KENT'S Brands Hatch circuit will be where the destiny of the 2004 British Formula 3 title is finally decided as the championship reaches its season finale on October 2/3.

Brazilian Nelson Angelo Piquet could join his father, triple Formula 1 World Champion Nelson Piquet, as a winner of the British F3 title.

But he must first beat Northern Irishman Adam Carroll, who will be flying the flag for the UK and is the only man who can stop points leader Piquet.

One of these two will join an impressive list of past F3 winners which includes Ayrton Senna, Mike Hakkinen, current Ferrari F1 ace Rubens Barrichello, MotorSport Vision managing director Jonathan Palmer, Johnny Herbert and Emerson Fittipaldi.

Piquet and Carroll will not be the only drivers racing at Brands, and they will both have to race against a packed field full of young chargers eager to make one final impression before the curtain falls on the 2004 season.

Among them will be Briton James Rossiter, who led the championship early on, Monegasque Clivio Piccione, Brazilian Danilo Dirani and Portuguese Alvaro Parente, all of whom have won races this year.

As well as the British F3 finale, the October 2/3 meeting will feature the 500-bhp flame-spitting monsters of the British GT Championship, which features such exotic machinery as Ferraris, Porsches, TVRs and Chevrolet Corvettes.

Teenager Jonathan Cocker has already wrapped up the overall championship title in his Gruppe M Racing Porsche 911 GT3-RSR but the battle for the secondary GT Cup class goes on with local Kent team DRM Racing close to sealing the title with drivers Adam Wilcox and Ni Amorim.

The Borough Green-based team is 16 points ahead of Adam Sharpe in his Tech 9 Motorsport Porsche and Team Tiger pairing Chris Beighton and Jon Finnemore.

Completing the line-up of racing action will be more sportscars in the form of one-make championships for TVR Tuscans and Ginettas, single-seater stars of the future in UK Formula Ford and rumbustious saloon action with the VW Racing Cup.

Advance tickets for the weekend cost £15 per adult or £8 per day per adult. Tickets on the gate cost £10 per day per adult and children aged 15 and under go free. To book tickets, call 0870 850 5017 or visit www.motorsportdirect.co.uk