Q&A: Gary Paffett.

Gary Paffett - 2000 British Formula Three Championship Scholarship Class champion - elected to continue his Formula Three career in Germany in 2001.

Driving for Team Rosberg, the talented Briton - a former BRDC McLaren Autosport Young Driver of the Year winner - took sixth in the championship, winning once and claiming five podium finishes over the 20-race series. Gary spoke exclusively to Crash about his season and hopes for 2002.

The German Formula Three Championship is an unusual career move for a British racer - what did you think of it?

Gary Paffett: "As a career move it worked for me. It wasn't the obvious choice at the end of last season, and I was very close to a drive for Jaguar Racing in the British Formula Three championship - but that fell through. By then, the good seats in the British series were gone and I had to look elsewhere.

"The German series is certainly the best outside the UK. There are some very good teams and drivers, and you get to race at the same meetings at the DTM, so you visit some good circuits - Hockenheim, the Nurburgring, and the A1-Ring - and race in front of some big crowds. The standard is good down the field - you can have the top twenty within a second of each other in qualifying. You can be in the top five in one session, lose half a second in the next and end up fifteenth.

"You have to be quick and consistent to do well there. The tyres take a bit of time to get used to. They're maybe not as consistent as the Avons I had used in the British series the year before, and we did lots of set-up changes to get them to work on different circuits.

"At the start of the season there was a lot of snobbery from people here because we weren't doing a UK series, but our situation wasn't straightforward and it was our best option. Some good results early in the year took any doubts away, but, even so, it wasn't easy - at the time I couldn't speak a word of German. I'm still not brilliant but the team spoke good English and my team-mate was French - and he spoke no German - so all the debriefs were done in English."

What were the highlights of your season?

GP: "The first meeting - at Hockenheim - went really well, I was second in the opening race there, which was a great debut. Then at Oschersleben I won convincingly. It was one of those really good weekends - I was quickest in testing, qualified on the front row for both races - and won the first. I was leading the second by five seconds when the engine blew. In a way that's racing - you win, and then something happens to knock you down again!

"We then had a couple of strong finishes towards the tail of the season, and right at the end I should have won at Hockenheim, but was passed on the last lap. I've always won championships in my racing in the past, but this year was good experience because I had to learn new circuits and learn to work with new people in a completely new team to me."

"By the end of the season I'd built up a good rapport with a lot of the people in Germany, and I'd be happy to go there and challenge for the title next season."

You've been testing in a couple of different types of car recently.

GP: "The link with the Rosberg team also led to Mercedes giving me a run in their DTM car - and that was great. It was twice the weight of my Formula Three car but handled like a single seater and had 480hp - plenty of power!

"I've also recently tested a Formula 3000 car with the Coloni team at Magione. It wasn't a great circuit - it had lots of slow corners - but the test went well and the car was nice to drive. The car was heavier than a Formula Three car, and moves around a lot more on the circuit, but the team were very happy with my times and we'll have to see what happens there."

So what are you plans for 2002?

GP: "My options are German Formula Three, possibly Formula 3000 - and the DTM would be nice!

"In German Formula Three it would have to be a real title campaign. It is a very equal championship and now I know the circuits and have a year of it under my belt the championship would have to be the goal.

"I'm looking hard at Formula 3000. With a new chassis coming in it would be a good time to move into the Formula as no-one will have previous experience of the car, and the new design is much closer to Formula One than the old car was. My test with Coloni drummed up some interest and I've had a few calls, and I think that let people see what I can do in one of these cars.

"The test with Mercedes was great - and having been on the same package as the DTM has let me see what a big series that is. But, for the moment, it's lots of talking to people and seeing what we can put together!"