after best ever Championship weekend
ADD Motorsports driver Mitchell Gilbert celebrated his birthday in style with his most impressive weekend so far in the FIA Formula 3 European Championship.
The Australian finished sixth and fifth in the last two races to score more points at Pau than he managed during the whole of last season.
And after getting back to what he knows he is capable of over the past couple of rounds, he is sure a podium is now not far away.
Mitchell, who turned 20 on Saturday, said: “It was my best weekend by a long way and I got more points this weekend than the whole of last year.
“It’s been a long time coming, but I feel I’m back to where I should be.
“The pace has been there, but it seems something has always gone wrong, so it’s really good to get some positive results.
“It was a great way to celebrate my birthday in the end, but I want to keep going from here.
“We have the pace and the car is feeling really good, we think podiums are just around the corner.”
Mitchell, now living in Twickenham and driving for Fortec Motorsports, was in the more difficult group for qualifying, which had been split into two for the Pau street track.
He finished ninth in the first qualifier meaning he started Race One in 18th place.
However, the first race was over almost as soon as it started for Mitchell after another driver ploughed into his rear and overturned, just two corners into the first lap.
But Mitchell finished fourth and third in the next two qualifiers, leaving him in a much better position for the remaining races.
Race Two was Mitchell’s first in the rain since last October and on a street track with little room for error, he was understandably nervous.
The first five laps were behind the safety car and after moving into sixth from his start position of eight, the drivers behind him had caught up.
When they started racing again with a few laps to go he was overtaken - and was then one of a number of cars involved in a large crash.
Despite being forced to continue the race without a front wing, Mitchell came out of the crash having gained a place to finish brilliantly in sixth.
Mitchell then went one better in Race 3. He started sixth and overtook someone early on and then managed to stay in fifth for the remainder of the race.
Mitchell added: “I was quite slow in Race Two, so to finish sixth – and without a front wing for so long – was really positive. Even when it’s not going great and you’re still sixth, you know you’re doing well.
“Race Three was really good. I could have maybe caught up fourth place if the safety car hadn’t come out.
“It was a really positive weekend. We have learnt so much about the car over the last two weekends, we know now what we need to do to stay in these positions and move on.
“It was my first Top 5 in the Championship which is a great feeling, but we think there’s lots more to come over the rest of the season.
