ADD Motorsports driver Mitchell Gilbert put on a season’s best performance to finally secure his first points in the FIA Formula 3 European Championship.
The 18-year-old was delighted with his form at Nurburgring that saw an eighth place finish and his most complete weekend this year. The Twickenham racer believes he has now turned the corner after a difficult start since stepping up levels. And he has vowed there’s a lot more to come from him during the remainder of the season.
He said: “It feels really good to get the first points, but it’s more of a relief than anything else. It was a good weekend, I raced well, but we know we can still build on this and do even better and that’s definitely what we are aiming for. “I was good in qualifying, but know I can be quicker and finish higher.
“We have a lot more potential than finishing eighth, so we’ll keep trying to push on – a fourth place is definitely achievable.”Mitchell finished in 12th and 11th positions during qualifying, but was disappointed not to have finished even higher.He said: “It was a short track and really tight. Straight away everyone was really close. There was just one tenth of a second between where I finished and seventh and fifth place, so I was disappointed not finish on the other side of that tenth as the qualifying races set up your whole weekend.
“But it was really good to be up there at the top end.”
Mitchell finished the first race where he began, in 12th, finished 14th position in Race 2 and then secured his first points of the season with an 8th place in Race 3.He continued: “It was difficult to overtake but I was pretty fast in the first race. I got stuck behind a train of about eight cars and everyone pretty much finished where they started.
“I was bit more inconsistent in the second race and dropped back a few places and again found it difficult to overtake from the back of the long chain I was in.
“I felt as though I was struggling a bit in the third race. I didn’t feel nearly as good or fast as the first.“But I managed to keep up with the drivers in front of me which was a really positive thing to take away from the weekend. Knowing you can not be at your best but still compete at the right end of the grid.”Mitchell now has official and private tests before his next showing at Zandvoort.
He added: “I feel like I turned the corner testing before Norisring, although it didn’t all come together during the races. This time it felt like it did a lot more.“It’s great to get the first points and feel a lot happier coming away. “But we have a few tests now to keep working hard on things - there is a lot more to come.”
