INDIA in F1

Category: Indians Abroad

News about Indians racing in different motorsports events abroad

  • Matsushita claims first F2 Feature Race win; Arjun Maini 15th

    Red Bull Ring, 29 June 2019: Nobuharu Matsushita claimed his first ever Feature Race win in FIA Formula 2, surging past Championship leader Nyck De Vries during a tantalizing final few laps at the Red Bull Ring. The Carlin driver hailed the victory as the best of his career over team radio, as he earned last season’s dominant force their maiden win of the campaign.
    On his return to F2, Indian racing talent Arjun Maini of Campos Racing finished 15th.
    The Japanese driver finished ahead of UNI-Virtuosi ace Luca Ghiotto, who followed him past De Vries. The Dutchman lost a further place to Sérgio Sette Câmara, but ended up on the podium when the DAMS’ driver was dropped to fifth after a five second time penalty was added.
    The race began in calmer circumstances with De Vries making a smooth start off the line to retain first place ahead of Anthoine Hubert. Guanyu Zhou quickly made an attempt on the Frenchman’s position, but ran out of track and swerved wide allowing Matsushita through to third.
    The Japanese racer was up to second a lap later with a successful assault on Hubert, but he then switched his attention to building a gap between himself and those behind him, ahead of his pit stop when he would switch the prime tyre.
    Tensions threatened to boil over further back when Sette Câmara’s attempts to pass teammate Nicholas Latifi ended with the Canadian getting thumped from behind and swung full circle. When he recovered, he had been dropped to P19 and the Brazilian was handed a five second time penalty for causing the collision.
    Those on the option tyres went for Soft rubber on lap 7, leaving Sean Gelael in first, with front five De Vries, Matsushita, Ghiotto, Zhou and Hubert amongst the drivers making the change. Zhou suffered a gearbox glitch upon his return and dropped down to 15th before he was able to get back up to speed.
    Seventeen seconds separated De Vries and the PREMA man out in front and the Dutchman’s charge began with an overtake on Ryan Tveter. Matsushita followed him through a lap later. Gelael was told to push harder over team radio, but by then the ART and Carlin men had already made their way past Patricio O’Ward and Tatiana Calderon for fourth and fifth, and were fast honing in.
    With Gelael unable to form a gap out in front, Nikita Mazepin took a stab at the race lead and passed the Indonesian. The PREMA man was then overtaken by De Vries, who had also just passed Arjun Maini. Gelael pitted and a slow stop saw him fall further down the grid.
    De Vries was joined by Matsushita and Ghiotto in the chase for first and was closing in on his teammate at the front of the field. The Russian still required a pit stop, but the Championship leader refused to wait and retook his place at the top of the pile. However, De Vries’ tyres had already taken a battering as the race headed into its final five laps.
    Sensing this, the duo behind him pounced at Turn 1 and the Championship leader was dragged back to third in dramatic circumstances, after both Matsushita and Ghiotto made their moves on him stick in one clean sweep.
    Having suffered earlier in the race, Zhou showed no slowdown in pace from the earlier issues, charging back through the pack to P6 thanks to a gritty recovery. Latifi also managed to dice his way through the field and re-enter to the points’ paying positions, but narrowly missed out on reverse grid pole as he finished in ninth behind the impressive Jordan King – who had started the race as far back as 15th.
    There was one final course of action when Sette Câmara endeavoured to make the most of his race, with the knowledge of an incoming five-second penalty. The Brazilian set the fastest lap with just one tour of the circuit to go and managed to slide past former race leader De Vries, who was still struggling with tyre degradation. De Vries reclaimed the position upon the chequered flag as Sette Câmara’s penalty saw him drop to fifth.
    Matsushita crossed the line in first, ahead of Ghiotto, who achieved his best finish since Barcelona. De Vries ran home in third, ahead of Hubert, with Sette Câmara in fifth, followed by Zhou, Louis Delétraz, King, Latifi and Jack Aitken.
    De Vries stretched his lead at the top of the standings to 140 points, 29 ahead of Latifi in second place. Sette Câmara climbs to third on 92 points ahead of Aitken on 86 and Ghiotto on 85. DAMS’ retain their position at the top of the Teams’ Championship on 203 points, 34 ahead of UNI-Virtuosi. ART Grand Prix are third with 146, ahead of Campos Racing on 116 and Carlin on 97.
    King will attempt to claim the top honours in tomorrow’s Sprint Race when he starts on reverse grid pole ahead of Louis Delétraz at 11am local time.
    2019 FIA Formula 2 Championship – Feature Race Classification
    DRIVER
    TEAM
    1
    Nobuharu Matsushita
    Carlin
    2
    Luca Ghiotto
    UNI-Virtuosi Racing
    3
    Nyck De Vries
    ART Grand Prix
    4
    Anthoine Hubert
    BWT Arden
    5
    Sergio Sette Camara
    DAMS
    6
    Guanyu Zhou
    UNI-Virtuosi Racing
    7
    Louis Deletraz
    Carlin
    8
    Jordan King
    MP Motorsport
    9
    Nicholas Latifi
    DAMS
    10
    Jack Aitken
    Campos Racing
    11
    Juan Manuel Correa
    Sauber Junior Team by Charouz
    12
    Nikita Mazepin
    ART Grand Prix
    13
    Giuliano Alesi
    Trident
    14
    Callum Ilott
    Sauber Junior Team by Charouz
    15
    Arjun Maini
    Campos Racing
    16
    Ryan Tveter
    Trident
    17
    Sean Gelael
    PREMA Racing
    18
    Tatiana Calderon
    BWT Arden
    19
    Mick Schumacher
    PREMA Racing
    20
    Patricio O’Ward
    MP Motorsport
    OVERALL FASTEST LAP
    Sergio Sette Camara (DAMS) – 1:18.209 on Lap 34
    FASTEST LAP ELIGIBLE FOR POINTS
    Sergio Sette Camara (DAMS)

