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Solid Start To Maiden Formula 3 Season For Bird |
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Monday, 16 April 2007 |
 Sam Bird (20, Claygate) enjoyed his first round of British Formula 3 at Oulton Park yesterday, Easter Monday, finishing fourth in the first race and sixth in the second. Having qualified in sixth and seventh places for the two races on Saturday, his expectations were realistic “I am not thrilled with my qualifying” he said on Sunday “In pre-seaton testing I have been right up at the sharp end of the times, mixing it with the more experienced drivers. There are so many drivers in the series, and there were a lot of red flags and a lot of traffic in qualifying – of course it was the same for everyone, but I was unfortunate to be in the wrong place at the wrong time to put in a really good lap. But if I can get a couple of good starts, I should be able to make up a place or two”.
Monday was a miserable day, weather-wise. Colder than of late and with
a hint of drizzle in the air, and a number of incidents had caused the
races to be delayed. However, at the start of Race One, Bird made an
impressive start and leapfrogged two places, putting him into fourth
position by the first corner. A safety car was deployed for an
incident after only one lap. On the restart, Sam pulled alongside
third placed man, Jelley, but was unable to capitalise and had to
settle for fourth position, where he stayed, unhampered to the finish
line.. “I’m quite pleased with that” he said afterwards. “my first
race start in F3, my first race and I was able to make up a couple of
places. It’s difficult to overtake at Oulton, so I had to try and make
up as much as possible at the start. I’ve got a race under my belt now
and am really looking forward to the next one.”
Between the races, the rain came in heavily, but then the track started
to dry out just before the start of Race 2, giving the engineers some
headaches in set-up and tyre selection. In the event, the teams went
out on dry tyres and the rain did stay at bay during the race. However,
three red flags ensued, meaning three restarts, and a reduced race down
to 10 laps! “It was quite frustrating” said Sam, “as in the 2nd
restart I had managed to make up two places and get into 5th place, but
another red flag meant we had to regroup in original qualifying
positions.”
However, Sam was able to get another good start and jump to sixth place
where he remained for the rest of the race. “ I’m pleased with the
weekend, we come away with a good solid points haul and I hope to
improve on that at Donington Park in a couple of weeks’ time.”
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