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Zandvoort,
May 11, 2005 – The experienced team JB Motorsport, located
in Roeselare in Belgium, will have special support and the Marlboro
colours during the 15th edition of the Marlboro Masters of Formula
3. No less than three drivers will be racing with the striking red:
Dutch driver Ferdinand Kool, Brit Steven Kane and Dutch-born Chinese
driver Ho Pin Tung. Kool and Kane will be competing with a Lola
chassis, powered by a two-litre Mugen Honda Formula 3-engine. Ho
Pin Tung will be racing a Dallara chassis, also powered by a Honda-engine.
 JB
Motorsport is a regular entrant in the German Recaro Formula 3 Cup.
And a succesful competitor at that: in April, Ho Pin Tung won the
opening round of the current season at Oschersleben for the team
from Belgium. In the 2003 season, Brazilian driver João Paolo
de Oliveira won the title in the German Formula 3 Cup and last year,
Jan Heylen and Michael Devaney were regular winners for the team.
In earlier years, JB Motorsport competed in the German Formula 3
championship with race wins for Belgian driver Yves Olivier and
good results for Dutch driver Walter van Lent, who won the “rookie-title”
in German Formula 3 with JB in 1999. Robert Doornbos, the current
test driver of the Jordan Formula 1-team, also raced with JB Motorsport.
“We have a good tradition with Dutch drivers”, says JB
Motorsport’s team manager Sven Platteeuw. This tradition also
involves the co-operation with Philip Morris Holland for the Marlboro
Masters of Formula 3: in 2002, JB Motorsport already raced in Marlboro-livery
with drivers Stefan de Groot and Rob Austin.
This
year, there will be three drivers competing with Marlboro support
for JB Motorsport. Ferdinand Kool from the Dutch village of Oud
Beijerland comes from a real motor racing family – his father
Cock also competed in single-seaters – and is now in his second
year in Formula 3 after a few years in Formula Ford and Formula
Renault. Last season, Kool raced in the Spanish championship, this
year, he is a regular entrant in the German Cup. He is looking forward
to the Marlboro Masters: “In the past, I raced in support series.
Last year, I took part in the Formula 3 race for the first time.
Being able to race in Marlboro colours this year is, of course,
a unique opportunity, especially for a Dutch driver in this fantastic
event!”
Brit
Steven Kane was one of Ferdinand Kool’s opponents in last year’s
Spanish Formula 3 championship, in which Kane, a former motocross
rider, ended the season in third place overall. This year, Kane
is competing with Promatecme F3 in the British Formula 3 championship,
but for the Marlboro Masters of Formula 3, he will team up with
JB Motorsport. In 2001, he won the coveted title of “BRDC McLaren
Autosport Young Driver of the Year-Award”. His mentor is former
Formula 1 world champion, Damon Hill, who is very positive about
the abilities of his protégé. In June, Kane will be
racing in the Marlboro Masters of Formula 3 for the first time.
The
same goes for Ho Pin Tung, the Dutch-born Chinese driver who hit
the headlines two years ago for being the first Chinese in motor
racing history to drive a Formula 1 car. As a reward for winning
the title in the Asian Formula BMW championship, Tung was invited
to test a car of the BMW Williams F1-team at the circuit of Jerez.
Last year, the former winner of the Dutch KNAF Talent First programme
already gained experience in the German Recaro Formula 3 Cup.
This
year, he wants to benefit from this experience at JB Motorsport.
Tung will also be competing in the Marlboro Masters of Formula 3
for the first time. “It is an event that should be on the schedule
of every racing driver”, he says. “Moreover, this is the
last time that the event will be supported by Marlboro, so it is
a part of motor racing history. Therefore, I am all the more proud
of being part of that.”
RESUME FERDINAND KOOL
Name:
Ferdinand Kool
Nationality: Dutch
Date of birth: April 24, 1981
Place of birth: Rotterdam
Marital status: single
Residence: Oud-Beijerland
Hobbies: football, running, food
Website: -
Favourite circuit: Jerez (Spain)
1997 Dutch champion mini-junior karting
2000 Formule Ford Benelux
2001 2nd place Benelux Formula Ford championship
2002 German Formula Renault championship
2003 2nd place Benelux Formula Renault championship
2004 13th place Spanish Formula 3 championship
2005 German Recaro Formula 3 Cup with JB Motorsport (Dallara Opel)
Marlboro Masters of Formula 3 met JB Motorsport (Lola Mugen-Honda)
RESUME HO PIN TUNG
Name:
Ho Pin Tung
Nationality: Dutch
Date of birth: December 4, 1982
Place of birth: Velp
Marital status: single
Residence: Velp and Sjanghai
Hobbies: mountainbike, computers, cars
Website: www.hopintung.com
Favourite circuit: Autopolis (Japan) en Spa-Francorchamps (Belgium)
1997-2000 karting
2001 KNAF Talent First-driver
Dutch and Benelux Formula Ford championship, 1 victory, 1 pole-position
2002 2nd place Portuguese Formula BMW race Estoril
2003 champion Formule BMW Asia, 10 victories, 12 pole-positions
2004 7th place German Recaro Formula 3 Cup, 4 podium finishes
2005 German Recaro Formula 3 Cup with JB Motorsport (Dallara Opel)
1 victory so far
Marlboro Masters of Formula 3 with JB Motorsport (Dallara Honda)
RESUME STEVEN KANE
Name:
Steven Kane
Nationality: Brittish
Date of birth: Juni 5, 1980
Place of birth: Newton (GB)
Marital status: single
Residence: Milton Keynes (GB)
Hobbies: jogging, fitness
Website: www.steven-kane.com
Favourite circuit: every circuit
1995-1997 motocross
1998-2000 Karting
2000 Northern-Irish Formula Ford Zetec championship
2001 British Avon Junior Formule Ford championship
winner BRDC McLaren Autosport Young Driver of the Year-Award
2003 2nd place Scholarship class British Formula 3 championship
2004 3rd place Spanish Formula 3-championship
2005 British Formula 3 championship with Promatecme F3 (Lola Mugen-Honda)
Marlboro Masters of Formula 3 with JB Motorsport (Lola Mugen-Honda)
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