  • Vips claims first F3 race win in Spielberg; Jehan Daruvala finishes P4

    Jüri Vips achieved his first FIA Formula 3 win in style in today’s Race 1 at the Red Bull Ring, leaping two positons from third to become the first non-PREMA winner of the campaign. The Hitech Grand Prix racer finished ahead of ART Grand Prix’s Max Fewtrell and PREMA Racing’s Marcus Armstrong, muscling his way past the both of them in the early stages.
    The Estonian overcame a frantic start and clung onto P3 despite an initial overtake attempt from Indian racing star Jehan Daruvala when the lights went out. Armstrong also came under threat at the start and initially lost first to Fewtrell who was quick off the line from P2. The Brit dashed in-front of the Kiwi and took the racing line, but Armstrong fought back and reclaimed the position down the inside of Turn 2.
    Having seen such a promising start unravel, Fewtrell was soon fighting off Vips’ Hitech machine, who was having to attack and defend simultaneously thanks to Daruvala’s pace in-behind. The Estonian came out on top of the three-man dice and left Fewtrell to battle off the PREMA man racing in-front, fast catching Armstrong.
    Vips followed up his move on the ART driver with a searing sweep on the Kiwi racer, soaring down the inside of Turn 3 and into the lead. Fewtrell took a tow and followed him, as the former race leader lost two positions in one move. The poleman looked to react, but a poor exit on Turn 2 gave Fewtrell breathing space and broke up the brawl.
    Further back, a three-man tussle between Jake Hughes, Pedro Piquet and Robert Shwartzman had begun, with the latter making his way from ninth on the grid showing that there was no hangover from Friday when he had suffered technical issues in Qualifying.
    The Russian driver further emphasised this with the race’s fastest lap, but couldn’t capitalise on a mistake from Piquet, who had temporarily lost his back end at Turn 1. The Brazilian reacted by setting a new fastest lap himself and confidently took fifth from Hughes who thus dropped to sixth.
    The Briton battled back and reclaimed fifth at the corner, but soon faced another jaunt on the place as Shwartzman went three-wide with the two drivers and emerged ahead of them both at Turn 3.
    The race entered its final lap and Daruvala was becoming frustrated with him inability to pass teammate Armstrong for the final podium place. Sensing a now-or-never moment, he took a stab down the inside of the Kiwi on Turn 4, but got too close and intelligently backed off as the duo came within an inch of Fewtrell’s rear wing.
    Richard Verschoor managed to squeeze into the final points’ paying position ahead of Bent Viscaal prior to the chequered flag, while Lirim Zendelli snuck ahead of Leonardo Pulcini to give the order one final shake up.
    Leaving those behind him to battle, Vips ran through the chequered flag in first, with Fewtrell second and Armstrong holding onto third. Daruvala and Shwartzman settled for fourth and fifth, followed by Piquet, Hughes, Zendeli, Pulcini and Verschoor.
    The top two in the drivers’ standings remains unchanged, with Shwartzman leading Daruvala by 10 points. Vips holds third on 59 points, ahead of Armstrong and Piquet. In the Teams’ Championship, PREMA Racing lead the way with 204 points, ahead of ART Grand Prix on 68. Hitech Grand Prix are third on 61 points, Trident fourth on 49 and HWA RACELAB fifth on 22.
    Zendeli will start on reverse grid pole in Race 2 ahead of the experienced Hughes, as the teams’ look to continue their charge down of PREMA tomorrow at 9.35am local time.
    2019 FIA Formula 3 – Round 3 Race 1 Classification
    DRIVER
    TEAM
    1
    Juri Vips
    Hitech Grand Prix
    2
    Max Fewtrell
    ART Grand Prix
    3
    Marcus Armstrong
    PREMA Racing
    4
    Jehan Daruvala
    PREMA Racing
    5
    Robert Shwartzman
    PREMA Racing
    6
    Pedro Piquet
    Trident
    7
    Jake Hughes
    HWA RACELAB
    8
    Lirim Zendeli
    Sauber Junior Team by Charouz
    9
    Leonardo Pulcini
    Hitech Grand Prix
    10
    Richard Verschoor
    MP Motorsport
    11
    Niko Kari
    Trident
    12
    Felipe Drugovich
    Carlin Buzz Racing
    13
    Bent Viscaal
    HWA RACELAB
    14
    Liam Lawson
    MP Motorsport
    15
    David Beckmann
    ART Grand Prix
    16
    Yuki Tsunoda
    Jenzer Motorsport
    17
    Devlin DeFrancesco
    Trident
    18
    Simo Laaksonen
    MP Motorsport
    19
    Raoul Hyman
    Sauber Junior Team by Charouz
    20
    Ye Yifei
    Hitech Grand Prix
    21
    Alex Peroni
    Campos Racing
    22
    Logan Sargeant
    Carlin Buzz Racing
    23
    Andreas Estner
    Jenzer Motorsport
    24
    Sebastian Fernandez
    Campos Racing
    25
    Alessio Deledda
    Campos Racing
    26
    Christian Lundgaard
    ART Grand Prix
    27
    Keyvan Andres
    HWA RACELAB
    28
    Giorgio Carrara
    Jenzer Motorsport
    NOT CLASSIFIED
    Fabio Scherer
    Sauber Junior Team by Charouz
    Teppei Natori
    Carlin Buzz Racing
    OVERALL FASTEST LAP
    Juri Vips (Hitech Grand Prix) – 1:21.042 on Lap 23
    FASTEST LAP ELIGIBLE FOR POINTS
    Juri Vips (Hitech Grand Prix)

