Two podium finishes from the final three rounds of the Cooper Tires British Formula 3 International Series at Germany’s Nurburgring over the weekend, 21st/22nd September, enabled Double R Racing’s Antonio Giovinazzi to become 2013 Vice-Champion.
With second place in round 10, sixth in round 11 and then third position in round 12 at the wheel of his Dallara-Mercedes, the Italian took his podium tally for the British season to seven and was able to see-off rival William Buller in the championship by a single point.
Adding to the celebrations at the Woking squad, female racer Tatiana Calderón superbly claimed her maiden podium finish with an outstanding third place in round 11 on Saturday. Making history with the result, the Colombian is the first lady racer to ever stand on the International Class podium in British F3. As a reward, she received the ‘Mobil Service Centre Master of the Weekend’ trophy.
“What an absolutely fantastic weekend for Double R Racing”, said team principal Anthony ‘Boyo’ Hieatt, “We always knew coming into the weekend winning the championship was very unlikely, but for Antonio to end the British F3 season as Vice-Champion is outstanding.
“Tatiana’s podium was unbelievably well deserved, she’s battled so hard to improve all year and to become the first female in the history of the championship to climb onto the main podium really is a fantastic achievement.”
Indonesian 16-year-old Sean Gelael, the youngest competitor in the category this season, wasn’t able to add to his tally of three podiums during the British F3 finale but did secure a pair of seventh place results in the first two outings of the weekend. In the end, the young rookie was just edged back to eighth in the championship by team-mate Calderón by one point.
“Sean has had a very good first year in F3, we’re just disappointed for him he wasn’t able to end the season back on the podium”, added Hieatt, “He’s driven well this weekend, he was just a bit unlucky really – especially being hit in the last race – but, overall, it’s been a strong campaign.”
Double R ends British F3 season with eleven podiumsQualifying third fastest for the first race of the weekend, Giovinazzi was effectively elevated into second prior to the start when Buller’s car had to be pushed into the pitlane after an issue with a backfire which momentarily set alight the air box.
When the action finally got underway following the delayed start, the Double R man produced an excellent getaway and pressured pole-starter Jordan King heavily on the run to Turn One but there was no opportunity to pass. Thereafter, Giovinazzi ran in second place to the flag to secure his sixth podium of the British F3 season and move to within one point of second in the standings.
Calderón started ahead of Gelael, the pair lining-up seventh and eighth on the grid following Buller’s removal from the equation, and the Colombian climbed into sixth position at Turn One with Gelael taking seventh at the next left-hander.
The Indonesian teenager then attacked his team-mate mid-lap to move into sixth and the order stayed the same until the penultimate tour when Calderón, who had been piling on the pressure to Gelael, produced a superb pass around the outside at Turn One. Braking later, she then kept her foot planted on the accelerator on the exit and had the line for the second turn to brilliantly regain sixth.
For Saturday afternoon’s ‘reverse grid’ round 11, Gelael lined-up on the front-row with Calderón third and Giovinazzi in seventh place. Unfortunately for Gelael, though, he wasn’t able to make the most of his second position starting slot and was elbowed down to fifth on the opening lap, a spot he just managed to hold onto while under pressure from Giovinazzi.
Calderón, meanwhile, held third position superbly until lap five when Felipe Guimaraes managed to edge ahead but the fiesty Double R racer wouldn’t be denied the chance of her maiden podium and moved back into third on lap eight at the expense of Nicholas Latifi.
Underlining the tremendous improvement she has made during her first British F3 campaign, the Colombian comfortably held third during the second half of the 16-lapper to eventually take the chequered flag four seconds clear of Latifi, sparking emotional celebrations in the Double R camp after a sensational performance.
Gelael remained in fifth place until lap five and although slipping to 10th position, and then having an unfortunate spin on lap seven, he recovered well and battled back into seventh place. During the closing stages he actually closed on team-mate Giovinazzi, just 1.4 seconds splitting them at the flag.
Going into the last race of the season on Sunday morning, Giovinazzi held second in the standings four points ahead of Buller and began the race in third position behind the Northern Irishman. Even though the Double R man had to be satisfied with holding station throughout the encounter, it was enough to seal the Vice-Champion’s position.
Calderón ran in fifth place early on but slipped to eighth shortly after and remained there to the finish. Contact for Gelael at mid-distance, from an errant Spike Goddard, meant the first year racer had to pit for his Dallara F312 to be checked over and the resulting drop to 11th place, just outside the points-paying top 10, enabled Calderón to pip him for seventh in the standings.
With the British F3 season now over, Double R Racing’s focus turns solely to its dovetailed campaign in the FIA Formula 3 European Championship. Zandvoort in The Netherlands will host rounds 22, 23 and 24 of the European season next weekend, 28th/29th September.
Final Provisional 2013 Cooper Tires British F3 International Series Standings:2nd Antonio Giovinazzi, 135pts; 7th Tatiana Calderón, 79pts; 8th Sean Gelael, 78pts
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