Forza Racing completed the WSK season on top of the podium after its young Russian star, Robert Shwartzman blew away the opposition at Castelletto di Branduzzo (3 November).
Jamie Croxford’s posting on his Facebook page showed the immense pride he took in seeing the diminutive St. Petersburg teenager take the chequered flag well clear of his nearest rivals: “WSK Final Cup Champions 2013!! Absolutely fantastic result for Forza and Robert Shwartzman!! Shows you that in the end, hard work pays off!!! Massive thanks to all my team!”
Facing a field of 66 other competitors in the KFJ class always meant that Forza and Shwartzman faced stiff opposition - but the 2012 European Championship-winning team proved more than a match for its rivals.
Robert posted the 2nd-fastest lap overall in timed qualifying and went on to win the first of his four heats. However, he was unable to finish higher than 14th in the following race, due to an opening lap crash, despite again being the 2nd-fastest driver on the track.
A 2nd in his third heat – in wet conditions - was followed by a comfortable win in his fourth. With a penalty point awarded for each place lower than 1st, Shwartzman had accumulated 16 points, putting him 3rd overall in the intermediate rankings. This put him in a great starting grid position for Pre-Final A – the first of two races to determine who would make the cut for the main final.
A hard-fought race concluded with the Forza driver crossing the finishing line in 4th position, with his team satisfied that he was amongst the pace-setters: “The pre-final was very difficult for us because Robert’s wet tyres had done one more heat than his immediate competition,” explained Jamie. “Our aim was to finish in the top three to five, which would put us in a strong position for the main final. The start was difficult, due to starting on the outside of the grid, however Robert did a solid job to finish 4th and that put him 8th on the grid for the main final.”
During the initial stages of the final proper, Shwartzman maintained a watching brief as four drivers took turns to dispute the lead. As the race entered its second half, Robert saw his opportunity and seized the initiative with a series of incisive passing manoeuvres. With the nose of his Tony Kart breaking into clean air, the Russian set about putting clear daylight between himself and the Romanian Petru Florescu and the hugely experienced Alessio Lorandi. With Florescu unable to match the leader’s pace, and Lorandi even further back, Shwartzman was able to reel off the final laps with over three seconds in hand over the chasing pair.
“Robert had a good start and it was obvious that our pace was very strong, as he managed to cut through the pack. He got into 3rd, maintained very strong pace and managed to reel in (Daniel) Ticktum and (Enaam) Ahmed. A couple of very decisive manoeuvres got him into the lead. From there Robert showed maturity to keep his focus and pull away from the rest of the pack.”
Croxford added: “We’ve put in a lot of hard work to get Robert to where he is now. He’s always had the speed but channelling his raw pace into results has been our main focus. To get this result with him is a fantastic achievement, for both him and the team. We now head to Bahrain in 3rd place in the CIK FIA World Championship (23rd November) and, hopefully, we can at least hold our position, if not improve!”