  • Jehan Daruvala is raring to go ahead of F3’s third round

    The Stakes 
    With the dust barely settled on last weekend’s blistering action in France, the Red Bull Ring in Austria welcomes the F3 paddock for Round 3 of the 2019 FIA Formula 3 Championship and the Indian racer Jehan Daruvala, who is running second in the championship with a win and a podium in the last round is raring to go.
    PREMA Racing put in another mightily impressive display at Le Castellet, but they didn’t have everything their own way as Trident’s Niko Kari went fastest during Friday’s practice. The PREMA pair of Jehan Daruvala and Robert Shwartzman then thought they’d done enough to secure a front row lock-out during qualifying, only to be denied at the death by a fantastic last-ditch effort from HWA RACELAB’s Jake Hughes to snatch pole position. Ultimately, the Italian team were not to be denied however as Daruvala and Shwartzman finished first and second in an enthralling Race 1 with Pedro Piquet bringing home his Trident machine in third. The Brazilian went one step better in Race 2 after an impressive drive, finishing P2 to split Shwartzman and Daruvala who now have two wins each this season.
    Shwartzman (70 pts) leads Daruvala (58 pts) at the top of the Drivers’ standings, with fellow PREMA man Marcus Armstrong (35 pts) 23 points further back in third; PREMA are dominating the Teams’ Championship at this early stage with 163 points but there’s plenty of points still available. ART Grand Prix (50 pts) are in second, with third-placed Trident (41 pts) nine points behind.
    The Red Bull Ring plays host to F3 for the third round of the championship, with the drivers battling hard on the smooth Austrian surface. There weather is expected to be glorious and Pirelli are providing Soft compound tyres for the weekend. With no mandatory pit stops and 30 cars fighting wheel-to-wheel up, down and around the short, scenic track in the mountains, it’s sure to make for fantastic viewing once again!
    Warm Up // Fabio Scherer – Sauber Junior Team by Charouz
    “For me it’s a lovely track. It’s up and downhill, so it’s quite nice. The difficult thing is to always get the exit right for the first three corners and then the track changes a bit with high-speed parts so you need to adapt quite well in one lap. The first three corners are also great places to overtake for sure. I guess, when it works, you can maybe overtake in front of Turn 6 as well. For a seven-corner track that’s quite a lot of overtaking opportunities!
    “It’s actually nice because you can race quite well, so it makes it interesting. There’s plenty of action and plenty of racing. Normally the races there are really good so I’m really looking forward to it. I think it will be fun!
    “Normally we don’t have to worry that much about tyre degradation because the surface is quite smooth tarmac. The tyres don’t tend to overheat too much and the good thing with the long straights is that the tyres can cool down if they do. That means that it should be a good track to push on as well.
    “I’ve had some good races there in the past, and a few bad moments too including one where I flipped the car, but the race pace and speed was always there.”
    Mario Isola, Pirelli Head of F1 and Car Racing
    “Austria presents a marked contrast to the last round at Paul Ricard a few days ago, but we can expect similarly warm, or perhaps even hotter conditions. Drivers will have to pay particular attention to thermal degradation. In F3, we’re using our third type of tyre in three races, so there will be plenty for the drivers to get used to at this spectacular venue.”
    Season Stats
    82 The total number of points PREMA Racing earned in Round 2, after taking 81 points from Round 1.
    7 The number of times (from a possible 12) a PREMA driver has stood on the podium.
    12 The points gap between Robert Shwartzman and teammate Jehan Daruvala at the top of the Drivers’ Championship.
    1 Jake Hughes grabbed HWA RACELAB’s first ever F3 pole position in France.
    Noteworthy
    Between them, PREMA Racing teammates Robert Shwartzman and Jehan Daruvala have won all four races of the FIA Formula 3 Championship, with each having a Race 1 and a Race 2 win
    Just 12 points separate Shwartzman and Daruvala at the top of the Driver’s Championship
    Daruvala has led more laps than any other driver in the championship so far with 34
    PREMA were the only team to see all three of their drivers score points in both races at Circuit Paul Ricard, and they are 113 points ahead of second-placed ART Grand Prix in the Teams’ Championship. Sauber Junior Team by Charouz are the only team yet to score a point
    13 different drivers scored points in Round 2 – Shwartzman, Daruvala and Marcus Armstrong of PREMA, Jüri Vips of Hitech Grand Prix, Pedro Piquet from Trident, ART’s David Beckmann, Bent Viscaal and Jake Hughes of HWA RACELAB, Alex Peroni of Campos Racing, Logan Sargeant of Carlin Buzz Racing, MP Motorsport’s Liam Lawson and Richard Verschoor and Jenzer Motorsport’s Yuki Tsunoda
    Argentina-born racer Giorgio Carrara will join Tsunoda and Andreas Estner to take the empty seat at Jenzer Motorsport vacated by Artem Petrov.
  • Jehan Daruvala takes a fighting 3rd from 8th on the grid in F3 Sprint race

    Jehan Daruvala takes a fighting 3rd from 8th on the grid in F3 Sprint race

    Jehan Daruvala on way to podium in the Sprint race on Saturday. Rayo Racing images

    Le Castellet (France), 23 June 2019: Jehan Daruvala completed a hat-trick of podiums after he stormed up the grid from eighth to second, before settling for third. Jehan’s emphatic victory yesterday in the feature race, meant he had to start from eighth today, due to the regulations which dictate that the top eight finishers are reversed, for the start of the sprint race. This was the multiple International Karting Champion’s third consecutive podium in four races, in the FIA Formula 3 Championship, which runs as a support event to the main F1 Grand Prix.

    Jehan started well but fell to tenth on lap one, once the lights went out at the F1 circuit in Le Castellet. Jehan then battled hard with Logan Sargeant and Juri Vips before overtaking both racers. He was then much quicker than the racers ahead of him and began to pass them one by one, to steadily move up the order.

    Alex Peroni from Australia, meanwhile continued to lead the race, taking advantage of the battles behind him. Jehan was soon up to fifth, but faced quite a task, with a gap of over 2.4 seconds to the pack of cars ahead. He pushed hard and managed to successfully close the gap and move into fourth.

    Jehan Daruvala (right) on the podium.

    Jehan’s Prema Racing teammate Robert Shwartzman, had in the meantime grabbed the race lead, with Brazilian Pedro Piquet in second. Jehan had closed the gap, overtaking Red Bull Racing Junior, Yuki Tsunoda from Japan, to move up into third and soon made an excellent move to overtake Piquet for second. Not content with second Jehan tried to close the gap to Shwartzman, but in the process of pushing extremely hard right through the entire race and the numerous battles he had along the way, Jehan’s tyres were beginning to degrade. He lost a bit of pace and was re passed by Piquet, who was also able to use the DRS to his advantage.

    Jehan comfortably held onto third, crossing the finish line behind Shwartzman and Piquet and 5.4 seconds ahead of Verschoor, of MP Motorsport.

    “It’s been a good weekend for the team and for me as well. This race was fun actually. At the start, I was a bit surprised by how quick the lights went out and then I was playing it a bit too safe for the first couple of laps. We knew we had the pace and the race was long, but maybe I took a bit too much time. When I got up to P6 the leading group of five cars was quite a long way ahead, and maybe my mistake at that stage was to push too hard to catch them instead of just chipping away. I caught them and passed all of them except Robert. My main goal was to win the race and I was pushing a lot, but Robert was doing the same and I started to struggle with the tires. Pedro did well, he stayed with me using the DRS, and when I started to struggle he passed me for second place. Two podiums in one weekend are good, now we have to see where we can do better. For me, just the start and the first lap, while the car has been good all weekend. Hopefully, we will have the same result next weekend.” said Jehan after his hat-trick of podiums.

    Jehan’s continuing impressive performances in front of the Formula 1 teams at the Formula 1 support races ensures that he continues to lie second in the championship with 58 points. His next race will be at the RedBull Ring Circuit in Spielberg along with the Austrian Grand Prix the coming weekend.

