British motorsport team Double R Racing is gearing up for one of its biggest race meetings of the year this coming weekend, 6th/7th July, as Zandvoort in The Netherlands hosts the 23rd edition of the standalone RTL GP Masters of Formula 3.Along with the end-of-year Macau F3 Grand Prix, the Masters is a world renowned event and one of the true crown jewels in the global Formula 3 calendar. Boasting an incredibly impressive roll call of former winners, the list includes 2008 FIA Formula One World Champion Lewis Hamilton, fellow F1 racer Paul Di Resta and multiple Grand Prix winner David Coulthard.
Woking-based Double R, which competes in both the FIA Formula 3 European Championship and Cooper Tires British F3 International Series, will field three cars this weekend at Zandvoort for its regular 2013 trioAntonio Giovinazzi, Sean Gelael and Tatiana Caldern.Italys Giovinazzi is already a race winner this year having claimed his maiden success during the second round of the British F3 campaign at Silverstone Grand Prix Circuit in May. He also became the teams first FIA Formula 3 European Championship points scorer at Brands Hatch, also back in May.Indonesian 16-year-old Gelael has two podiums to his credit so far this year in his rookie F3 season, both coming during the Silverstone British F3 event where he was widely believed to have become the youngest ever competitor to achieve an outright International Class podium in the series.Caldern, meanwhile, has been making similarly strong progress throughout the year in both of her dovetailed campaigns in the UK and Europe. The Colombian has a best result of seventh place to her credit so far, taken during round two of the British F3 season.While the Double R rookies go into the weekend with a lack of experience of the 2.6-mile Zandvoort track, which is situated on the west coast of The Netherlands, they also need to adjust to the use of Kumho tyres for the Masters of F3. Ordinarily, Hankook tyres are utilised in the European series with Cooper the rubber of choice in British F3.Were really looking forward to being back at Zandvoort, the Masters is always a great event, said team principal Anthony Boyo Hieatt, Theres so much heritage to it, Zandvoort is a real challenge and so itll be fantastic experience for Antonio, Sean and Tatiana.
Were not setting any goals other than to go out there and do the best we can. Theres a lot for all three drivers to learn, the circuit and the Kumho tyres, but were confident we can have a strong weekend and make some good progress.This weekends event marks the start of a busy few days for Double R with rounds 16, 17 and 18 of the FIA F3 European Championship taking place just a week later at Germanys Norisring. In terms of the schedule for the RTL GP Masters of Formula 3, free practice will take place this Friday, 5th July, with qualifying on Saturday, 6th July, and the race itself on Sunday, 7th July, at 13.30 (local time).
