Alvaro knows Croft and is clearly full of confidence. His experience and ability is sufficient for him to take another pole position, as he did at Spa, and we expect him to begin his 2005 race program with a podium finish.
The driver himself, is looking forward to his first F3 races of '05. "I'm going to give it my best shot, he said. The car was so easy to drive at Spa and at
Snetterton - I think that we have a good combination to do well this weekend. I am looking forward to getting beyond qualifying and into a race!"
But Parente is not the only Carlin driver on the grid. "Christian Bakkerud had a brilliant first qualifier at the aborted Spa meeting and would have been on the front row but anyway was the fastest rookie, continues Holman. "Charlie Kimball is rarely off Christian's pace so we have great hopes for these three at
Croft. Keiko Ihara continues to improve and Ricardo Teixeira has been out driver training with Ben Collins. Ricardo is our least experienced runner and he will benefit greatly from Ben's input in the National class.
Just as the Carlin squad has expanded in 2005, the Hitech Racing team is running at only half-strength relative to its 2004 foursome. Returnee Estonian Mark Asmer is always a threat, even when running minus some bodywork, and Tim Bridgman can be pacy too.
Over at Alan Docking Racing, Susie Stoddart will sit out this round, with her ankle which she broke on New Year's day still pinned and plated, and not in an ideal position to return to the sometimes bumpy track where she tested earlier in the year. I think the two day test I did at Croft did me the most damage, says Susie, conceding she probably went back into the car too soon for he injury to make a full recovery.
So will we see Susie out in action at the next round at the Scottish circuit of Knockhill? It's hugely important, but I've got to play it by ear.