    2019 FIA Formula 3 – Round 2 Race 2 classification
    DRIVER
    TEAM
    1
    Robert Shwartzman
    PREMA Racing
    2
    Pedro Piquet
    Trident
    3
    Jehan Daruvala
    PREMA Racing
    4
    Richard Verschoor
    MP Motorsport
    5
    Marcus Armstrong
    PREMA Racing
    6
    Liam Lawson
    MP Motorsport
    7
    Jake Hughes
    HWA RACELAB
    8
    Logan Sargeant
    Carlin Buzz Racing
    9
    Yuki Tsunoda
    Jenzer Motorsport
    10
    Felipe Drugovich
    Carlin Buzz Racing
    11
    Andreas Estner
    Jenzer Motorsport
    12
    Leonardo Pulcini
    Hitech Grand Prix
    13
    Raoul Hyman
    Sauber Junior Team by Charouz
    14
    Alex Peroni
    Campos Racing
    15
    Christian Lundgaard
    ART Grand Prix
    16
    Lirim Zendeli
    Sauber Junior Team by Charouz
    17
    Juri Vips
    Hitech Grand Prix
    18
    Max Fewtrell
    ART Grand Prix
    19
    Keyvan Andres
    HWA RACELAB
    20
    Bent Viscaal
    HWA RACELAB
    21
    Devlin DeFrancesco
    Trident
    22
    Ye Yifei
    Hitech Grand Prix
    23
    Alessio Deledda
    Campos Racing
    24
    Niko Kari
    Trident
    NOT CLASSIFIED
    Simo Laaksonen
    MP Motorsport
    Sebastian Fernandez
    Campos Racing
    Fabio Scherer
    Sauber Junior Team by Charouz
    Teppei Natori
    Carlin Buzz Racing
    David Beckmann
    ART Grand Prix
    OVERALL FASTEST LAP
    Marcus Armstrong (PREMA Racing) – 1:52.171 on Lap 18
    FASTEST LAP ELIGIBLE FOR POINTS
    Marcus Armstrong (PREMA Racing)

    ends

  • De Vries wins in Le Castellet to take Championship lead; Mahaveer Raghunathan 12th: F2

    Nyck De Vries made light work of a fourth place start to make it three race wins from four and take the FIA Formula 2 Championship lead in France. The ART Grand Prix man’s hot streak of form continued in Le Castellet as he rose to first when the lights went and retained the position at the chequered flag, to finish ahead of poleman Sérgio Sette Câmara and Jack Aitken.
    The Dutchman made a superb move off the line to fly around the right of Guanyu Zhou and Sette Câmara ahead of the first corner. Aitken made an identical move down the left, but came out just behind his Championship rival in second, with both moves sticking going into Turn 1.
    Sette Câmara and Zhou were denied an immediate chance to react as a red flag swiftly brought a halt to proceedings after Sean Gelael caught the curb on T1 and sent his PREMA teammate Mick Schumacher soaring into the air and flying across the chicane, ending both of their races. Meanwhile, Nikita Mazepin and Ralph Boschung came to blows as well and stopped on track, which ended in retirement for both drivers. In the same chaotic period, a fifth retirement came in the shape of Dorian Boccolacci, whose home race ended in heartbreak when he stopped on track.
    When racing resumed De Vries held onto his position and left the Campos man behind him to battle with Sette Câmara. The front seven were all on the option tyre and it was the duo in P2 and P3 who ducked into the pits first, leaving De Vries to build up a lead for one more lap.
    When the Dutchman did pit, he came out behind Aitken, but any fears his strategy could cost him were swiftly alleviated by a stunning overtake on the mistral chicane. On the opposite strategy, Luca Ghiotto was handed P1 but building up a big enough lead to make it stick would be a mammoth ask.
    With the Italian attempting to increase his gap at the front, De Vries and Aitken were making their assault back up the field and fast gaining momentum, having both swept past Mahaveer Raghunathan.
    Meanwhile, behind them Callum Ilott pulled off what was arguably the move of the race, when he swept past Nicholas Latifi around the chicane. His hard work was all undone shortly after as he attempted to claim another position from Nobuharu Matsushita: the Briton got side-by-side with the Japanese driver but was forced to pull away when he ran out of track, hit the curb, and spun onto the gravel.
    Further risky moves ensued elsewhere on the field as Sette Câmara attempted to pass Aitken and like Ilott, ran out of track – he was forced to run over the chicane and would have to wait for his chance.
    Race leader Ghiotto managed to build up a 19s gap, but with tyre degradation and De Vries gaining momentum, the Dutchman began to take chunks out of this time. The UNI-Virtuosi man pitted with eight laps to go and returned in fifth, leaving just Jordan King – also yet to pit – ahead of De Vries.
    King eventually handed over P1, but a lightning fast pit stop from his MP Motorsport team returned him in 7th, having begun the race in 16th – an overtake on Luca Ghiotto, who had recently been passed by Latifi, later gained him a further place in P6. Shortly after, there was further disappointment for the Italian when Juan Manuel Correa caught his right tyre and slung him off the track, resulting in a retirement.
    With the obstacle of King’s MP Motorsport machine out of the way, De Vries quickly went about stretching his lead and soon held a 7s advantage over his rivals, which left Aitken and Sette Câmara to jostle over second and third. Aitken suffered a momentary wobble on Turn 8 and managed to recover and cling onto P2, however, the Brazilian was merely biding his time. The opportunity arose on the following lap and he flew past the Campos driver on the pit straight in a DRS powered move.
    It remained the same as they crossed the line, with De Vries claiming another win and the Championship lead, ahead of Sette Câmara, Aitken, Zhou, Latifi, King, Correa, Anthoine Hubert and Matsushita. Giuliano Alesi completed the top ten to score his first point in F2.
    De Vries now leads the standings, with 121 points, 16 ahead of Latifi in second place. Aitken is in third with 77, followed by Sette Câmara on 74 and Ghiotto on 67 points. DAMS lead the teams’ standings with 179 points, 46 points ahead of UNI-Virtuosi racing. ART Grant Prix are third with 127, ahead of Campos Racing on 107 and Carlin on 62.
    There will be a Frenchman on reverse grid pole in the Sprint Race when Hubert lines up at the front of the pack tomorrow, at 11.25am local time.
    2019 FIA Formula 2 – Round 5 Feature Race classification
    DRIVER
    TEAM
    1
    Nyck De Vries
    ART Grand Prix
    2
    Sergio Sette Camara
    DAMS
    3
    Jack Aitken
    Campos Racing
    4
    Guanyu Zhou
    UNI-Virtuosi Racing
    5
    Nicholas Latifi
    DAMS
    6
    Jordan King
    MP Motorsport
    7
    Juan Manuel Correa
    Sauber Junior Team by Charouz
    8
    Anthoine Hubert
    BWT Arden
    9
    Nobuharu Matsushita
    Carlin
    10
    Giuliano Alesi
    Trident
    11
    Tatiana Calderon
    BWT Arden
    12
    Mahaveer Raghunathan
    MP Motorsport
    NOT CLASSIFIED
    Luca Ghiotto
    UNI-Virtuosi Racing
    Louis Deletraz
    Carlin
    Callum Ilott
    Sauber Junior Team by Charouz
    Dorian Boccolacci
    Campos Racing
    Mick Schumacher
    PREMA Racing
    Sean Gelael
    PREMA Racing
    Ralph Boschung
    Trident
    Nikita Mazepin
    ART Grand Prix
    OVERALL FASTEST LAP
    Nyck de Vries (ART Grand Prix) – 1:44.584 on Lap 30
    FASTEST LAP ELIGIBLE FOR POINTS
    Nyck de Vries (ART Grand Prix)
  • We have the pace and I’m confident to fight through the field from P8 tomorrow: Jehan

