Risky catch up at the Temple of Speed

04/05/2017

At Monza the world could see again how competitive the FIA F3 European Championship is. Racing ‘the temple of speed’ was all about the fine details and heaving that little bit of luck. After modest performances in qualifying the four drivers of Van Amersfoort Racing were forced to a risky catch up.

Getting a tow from a teammate at the long straights is one of the exotics of Monza. You need the slipstream to gain that little bit of time to be well into the top 10 in qualifying. Joey Mawson settled for 10^th position on the grid for race 1, Harrison Newey, Pedro Piquet and David Beckmann had to start from the second half of the grid.

And then it all comes down of making the best out of it. Harrison Newey showed his skills in the second race. The Briton started 11^th on the grid and battled his way up to fight for fourth position. Unfortunately, he collided with his competitor in front and was forced to retire with a damaged suspension.

The best performance of all four Van Amersfoort Racing drivers was set by Brazilian Pedro Piquet. In the last race, the second year F3 driver finished in seventh position, scoring 8 championship points. A good performance considering his 15th position on the starting grid, thus gaining 8 positions.

Rob Niessink, CEO of Van Amersfoort Racing: “History shows that we have the potential to battle for the podium at Monza, even holding the lap record before the event. The good performances in winter testing were accordingly. This weekend however we lost ground during qualifying, resulting in a difficult scenario. Unfortunately, we also had to experience how our own drivers collided with each other in two different occasions. Resulting in damages, retirements and drive through penalties. All factors will be investigated thoroughly by the team. We won’t leave any stone unturned to improve the results we currently have.”

Race 1
1.   Lando Norris Carlin Dallara/Volkswagen   35m00.127s (20 laps)
2.   Jehan Daruvala Carlin Dallara/Volkswagen   +0.649s
3.   Ferdinand Habsburg Carlin Dallara/Volkswagen   +5.360s
14.   Joey Mawson Van Amersfoort Racing Dallara/Mercedes   +48.992s
16.   Pedro Piquet Van Amersfoort Racing Dallara/Mercedes   +1 Lap
17.   Harrison Newey Van Amersfoort Racing Dallara/Mercedes   +1 Lap
DNF   David Beckmann Van Amersfoort Racing Dallara/Mercedes

Race 2
1.   Joel Eriksson Motopark Dallara/Volkswagen   34m53.980s (20 laps)
2.   Lando Norris Carlin Dallara/Volkswagen   +0.735s
3.   Mick Schumacher Prema Powerteam Dallara/Mercedes   +9.037s
15.   David Beckmann Van Amersfoort Racing Dallara/Mercedes   +1m44.114s
16.   Joey Mawson Van Amersfoort Racing Dallara/Mercedes   +1m50.735s
DNF Harrison Newey Van Amersfoort Racing Dallara/Mercedes
DNF Pedro Piquet Van Amersfoort Racing Dallara/Mercedes

Race 3
1.   Callum Ilott Prema Powerteam Dallara/Mercedes   35m05.538s (20 laps)
2.   Lando Norris Carlin Dallara/Volkswagen   +0.736s
3.   Maximilian Gunther Prema Powerteam Dallara/Mercedes   +2.705s
7.   Pedro Piquet Van Amersfoort Racing Dallara/Mercedes   +13.627s
14.   David Beckmann Van Amersfoort Racing Dallara/Mercedes   +28.094s
15.   Harrison Newey Van Amersfoort Racing Dallara/Mercedes   +29.742s
16.   Joey Mawson Van Amersfoort Racing Dallara/Mercedes   +1 Lap

Championship standings

Drivers
1. Joel Eriksson 104; 2. Lando Norris 103; 3. Callum Ilott 76; 11. Joey Mawson (VAR) 14; 12. Harrison Newey (VAR) 11; 14. Pedro Piquet (VAR) 8.

Teams
1. Prema Powerteam 176; 2. Carlin 148; 3. Motopark 145; 4. Hitech Grand Prix 73; 5. Van Amersfoort Racing 55.

Rookie
1. Lando Norris 140; 2. Mick Schumacher 101; 3. Jehan Daruvala 96; 4. Joey Mawson (VAR) 75.