The weekend on the Nürburgring, where the fifth and sixth race of the German Formula 3 Championship were held, started with a bit of bad luck. Nevertheless, it ended on a positive note…
Thursday morning, all drivers had a training session at their disposal, immediately followed by the first qualifying. During the training however, there was an engine problem and Frédéric was forced to withdraw from qualifying before it even started. Vervisch had to start the first race from last place on the grid. “It’s a pity, but I won’t let myself be discouraged by this failure”, Fred explained after the timed session. And he was right, because in second qualifying, the 21 year old Belgian drove a magnificent lap, which secured him a spot on the first row for race 2.
Vervisch started race 1 directly by overtaking some of his opponents. After one lap he had already moved up from 20th to 11th position. A Safety Car procedure however slowed Frédéric down and it took a long time before he could finally open the hostilities again. In the end he was rewarded with a strong sixth place. “Keeping the circonstances in mind, I’m very happy with this result. It’s a shame that I was not able to overtake more drivers due to the Safety Car. My car was also slightly damaged after I had to avoid an opponent who spun”, our man told after the race.
But things would get a lot better! In the second race Frédéric started in second place and overtook Van Dam at the start. The Dutchmen tried to pass the driver from JB Motorsport again in the first corner, but he made a mistake under braking and went off. “After Van Dam was gone, I was able to control the race from the lead and drove the fastest lap too, which is worth an important extra point for the championship. I would like to dedicate this victory to my engineer Michiel Gommers, who leaves the team after this weekend.”
In the championship standings, the driver “Made in Belgium” is still lying second, only two points behind leader Van Dam.
Next month, the Formula 3’s return to the Nürburgring.
Results Race 1:1. Carlo Van Dam, 12 laps in 26:13.0342. Nico Verdonck, +3.3243. Christian Vietoris, +6.638...6. Frédéric, +17.888
Results Race 2:1. Frédéric, 15 laps in 25:16.1072. Christian Vietoris, +8.2753. Recardo Bruins Choi, +8.791 Championship1. Carlo Van Dam, 52 points 2. Frédéric, 50 points3. Nico Verdonck, 38 points