    We have the pace and I’m confident to fight through the field from P8 tomorrow: Jehan

    Jehan Daruvala (centre) at the FIA press meet after winning the F3 race 1, the support race at French GP 22jun19. An FIA image

    FIA Formula 3 post-race Press Conference transcript:

    Thoughts from Daruvala, Shwartzman and Piquet, the top-3 today:

    FIA Formula 3: Hello and welcome to today’s FIA Formula 3 press conference following Race 1 at Paul Ricard. Joining us today, are the top three finishers from the opening race, in third place Pedro Piquet from Trident, in second place Robert Shwartzman of PREMA Racing, and your race winner Jehan Daruvala of PREMA Racing. Jehan, back-to-back wins for you now in Formula 3 and a really good charge to the front after reeling in Jake Hughes at the beginning. Can you just talk us through that fight with Jake?

    Jehan Daruvala: Like I said yesterday, I was pretty happy with how the weekend started. The car’s been good all weekend, so the main aim was to get off the line which actually didn’t go to plan. I lost a position to Pedro and I think I almost hit the back of him in Turn 1, I just missed him so that was lucky. After that it was all about managing the race. The car felt pretty good from the start. I didn’t have to over-push, I just tried to stay in the DRS of Pedro because he was not in the DRS of Jake [Hughes]. That was a big help for me. I got the pass done straight away on the first lap with DRS so I could go hunting for Jake. To be fair in the first few laps I was just chipping away a bit, a couple of tenths here and there, but wasn’t really making too many inroads. I just tried to keep the same pace and not try to push too much and I could see that started to show a little bit, especially in Sector 3. I was quite strong there compared to him. I just tried to stay there in Sector 1 and 2, and when the gap got to 1.4 seconds I knew that if I did a good Sector 3 I could get within the DRS. That’s what happened and I managed to do him before the last corner and then have the DRS on the main straight as well so that went to plan. I tried to break the DRS as fast as possible and after that the car was as good as it could be and I was just managing the pace until the end of the race.

    FIA Formula 3: We saw lots of drivers keeping within that DRS range and a lot of wheel-to-wheel fights, but you were one of the few who seemed able to pull clear quite quickly. Did you feel the pressure easing as you pulled further and further ahead?

    Jehan: I think throughout the weekend so far I’ve been really strong in Sector 3, so I knew that if I just held him off until the chicane and really push for one final sector then I break the DRS. That went to plan, and after I was in the lead by about two seconds I was just trying to manage the gap just in case of a safety car or something, I still had tyres to go for the end.

    FIA Formula 3: Congratulations. Robert moving on to you. A decent recovery after a bit of a sluggish start. Could you talk us through your race?

    Robert Shwartzman: The start didn’t go well for me, I nearly stalled. It was a really risky moment there because I was really, really close to stalling. At the last second I managed to pull back the clutch and at least move from the position. I lost a lot of places, I’m not sure how many, but I think I was in about eighth or ninth position at that time. There was a big mess and fight coming into Turn 1 and 2 and there was quite a close situation, I don’t remember which driver, but I managed to survive that and gain a few positions in the first lap. I think was P6 if I’m not wrong. Then I caught [Bent] Viscaal, he made a mistake in Turn 5 so I used that to my advantage and overtook straight away so as not to lose any time. Basically then I was trying to catch up with the boys in front. I caught Pedro who was fighting with Marcus [Armstrong] and then at some point I got past Pedro and was behind Marcus, but at that time I started to feel the degradation was coming because I think I’d pushed a bit too much at the beginning. After that I was struggling quite a lot with the tyres and it was a really tough race, but I’m happy because we did quite a good recovery after. We had a good battle between me, Jake and Marcus. Unfortunately they collided right in front of me and then in the last laps Pedro was quite close to me, but I think we were all sliding quite a lot because of tyre degradation. I knew that he could make a move but I would have defended it and try to protect my position. At the end of the day we finished where we did. I’m quite happy, after a really bad start I had quite a good recovery, and generally I’m really happy with how the team worked. They gave me some good advice over the radio and also, even though I made a mistake with the tyre management, the car was still really good. That was really important.

    FIA Formula 3: That battle with Jake and Marcus was really exciting, and as you said the two collided. What was your reaction when you saw that happen? Did you feel quite lucky to have avoided being caught up in that?

    Robert: Yeah. I was really surprised because when I exited Turn 6 they were not really close to me. The DRS really works here a lot, and basically I started to defend from Jake because I saw him in my left mirror, so I started to protect my position. Then I saw Marcus round the outside so they basically both came past me side-by-side. Then they both braked really late because they knew I was there as well. I knew that three cars would not fit in that corner so I backed off to try to and regain the position later. Then I saw Jake locking up and I knew something was going to happen. When I saw them collide I just backed off, waited, got past them and that’s it.

    FIA Formula 3: Well done on your result. Pedro moving on to you now. Really quick start and very far up the order throughout the race. Could you talk us through your race today?

