After two difficult events in Holland and Austria, Dorian Boccolacci rejoined the frontrunners at the ninth race of the European Formula 3 Championship on the Portuguese track of Portimao. Despite a series of embarrassing setbacks, the driver from Team France FFSA had an encouraging meeting with interesting performances – including a top 10 in the last race – and most importantly found the confidence to address the remaining races in the best conditions.
Preliminary tests had been scheduled earlier in the week to allow drivers and teams to become familiar with the layout used for the first time in F3. The two drivers from Team Signature found it hard to shine on this occasion. This made it hard for them to efficiently make adjustments for the official start of the competition on Friday morning. “I admit I was a little worried at the end of the two days of testing,” said Dorian. “My times as well as those of my team-mates were off the mark. We started to work seriously with the team. The car was much better on Friday and I had better times.”
Because of several changes of direction during briefings about the tolerance granted for the limits of the track, Dorian could not benefit from his fastest laps. The timesheets showed a reduced gap of 5 or 6 tenths to the fastest, but in reality Dorian was able to run at 2.5 tenths off the lead. “Without confusion over the rules, I would have had my place in the top five for Races 2 and 3. The outcome would not have been the same ...”
14th on the starting grid for Race 1, the Lotus F1 Junior Team driver was surprised by the surprising application of a new sequence of starting lights. “It was announced that the lights would remain switched on for between 2″ and 5″, but in reality they were off in a split second, as seen clearly in the video. I stalled and I was not alone in which trapped me“. From 30th on the first lap, Dorian managed to climb to 22nd. He made a better start in Race 2, but locked up and lost several places before returning to 9th. He then took advantage of a good restart after a Safety Car period under to pass Antonio Giovinazzi, the championship leader. Unfortunately an imperceptible touch on the next lap caused him to start to drift left and he was forced to give ground in the last three laps to finish 16th. Dorian then attacked Callum Ilott and Antonio Giovinazzi in Race 3 to take 8th position before losing the benefit soon after. The race ended with him still safely in the top 10.
“The race was not easy to manage, but ultimately proved very interesting,” Dorian concluded. “I have increased my level of confidence by achieving better performances: the car was better and I drove better by being more relaxed. I measured myself against a reference driver like Giovinazzi. It is not bad to finish in the top 10, but I saw that I could have had a place a little higher in the rankings. This will be one of my goals for the next races, starting with that of the Nurburgring, as well as to further reduce the gap with my team-mate. “
Info Kartcom / © Photo FotoFormulaK