•Young American produces energetic effort at Red Bull Ring•Jagonya Ayam with Carlin ace showcases superb racecraft•Highly-rated Californian back on-form to seal top ten double

Gustavo Menezes was the architect of an energetic performance at the Red Bull Ring, battling his way to a brace of points-scoring results to set himself up for a flying finish to his sophomore campaign in the fiercely-disputed FIA Formula 3 European Championship. Having headed back home to the States for a mid-season time-out after Zandvoort, Menezes returned to action at the Austrian Grand Prix venue and instantly demonstrated the benefits of his break by lapping up towards the sharp end throughout practice. Traffic just when he needed it the least in qualifying, however, restricted the talented young American to a disappointed tenth on the grid for race one, 14th for race two and 12th for race three amongst the 34 high-calibre contenders – the indisputable crème de la crème of up-and-coming open-wheel stars, with European F3 widely regarded as the toughest junior single-seater series on the planet. To put that into perspective, less than two tenths-of-a-second – barely the blink of an eye – would have hauled Menezes all the way up to fifth in the incredibly closely-matched field, but he swiftly set about gaining ground. In the Saturday morning encounter, an assertive start vaulted the 20-year-old California native up to eighth as he held his nerve on the outside of the first corner, but as the pack concertinaed together later around the lap, he was shuffled back to tenth. With clear air in front of him, he immediately began punching in purple sector times behind the wheel of his #4 Jagonya Ayam with Carlin-prepared, Volkswagen-powered Dallara single-seater, overhauling both Mikkel Jensen and Sérgio Sette Câmara and leaving them trailing. With the bit well-and-truly between his teeth and posting fastest laps like they were going out of fashion, Menezes proceeded to grittily chase down seventh-placed Alexander Albon, flashing past the chequered flag less than 1.8 seconds in his rival’s wake. A similarly determined effort and a superbly aggressive opening lap in the afternoon contest saw the Williams-Harfield Sports Group protégé settle into a multi-car tussle over fifth that included race one winner Jake Dennis, scrapping enthusiastically with Jensen and Callum Ilott, with whom he swapped positions on a number of occasions. Menezes decisively resolved the issue in his favour on the penultimate lap with an incisive manoeuvre on the run down to Turn Two to snare the final point on offer. With the last outing the next day abandoned due to heavy rain without a racing lap having been completed, the former Jim Russell Driver Scholarship Award winner left the Red Bull Ring sitting equal-12th in the standings – and with his tail up as the 2015 season speeds towards its conclusion.“We definitely needed the break after Zandvoort, which had mentally been a difficult weekend,” he reflected. “It was very well-timed and enabled us to regroup and come back stronger in Austria. The Red Bull Ring is one of my favourite tracks and somewhere I’ve tended to go well – it’s fast, has fantastic scenery and the elevation changes make it a great circuit to drive.“We were quick straight off the bat in free practice and knew we were in pretty decent shape. Unfortunately, in the first qualifying session I came across traffic towards the end of my run and made a few small mistakes which cost us a better grid slot, and in the next session I was fourth until I got held up by several slower cars and dropped down the order. Realistically, we should have been starting somewhere within the front three rows, so it was frustrating to be out-of-position but at the same time we were confident we had the pace to fight our way through.“I got a good start in race one and edged alongside the driver in seventh on the first lap, but then I found myself boxed in on the inside with nowhere to go. The Carlin boys had given me a great car, though, and once everything settled down, I was able to put in qualifying-style laps – I think my second and third-best times would still have been good enough for fastest lap! We were on an absolute charge, which was a fantastic feeling. It was such a shame about qualifying and the delay on the first lap, because without that we’d have been on for a mega result.“Race two was a different challenge starting from 14th. It was a hard battle and I was happy with my racecraft and speed – to climb up to tenth without any real dramas ahead was very satisfying. We weren’t gifted anything in either of Saturday’s races – we really had to work for the points.“On Sunday, I would say conditions were probably on the limit, but I was keen to give it a go. I enjoy racing in the rain and have always been quick in the wet. I thought we had a genuine chance to crack the top five if not the podium and show everybody what we’re capable of, but we’ll just have to do it another time. Ultimately, the biggest positive was that we were on the pace throughout, which was a real tonic after Zandvoort. Now we need to keep this momentum going and focus on putting it all together for the final three weekends.”