing way to start the season, but this team can work it out," said the 20-year-old. "We didn't really have the pace, and I expected to be quicker here, but we will be ready for Mugello.

"The guys who have gone on to win the championship for the past two years did not start those seasons particularly well, and all of my team-mates have had problems too, so I don't think we have anything to worry about.

"This will make us more hungry, we want to bounce back from this weekend. We shouldn't just forget this though, there are things we can learn and take from it to make sure we are stronger next time."

"I like Mugello, it's a good track, and this team were really strong there last year when I was racing against them. I'm sure we will get it sorted."

James Jakes Race 1 Report - Round 1 F3 Euroseries, Hockenheim

James Jakes finished the first race of the F3 Euro Series in a frustrating 12th position as traffic prevented him from showing his true pace on Saturday.

Despite the British racer's fastest lap being quicker than some of those who finished in the points, James was unable to put his speed to good use after a losing places at the start of the 40-minute race.

"My start wasn't very good, I just had too much wheelspin," said the 20-year-old. "After that the pace was good when I wasn't having to overtake people. The car feels really good, but the team seems to get a lot of bad luck in the opening round."

James' team-mates also had a difficult race, and he was in fact the only ART Grand Prix driver to make the finish. All four of the French team's cars could have ended their day on the sidelines though, were it not for some quick thinking from Jakes in the closing stages.

"At one point I was in a battle and we were three abreast into the Mercedes arena, and I was on the inside," he said. "I had to back out of it and take to the grass, if I hadn't it would have caused a massive accident.

"The car wasn't bad at all in the race though, so tomorrow will be a bit of a banzai. We have nothing to lose, so I'll just have to try and overtake as many cars as possible."

James Jakes Qualifying Report - Round 1 F3 Euroseries, Hockenheim

British racer James Jakes will start the first race of this year's F3 Euro Series from the eighth row of the grid after a chaotic qualifying session at Hockenheim on Saturday.

The session had to be delayed due to heavy rain on Friday afternoon, but the track was still damp on Saturday morning when the 20-year-old took to the track with the rest of the field.

"I had a bit of traffic on one of my better laps, but that's not an excuse," said James, who has switched to four-time champions ART Grand Prix for this season. "We're a lot better than 15th, but I don't think we're quite quick enough yet.

"We need to look over the data and find out where we are missing out. If I had been able to get a clear lap I think we could have been in the top four, but we want to be right at the front.

"The session was a bit of a lottery with the changing conditions, and I think we can be strong in the dry for the first race today. This is a good track for overtaking, so the target is to get into the top eight for the reverse grid race tomorrow.

"It's not a disaster, this is only the first race. Romain Grosjean only qualified 11th here last year and he went on to win the title. I'd rather have that than qualify well like I did last year and then fall back through the year."

The first race of the weekend takes place around Saturday lunchtime, while race two takes place on Sunday morning.

Second day of testing at Valencia

On the second day off the official Formula 3 Euro Series tests, Nicolas Hülkenberg (ART Grand Prix) again secured the top position on the time sheets. In the Sunday morning session of the tests held at Valencia's Circuit Ricardo Tomo, the German set the fastest lap time of the entire tests when lapping the 4.005-kilometre track in 1:28.405 minutes.

Second position also was clinched by a German: Christian Vietoris (Mücke Motorsport) was just 0.062 seconds slower than his compatriot. While Jules Bianchi (ART Grand Prix) confirmed his good performance delivered on the first day of testing by coming third on day two, with his personal minimum time of 1:28,539 minutes.

As the track was faster than on day one, the Sunday minimum times proved to also be the fastest lap times of the entire weekend. In summerlike conditions, with temperatures of about 24º C, all the 29 drivers participating in the tests opted for covering as many kilometres as possible. The busiest of all the drivers involved was France's Richard Philippe (Carlin Motorsport) who completed 98 laps on the track located close to Valencia. Altogether, no major incident was witnessed during the two days of testing. Only once, a session had to be red-flagged for a short period of time: in the early stages of the Sunday afternoon session, when Stefano Coletti (Red Bull Signature) and Jon Lancaster (ART Grand Prix) collided in the final corner.

In just four days, from Thursday, teams and drivers will be testing again, with Estoril, Portugal, being the venue of the second two days of Formula 3 Euro series testing.