    Pedro Piquet: I had a really good start. We were P2 in the beginning, but we were struggling a bit to find the pace. The first few laps I was a bit slow. I tried to fight Jehan, but after that I knew that if I’d tried to defend from everybody I would have finished my tyres. I knew Robert was close, he was in DRS range, so I knew he was going to be a test. After he passed me the car started to improve a bit. I had really good pace throughout the middle of the race, but unfortunately there was always a train of cars and a car with DRS in front of me so it was hard to do something. I tried to do a bit of tyre saving in the middle when I saw all the guys fighting. After Jake and Marcus crashed I tried to follow Robert but the tyres were finished. From my view it was a good race. We were a bit down on the performance level to them, but we’ll work hard to improve the car for the next race and the next event.

    FIA Formula 3: You were running fifth before the clash between Marcus and Jake, to obviously then rise up on to the podium. What was your reaction when you saw that unfolding ahead of you?

    Pedro: It’s not nice for them. You never want to destroy someone’s race but of course you gain positions in the end. If it happens and it helps you it’s better [laughs]. I saw them spinning, braked early, and just tried to avoid them because I knew that maybe a car was going to have spun in the middle of the chicane. After that [Jüri] Vips was quite fast as well. I think he did the whole race in open air, which helps a lot because when you drive behind someone it’s much worse at the end of the race. You get a lot of dirty air. On the last lap I had to do some defending but in the end it was a pretty decent result.

    FIA Formula 3: Well done. Jehan moving back on to you now. We’ve seen lots of fights through the field so far this weekend, Robert proving that. Starting eighth tomorrow on the reverse grid, how are you feeling about your chances of fighting your way up the order?

    Jehan: I think the main thing is to get through the first lap and not to do anything stupid. If I have the same pace as today then I’m pretty confident that I can fight through the field, but I expect all the guys in the top eight still to be pretty quick. It’s not going to be easy but like I said, the main thing is to have a clean first lap and then I think if I have good pace it will be a good race just to have some fun as well. Like Pedro said it helped having clean air today so I could manage my tyres quite easily, but if you’re fighting through the field like Robert had to you get to a stage where you run out of tyres. I expect to have good pace but also not for it to be too easy.

     

  • Daruvala seals back-to-back wins in France

    Daruvala seals back-to-back wins in France

    Jehan Daruvala gets back to back wins in France. An FIA image

    Jehan Daruvala made it back-to-back FIA Formula 3 race wins and three in a row for PREMA Racing, as he came from second to win in Le Castellet, France. There was heartbreak for polesitter Jake Hughes, who lost P1 to the Indian, before making contact with Marcus Armstrong whilst battling for position and dropping to the back of the grid. Robert Shwartzman took advantage of the turmoil to claim P2, with Pedro Piquet completing the podium.

    Hughes made the perfect getaway when the lights went out, standing firm in first and setting the fastest lap. Shwartzman suffered contrasting fortunes and dropped back to 6th, behind his PREMA teammates, as well as Piquet and Bent Viscaal.
    Daruvala had briefly lost second to Piquet with a slow start of his own, but soon reclaimed the position with a move that seemed to take an age. Armstrong and Shwartzman followed their teammate a lap later down the mistral straight, as the Brazilian’s strong start quickly unravelled. Further back, Jüri Vips had been optimistic with an overtake on Alex Peroni and looked to have moved too early, but he earned himself a second shot and made it count for P6.
    Daruvala’s slow start became a distant memory and he started pilling the pressure onto the experienced Brit in front of him, quickly coming into DRS range. The Indian made his pace advantage count and rattled past Hughes in an all too easy move when the Briton ached around a corner too slowly.
    With anger seeping through him, Hughes hurtled back onto the tail of the new race leader, but skidded off track and nearly lost second to Armstrong, who could see his opportunity opening. The Kiwi muscled his way past shortly after, through the tightest of gaps.
    As opposed to ending the battle between them, this only proved to intensify it. Hughes kept his emotions in check to shrewdly slide back into second a lap later, with the aid of DRS. Shwartzman added a third name to the bout as he closed in on the Kiwi, before the duo took advantage of an uncharacteristic wobble from the English driver and both surged past after he went wide.
    Now out of the podium places, the former poleman suffered a bout of red mist in his fury to recover. Shwartzman overtook Armstrong, and Hughes eyed an all too tight gap around the chicane. He attempted the manoeuvre, but lost the rear around Turn 8 and clipped the back of the New Zealand driver, sending them both into a spin. Armstrong managed to recover for fifth, but the HWA RACELAB man plummeted to the back of the grid and offered a heart-breaking apology to his team.
    With bedlam playing out behind him, Daruvala built up a steady 3s lead out in front and seemed assured of the race win heading towards the final lap. Now up to third, a three-way tussle between Shwartzman, Piquet and Vips commenced with little time left. The gap between them was microscopic, but with just a lap to go, there was little time to be gained and the trio retained their positions come the chequered flag.
    Daruvala was first through to secure his second win of the campaign, while Shwartzman followed for a PREMA one-two, with Piquet in third. Vips , Bent Viscaal, Armstrong, Yuki Tsunoda, Peroni, Liam Lawson and David Beckmann followed.
    Campos Racing’s Peroni will start Race 2 in reverse grid pole tomorrow as the F3 grid turn up in the heat in France, at 9.55am local time.
    DRIVER
    TEAM
    1
    Jehan Daruvala
    PREMA Racing
    2
    Robert Shwartzman
    PREMA Racing
    3
    Pedro Piquet
    Trident
    4
    Juri Vips
    Hitech Grand Prix
    5
    Bent Viscaal
    HWA RACELAB
    6
    Marcus Armstrong
    PREMA Racing
    7
    Yuki Tsunoda
    Jenzer Motorsport
    8
    Alex Peroni
    Campos Racing
    9
    Liam Lawson
    MP Motorsport
    10
    David Beckmann
    ART Grand Prix
    11
    Andreas Estner
    Jenzer Motorsport
    12
    Logan Sargeant
    Carlin Buzz Racing
    13
    Ye Yifei
    Hitech Grand Prix
    14
    Richard Verschoor
    MP Motorsport
    15
    Fabio Scherer
    Sauber Junior Team by Charouz
    16
    Alessio Deledda
    Campos Racing
    17
    Raoul Hyman
    Sauber Junior Team by Charouz
    18
    Niko Kari
    Trident
    19
    Felipe Drugovich
    Carlin Buzz Racing
    20
    Simo Laaksonen
    MP Motorsport
    21
    Devlin DeFrancesco
    Trident
    NOT CLASSIFIED
    Jake Hughes
    HWA RACELAB
    Sebastian Fernandez
    Campos Racing
    Max Fewtrell
    ART Grand Prix
    Lirim Zendeli
    Sauber Junior Team by Charouz
    Teppei Natori
    Carlin Buzz Racing
    Leonardo Pulcini
    Hitech Grand Prix
    Christian Lundgaard
    ART Grand Prix
    Keyvan Andres
    HWA RACELAB
    OVERALL FASTEST LAP
    Felipe Drugovich (Carlin Buzz Racing) – 1:52.358 on Lap 19
    FASTEST LAP ELIGIBLE FOR POINTS
    Yuki Tsunoda (Jenzer Motorsport) – 1:53.134 on Lap 17
  • We have the pace to go for the win tomorrow, says Jehan Daruvala

