1997 British Formula Three Rd. 3

Round Three of the British F3 1997 was held at Thruxton on 13 April 1997.

The race winner was the eventual season champion Jonny Kane. It is notable for an incident involving Nicolas Minassian which saw him disqualified and banned for the next 2 races, due to unsportsmanlike behaviour, and losing him the title.

Report
The race was won by Jonny Kane, ahead of Frenchman Nicolas Minassian and Class B front-runner Martin O'Connell, until Minassian was disqualified post-race, promoting O'Connell to 2nd and Kane's team-mate Peter Dumbreck to 3rd. Because O'Connell was in Class B, Dumbreck received the points for 2nd place, Brian Smith the points for 3rd place, and so on.

Minassian/Bentwood incident, Minassian DQ and ban
The Frenchman was baulked by backmarker Michael Bentwood whilst leading, allowing Kane to overtake and take victory. After the chequered flag, the infuriated Minassian proceeded to brake-test Bentwood to a halt and hurl gravel towards the Englishman. Because of this, the Frenchman was disqualified and banned for the next 2 races, also meaning that, without having lost the 15 points awarded for second position as well as further potential points at the next two races, it is highly likely that Minassian would have been champion.

Results

 * (* Minassian originally finished 2nd but was disqualified for unsportsmanlike behaviour, and banned for the next two races.)