SOURCE : F3 Euroseries

* James finished 7th quickest overall based on the combined classification

For a detailed look at the combined times pleasse click on the following link »: Result Test Saturday and Sunday combined

First day of testing in Valencia - ART out in front

The first day of official Formula 3 Euro Series testing saw three drivers of the ART team out in front. German driver Nico Hülkenberg was the fastest to lap the circuit in Valencia, Spain with a time of 1.28.696 minutes. Frenchman Jules Bianchi was only 0.013 seconds slower in second place. Briton James Jakes lapped the Circuit Ricardo Tormo in 1.29.063 minutes and occupied third spot.

In pleasant conditions with temperatures ranging around 22 degrees, the first aim for the teams was to get to terms with their new cars and to find the right set-up. This went largely trouble-free throughout the day, which allowed the teams to complete their testing programme as planned. Especially in the afternoon, there weren't many drivers out anymore.

Nico Hülkenberg (ART): "Being back in the car and being quick is nice. However, the times achieved here don't mean very much. I am happy when I am on top in qualifying at Hockenheim."

Jules Bianchi (ART): "The morning session was good and went without trouble. I already knew the track having raced here with Formula Renault last year. I mainly worked on adapting my driving style. Finding the right line wasn't particularly easy today as the wind was very strong."

James Jakes (ART): "I am very happy with this test day. Like all the others, we still have a lot of work to do, but we are on the right way. Today, getting back into the rhythm was my main goal. I am looking forward to tomorrow and to the Estoril test."

SOURCE : F3 Euroseries

James Jakes is one of "Top Brits Shooting for F1"

Top UK Motorsport magazine - Autosport - has named James Jakes as a talent to watch out for in 2008, one of the main British drivers heading the way of Lewis Hamilton to enter into Formula 1.

Autosport said:
"With Two years of Formula 3 under his belt, jakes' 2008 Euroseries campaign with ART is the big one. Along with John Lancaster, he's part of a Yorkshire double act at the French Team, and the fact that h'es managed to get himself into one of the most desirable seats in F3 speaks volumes of his ability. this is the year he needs to make good on that talent. His victory at magny-Cours for Manor Motorsport in last years's F3 Euroseries was his first in single-seater racing, but it was just the highlight of aseason in which he showed conseiderable promise. As the only other ART driver with previous F3 experience, his challenge this year is to take the fight to the championship favourite and team-mate Nico Hulkenberg."

James says: "The Target this has to be the title this year. I learned a lot with Manor last year, and ART is the only place to go that could be looked at as a step forward from that. They are the best team so it was an easy choice to go there. I know the tracks after last season and have the experience in F3, so I know exactly what I have to do. the opposition will be very strong - obviously Nico [Hulkenberg] will be quick from our team line-up, but I'm confident we can be competitive at every round this year."

James joins ART

Teams to use name ART in future : -

With the merger of the F3 Euroseries championship winning team ASM, with two time champions in the GP2 series, ART back in February of 2007, it can now be confirmed that both teams will race under the ART banner effective immediately.

With ART Grand prix winning the GP2 crown in the first two years in the sports history and ASM having an extraordinary record in F3, including multiple championships in the Euroseries and International events, the culmination of these two great entities will make a stronger force and adopting just one name was a necessary progression.

Frédéric Vasseur:

“To use two different names, ASM and ART, for the same company, with the same people working under the same roof did not make sense anymore, ART which is involved in the GP2 Series since its creation and ASM which won F3 Euro Series drivers and team titles the last four years, have merged at the beginning of the year. It?s a success and we go forward by using just one name from now on: ART.”

Nicolas Todt:

“It is more logical to use only the one name for all our activities, which will make it possible to avoid any confusion and to give the company a stronger image. Therefore, all our new projects will be done under the name of ART.”

ART is proud to announce its new driver line-up for the 2008 F3 Euro Series championship. Nico Hälkenberg, who finished third in 2007 with the stable, will be joined by James Jakes who finished 5th, Jules Bianchi and Jon Lancaster.

James’s first season in the F3 EuroSeries convinced ART that he had the experience, the technical knowledge and the talent to be a valued member of the team and to add his name to the team’s strong tradition.

Jules and Jon respectively dominated the Formula Renault 2.0 France and the Eurocup respectively and represent the future with ART wanting to unite the blossoming of these two future talents.

Frédéric Vasseur: I wanted two drivers in their second season in F3 Euro Series because we’ll have to handle the new car in the best and fastest way. Nico had an exceptional season in 2007 and James gave us excellent technical feedback during recent private testing. Jules and Jon easily defeated their adversaries in Formula Renault and are logical choices for ART.