Shane Kelly raced at Brands Hatch in Kent this weekend with the aim of making it six wins from six in The Enterprise Group 2006 Club Formula 3 Championship. Unfortunately the weekend ended early and in disappointing fashion when Shane was punted off on the first lap of the race by a rival.

After working hard in pre-race testing to fine tune the race car, Shane also had to work hard in qualifying to find the space for a clear lap on the short Brands Hatch Indy Circuit. After a hard fought session on a baking hot circuit, Shane lined up 3rd on the grid.

"The circuit was really greasy and I found it hard to get the tyres ready for a quick lap, I also had a couple of quick laps ruined by slower cars" he said after qualifying. "I'm not too disappointed though, because we know from the data how fast we can go in the race, so I'm confident of getting a good result."

Despite the confidence he had in his race pace, Shane also knew that he had to race with his head to continue his progression to the championship title.

"I don't need to win this race, so I will be watching the others closely to try and stay out of trouble. If the chance is there to win I will take it, but finishing the race is the most important thing."

At the start of the race, Shane made a typically fast start to take 2nd place at the first corner, gaining a place on one of his championship rivals, Keith Baldwin. On the run to the second corner (the Druids hairpin), Baldwin made a last ditch attempt to retake the position, he locked his wheels under heavy braking and shunted into Shane's right rear corner, pitching him into a spin.
Baldwin was out on the spot with damaged steering and Shane came to rest with minimal damage but with his rear wheels in the gravel trap.

Despite Shane's best efforts of persuasion the safety marshals would not help him back onto the track and his race was over almost as soon as it began, so to was the chance of a 6th victory.

An apologetic Keith Baldwin took full responsibility for the incident:

"It was completely my fault" he said. "I went for the inside after turn 1 and had a look at the hairpin - I didn't think Shane could carry as much speed around the outside, but he did and I just couldn't slow down enough to avoid him. I'm sorry he wasn't able to keep going, he only had his rear wheels in the gravel, but the marshals couldn't help him out."

A frustrated Shane still managed to remain positive after such a disappointment:

"I saw Keith having a look, so I held a wide line and gave him plenty of room. Then I felt a bump at the rear and he pushed me around, I couldn't have done anything more to avoid him. He has apologised to me and that is fair enough, but it was a silly move to try on cold tyres, especially for someone with his experience."
"Its disappointing but not all bad, Jon Gray (2nd in the championship) could only finish 3rd, so he hasn't closed the gap as much as he could have done and I still have a reasonably healthy 15 point lead. I'm also thankful that there is almost no damage to the car."
"I can't hold it against the marshals for not pushing me back onto the track, they do a fantastic job as volunteers and we couldn't race without them."