    We have the pace to go for the win tomorrow, says Jehan Daruvala

    Jehan Daruvala (left) at the post-qualifying press conference on Friday. An FIA image

    FIA Formula 3 post qualyfying press conference transcript:

    FIA Formula 3: Hello and welcome to today’s FIA Formula 3 press conference following Qualifying here at Paul Ricard. Joining us today we have our top three drivers from that session. On pole position Jake Hughes of HWA RACELAB, in second place Jehan Daruvala of PREMA Racing and in third place Robert Shwartzman of PREMA Racing. Jake if we can start with you, HWA’s first pole position at this level and it was a really mighty final lap for you to grab pole position. Could you talk us through that lap?

    Jake Hughes: For sure the last lap was really good, without a mistake and as close to the limit as I felt like I could get away with. To be honest though I think we had a good car the whole session. The first lap on the last set was just a compromise because of a lot of traffic in the last corner. Sector 1 especially was just cold tyres. I think I found myself mid-pack after the first lap on the last set. We remained confident, the car was good for the whole session as I said, and I didn’t know I was on pole when I crossed the line. I knew after the first lap that the fastest lap was a .6, so I saw .5 on the dash and thought maybe I had a chance but it wasn’t until I was in Sector 3 that I found out. I’m really happy, and it’s only HWA’s second race in FIA F3 so to get their pole I’m really proud of them and so a big thank you.

    FIA Formula 3: And it’s a really positive way to bounce back from quite a difficult weekend in Barcelona at the start of the season. You must be delighted?

    Jake: Yeah we didn’t score any points. It was a big shame that we had the problem that we did in Qualifying in Barcelona. I think we were fighting for the top five there as well. Obviously we don’t expect to be on pole at every race but fighting for it at least, and it seemed like we could do that even through testing. I’m happy to confirm that let’s say.

    FIA Formula 3: Congratulations. Jehan moving on to you now. You led the majority of the session and had quite a big margin at one point. You didn’t manage to improve on the final lap but you must still be pretty pleased with P2 on the grid?

    Jehan Daruvala: Yeah. To be honest I’m pretty pleased with how the session went in general. Every lap I did I kept improving my driving, and the car was good the whole session. I’m pretty happy with my lap, Jake just did a better job. P2 is still a good place to start tomorrow. Like I said, the car’s strong. We have three cars in the top five clearly we have the pace to go for the win tomorrow.

    FIA Formula 3: It must be really good momentum for yourself as well, following on from the Sunday victory in Spain, to carry this on through to Paul Ricard, so you must be pleased?

    Jehan: I’m pleased. Also we had a decent qualifying session in Barcelona. In Race 1 I had a bad start but that got resolved in Race 2. My main goal tomorrow is to be good off the line and I think we have a good enough car to win the race.

    FIA Formula 3: Thank you. Robert, moving on to you now. Pole position in Spain, P3 here, did you feel that pole was within your reach today? You were always kind of in the mix at the front.

    Robert Shwartzman: Yeah we were quite close. There were a few things that we should have improved, especially me and my driving, but still we were always there. I’m quite happy with P3. It’s a position where we can fight for the win tomorrow. The main job should be tomorrow and we need to push. Big congratulations to Jake because he did a really good job, and also to Jehan. Tomorrow I hope is going to be fair and nice fighting for the win.

    FIA Formula 3: Picking up on what Jehan said about the team performance to start the season, how much of a boost is it for you to see so many PREMA cars so far up the order?

    Robert: It’s really, really good. For PREMA it’s the first year in this championship with this car. We are really competitive. The car feels really good and the team is working really well, so big thanks to them. I worked with them last year and I really enjoyed it, and I’m enjoying working with them even more this year. Everything is going like we’ve planned so we just need to improve a few things, but that’s it.

    FIA Formula 3: Well done. Jake back to you. What are your feelings going into tomorrow’s race and that run down to a quite complex first set of corners? How do you think you’re going to approach that?

    Jake: Well, have a good start obviously [laughs]. I was pretty confident with our starts through testing and in Barcelona, so hopefully that repeats itself. We have good tyres for the race tomorrow. We saved a set in practice so that should help – well, it’s not a disadvantage obviously though it’s not a certainty. The PREMA guys especially had a very good weekend in Barcelona with tyre life, so I’m not expecting an easy race for sure. Hopefully we lead into Turn 1 and, as Robert says, we have a clean fight from there.

  • Jehan Daruvala misses pole by a whisker: F3 qualifying session

    Jehan Daruvala misses pole by a whisker: F3 qualifying session

    Jehan Daruvala

    Le Castellet (France), 21 June 2019: Jake Hughes pulled off the ultimate final lap to steal pole position at the death in FIA Formula 3 qualifying here on Friday. Indian racer Jehan Daruvala thought he had sealed the spot, but the Briton seared around the track on his final attempt to leap up the grid and earn HWA RACELAB their first ever F3 pole, with Robert Shwartzman in third.

