with promise of more to come
ADD Motorsports driver Mitchell Gilbert was delighted to post his first points of the season after a brilliant weekend in the second round of the FIA Formula 3 European Championship.
The 19-year-old ironed out some issues with his starts to finish sixth in the first race and secure eight championship points.
And encouragingly for the season ahead, he was unlucky not to have at least one other Top 10 finish over the next two races after some much improved performances.
He said: “It’s a bit of a relief to get the points. It’s so competitive, if you make one little mistake there’s someone there ready to take them off you.
“But it’s really good to get on the board, it gives you a good platform to build from.
“To be 12th, 13th, 14th in qualifying and to get up to sixth, or even be in the mix, is a really good effort.
“It’s a big step forward for us and it was a much better weekend all round.
“We have really evolved and we feel there’s more to come if we can keep this up.”
Mitchell, racing for Fortec Motorsports this season, used the second free practice to get his starts right – something that had troubled him during the first round at Silverstone. It certainly paid off, as they were noticeably better in each race.
The first qualifier was incredibly tight – just two and a half tenths separated second place to 12th position.
It gave Mitchell a good starting point for Race 1 and he made the most of it, overtaking several drivers to finish sixth and secure eight valuable points.
He continued: “We went to Hockenheim with a new strategy and it made a big
“We had a lot more grip at the end of the race and we were really coming at other drivers.
“I finished sixth after starting out in 12th place – there wasn’t really much more we could have done.”
Mitchell qualified 13th and 14tth for the next two races. The Australian, now living in Twickenham, found other drivers hampering his progress during qualifying for the second - and for the third race was just four tenths off a second place finish, again showing how tight things were at the top.
Mitchell began Race 2 in 13th place and again got off to a great start. He was 9th until the penultimate lap and catching up to the battle for sixth, when the safety car came out.
He was overtaken soon after and in 10th place with a lap to go. Unfortunately, he became stuck in first gear and just dropped out of the points, finishing 11th.
Mitchell began Race 3 in 14th place and was eighth around the half way mark.
But a large number of the drivers – including Mitchell - were given a drive-through penalty for exceeding track limits.
This left him in 21st place, so he was pleased to finish 14th by the end of the race.
Mitchell now heads to Pau, France, in a matter of days for the third round of the championship and is determined to keep the momentum going.
He added: “It was a really good weekend all in all. I thought the penalty in the third race was pretty harsh, but we were much faster and with a little more luck could have been Top 10 again. If we can sort out qualifying, we’ll be right up there again this week, I’m sure.
“I’ve not been to this track, I don’t think many of the drivers have. But all we have to do is not push too hard in qualifying and we can definitely make the Top 6 again.
“I’m hoping to carry on from where we left off this week and get some more points on the board.”
