California native gets campaign back on-track at MonzaDetermined effort secures 20-year-old two top six finishesYoung American consolidates top ten spot in standings

Gustavo Menezes bounced back from a disappointing visit to Pau in the fiercely-contested FIA Formula 3 European Championship with a feisty performance that produced a brace of top six finishes on his competitive debut at Monza – the fastest circuit on the 2015 calendar. Having endured his first non-scoring weekend in nine months a fortnight earlier in France, the talented young American travelled to Monza – a real old-school circuit brimming with history, heritage and tradition – determined to return to the sharp end. The legendary Italian Grand Prix venue couldn’t be much more different to tight-and-twisty Pau in its layout – with the F3 cars reaching an eye-watering 280km/h (175mph) down the long straights and averaging almost 200km/h (125mph) around the 5.8km lap – and it was a challenge that Menezes clearly relished. After struggling to establish a baseline set-up during testing and practice, however – languishing unaccustomedly down the order on the timesheets – the highly-rated California native’s woes were then compounded as he missed out on the crucial tow in the first qualifying session. That left him just 22nd on the grid amongst the 35 protagonists, barely a second shy of the outright pace in an incredibly closely-matched field that unites the indisputable crème de la crème of up-and-coming open-wheel stars, with European F3 commonly regarded as the toughest junior single-seater series on the planet. A significantly better showing in the next session secured Menezes tenth position for race two and ninth for race three, albeit ruing a small error that likely cost him a slot on the third row. A gritty effort in the opening encounter saw the 20-year-old latch onto the back of the leading pack and make up an impressive nine places behind the wheel of his Jagonya Ayam with Carlin-run single-seater, keeping his nose clean and exploiting every opportunity to advance to 13th at the chequered flag. One of his trademark lightning getaways in race two vaulted Menezes immediately up to seventh as he outfoxed a number of his rivals into the first chicane. After gaining a spot following a coming-together directly ahead – which filled his helmet with loose gravel – he subsequently gained another by pulling off a neat manoeuvre on Pietro Fittipaldi, grandson of two-time Formula 1 World Champion and Indianapolis 500 hero Emerson Fittipaldi. Thereafter, the WH Sports Group protégé focussed his attentions on fending off the threat posed by George Russell and Brandon Maisano behind, and his reward for a dogged drive was fifth place when the race was curtailed following a collision, banishing his recent run of ill-fortune in fine style. He added to that with a strong sixth in the final outing, after executing another electric start and braving it around the outside of the first chicane, going on to indulge in an entertaining wheel-to-wheel scrap with ex-Ferrari junior Maisano until the red flags flew once more. The result consolidated Menezes’ top ten position in the title standings – despite races two and three yielding only half points due to their premature conclusion – and he now has his attentions turned towards the next round at Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium, widely held to be the world’s ultimate drivers’ circuit and one where on his debut last year, he excelled with pole position and two podium finishes.“It was a decent weekend at Monza overall,” reflected the former Jim Russell Driver Scholarship Award winner. “It’s a circuit that generates great racing, with all the slipstreaming and overtaking. It might have lost some of the edge that it notoriously had back in the old days, but it’s still a lot of fun to drive and Parabolica unquestionably remains one of the world’s classic corners.“I had a lot of work to do in race one from so far down the grid, but I got a good start and was able to take advantage of my experience at every safety car re-start to make up ground. Thirteenth was a solid finish in the circumstances with not many retirements ahead.“Race two was pretty wild, with plenty going on the whole way through! I got a mega start and snatched several places early on, but our main issue over the weekend was a lack of top speed – something you really need at Monza with all the drafting – and every time we came onto a straight or the safety car appeared and bunched everybody up, I knew I was in trouble. It’s extremely difficult to defend in that situation – the pressure was relentless and I really had to race hard to keep the others behind.“I got another great start in race three, and then I had the battle with Maisano. I had just pulled back alongside him after he had towed past me for the second time, when the safety car came out – and due to concerns over the number of accidents further down the field, we never got going again. That was a real shame, as another top five had definitely been on the cards.“It was frustrating to only score half points, but having been at the wrong end of the timesheets in practice, to leave with a couple of top six finishes was a very positive outcome – and a welcome tonic after such a disastrous weekend at Pau! I feel like we’re back on-track – the whole team really knuckled down in preparation for Monza, and that was reflected in the results – although we need to continue to work hard on our qualifying form, because we’re still not quite there yet in that respect.“I can’t wait to get to Spa – it’s just pure, unadulterated fun. It’s my favourite track on the calendar and everybody loves racing there, but now it’s time to find out who loves it the most! I did well there last year as a European F3 rookie, which gives me a lot of confidence 12 months on. When everything is hooked-up and you’re at one with your car, Spa is truly a phenomenal place – so the aim is to go back again and really tear it up!”