    Temperatures had cooled slightly since the morning session and Max Fewtrell was the first out onto the Circuit Paul Ricard, but it was PREMA who once again set the tone with Daruvala and Shwartzman topping the early timesheets.
    Niko Kari had led Free Practice this morning, but his first time was only good enough for seventh. His second shot was more fruitful and he joined the PREMA duo in third. Daruvala was proving stern in first place and Christian Lundgaard twice saw attempts on the position fail, forcing him to settle for second at the midway point.
    Shwartzman had a second attempt on his teammate’s time, as did Leonardo Pulcini, but once again the duo came up short behind the inspired Indian. Despite his domination out in front, it was proving incredibly tight further behind, with less than a second separating the top seventeen.
    Having improved upon his own lap, Daruvala appeared confident out in front when the chequered flag was waved, after his Russian teammate had once again failed to lap quicker. With most of the cars having already passed the line, Hughes quietly went about his business and achieved a feat the others had not, by beating the Indian in every sector to earn his first pole position of the season.
    Hughes and Daruvala finished ahead of Shwartzman, Pedro Piquet, Marcus Armstrong, Leonardo Pulcini, Jüri Vips, Bent Viscaal, Kari and Alex Peroni.
    2019 FIA Formula 3 – Round 2 Qualifying
    DRIVER
    TEAM
    LAPTIME
    LAPS
    1
    Jake Hughes
    HWA RACELAB
    1:49.519
    13
    2
    Jehan Daruvala
    PREMA Racing
    1:49.606
    12
    3
    Robert Shwartzman
    PREMA Racing
    1:49.758
    12
    4
    Pedro Piquet
    Trident
    1:49.944
    13
    5
    Marcus Armstrong
    PREMA Racing
    1:50.066
    12
    6
    Leonardo Pulcini
    Hitech Grand Prix
    1:50.095
    13
    7
    Juri Vips
    Hitech Grand Prix
    1:50.128
    13
    8
    Bent Viscaal
    HWA RACELAB
    1:50.192
    13
    9
    Niko Kari
    Trident
    1:50.253
    12
    10
    Alex Peroni
    Campos Racing
    1:50.316
    14
    11
    Logan Sargeant
    Carlin Buzz Racing
    1:50.345
    12
    12
    Christian Lundgaard
    ART Grand Prix
    1:50.378
    12
    13
    Richard Verschoor
    MP Motorsport
    1:50.451
    12
    14
    Max Fewtrell
    ART Grand Prix
    1:50.456
    13
    15
    Liam Lawson
    MP Motorsport
    1:50.468
    14
    16
    Ye Yifei
    Hitech Grand Prix
    1:50.491
    13
    17
    Lirim Zendeli
    Sauber Junior Team by Charouz
    1:50.510
    14
    18
    Felipe Drugovich
    Carlin Buzz Racing
    1:50.549
    11
    19
    Devlin DeFrancesco
    Trident
    1:50.566
    13
    20
    Simo Laaksonen
    MP Motorsport
    1:50.585
    12
    21
    Teppei Natori
    Carlin Buzz Racing
    1:50.673
    12
    22
    David Beckmann
    ART Grand Prix
    1:50.716
    13
    23
    Fabio Scherer
    Sauber Junior Team by Charouz
    1:50.749
    13
    24
    Raoul Hyman
    Sauber Junior Team by Charouz
    1:50.791
    12
    25
    Keyvan Andres
    HWA RACELAB
    1:51.068
    13
    26
    Sebastian Fernandez
    Campos Racing
    1:51.272
    14
    27
    Yuki Tsunoda
    Jenzer Motorsport
    1:51.987
    12
    28
    Andreas Estner
    Jenzer Motorsport
    1:52.066
    14
    29
    Alessio Deledda
    Campos Racing
    1:54.226
    13
  • Advait Deodhar gets podium at Brands Hatch, moves up to 3rd in Championship

    Advait Deodhar gets podium at Brands Hatch, moves up to 3rd in Championship

    Advait Deodhar who finished 3rd at Brands Hatch in Elite 2 on June 2. Photo by Team Deodhar

    Brands Hatch, 2 June 2019: Indian race driver Advait Deodhar notched up a creditable podium in Race 1 of the Elite 2 Division of the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series in 2019 on Sunday.

    The reigning Elite Club division champion, now competing in the higher Elite 2 Division, despite having to change three teams notched up his first podium in the third round here. He did get a rookie podium in Round 1 at Valencia and managed two top-10 finishes in the second round in Franciacorta. The Mumbai-based driver became the first Indian to win at Nascar last year when he won the Elite division championship in April 2018 when he won the final race held at the Circuit Zolder in Belgium.

    In a close qualifying at Brands Hatch, Deodhar. made it into Super-pole (similar to Q3 in F1) for the first time for the top-12 shootout. Then he put in a lap that placed him 8th on the grid for Race 1.

    “I was not entirely pleased with the lap as I believe I could have got a better exit out of the last corner but then again, we can do a lot of things better in hindsight,” he quipped after the qualification session.

    In Race 1 over 30 laps, Deodhar started in Row 4 on the outside line. Euro NASCAR uses the rolling start procedure and the Indian missed gear shift at the start which dropped him down to 10th into the first corner. But he managed to gain a position back and then two more after a spin in front of him. A few laps later, another incident brought out the safety car, allowing the field to bunch up which gave him a renewed chance to fight at the front.

    Deodhar then pushed hard and made his way up to 3rd, finishing just 0.7 seconds behind British driver, Scott Jeffs. He needed just one more lap to pass him as he had the pace but ran out of laps. However, due to another incident earlier in the race, Scott was given a time penalty, which promoted the Indian to second place.

    Advait Deodhar on the podium at Brands Hatch.

    In Race 2, Deodhar started on P6. The series rules state that the best lap times from Race 1 dictate the starting order for Race 2. The Indian racer managed to put in the 6th fastest time in Race 1 where the top-8 were separated by a few tenths of a second.

    The tyres he used were very worn out as he had to use them in Qualifying, Race 1 & Race 2. A clean battle for positions 2 to 6 in the first 18 odd laps allowed the leader to run away into the distance, with the next 5 including Deodhar fighting for positions. Then an incident brought about the safety car and the pack was bunched together for the last seven laps. Deodhar then got a fantastic start and managed to get up to 4th on the restart but a mistake on the next lap saw him drop down to 6th and he ended up finishing in the same spot.

    The Elite 2 category podium helped Deodhar take the 3rd position overall in the Championship standings. “I’m proud of it. A lot of hard work and effort has gone into getting behind the wheel and I’m going to fight for this Championship,” he said after the races. The 29-year old is now having 172 points and with just 24 points behind the championship leader, he hopes to do well in the remaining four rounds.

    2019 Calendar 

    • April 13 – 14: Valencia -Spain
    • May 11 – 12: Franciacorta, Italy
    • June 1 – 2: Brands Hatch – UK
    • June 22 – 23: Most – Czech Republic
    • July 13 – 14: Venray – Holland
    • Sep 21 – 22: Hockenheim – Germany
    • Oct 5 – 6: Zolder – Belgium