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Di Resta On Course For F3 Euroseries Title Triumph |
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Saturday, 26 August 2006 |
With three victories and four other podium finishes from the first six race meetings of the 2006 Formula 3 Euroseries season, championship leader Paul Di Resta is firmly on course to win the world’s most prestigious F3 crown.
The 20-year-old Scottish sensation, who drives for reigning champions ASM and is also contracted to the Mercedes-Benz Junior Motorsport Programme, has enjoyed a superb year to date and heading towards the 13th and 14th rounds of the 20-race championship he holds a six-point lead over German rival Sebastian Vettel.
Looking back on the 2006 season so far, the West Lothian resident started the year well after achieving a podium during the first race at Hockenheim in Germany. Three weeks later, at the Lausitz EuroSpeedway, Paul finished in second place during the first race and then added a third position result to his tally in round four.
With three podiums from the opening four races in his Mercedes-engined Dallara F305 chassis, Paul’s maiden Formula 3 race victory then followed at Oschersleben in May during the fifth round of the championship.
He then became the first driver this year to claim more than one win when he took the spoils in round seven at his ‘home’ event on the Brands Hatch Indy Circuit in Kent. After achieving
pole position during qualifying, his second of the season, Paul went on
to take a faultless victory as part of the F3 Euroseries’ first ever
visit to Britain.
Paul’s third success of 2006 was secured at the Norisring in Germany.
Qualifying for round nine saw him line-up second on the grid for the
race and a great drive enabled him to climb to the top step of the
podium once more.
“The championship certainly started well for us but the breakthrough
really came at Oschersleben when I took my first win”, he commented
looking back at the first 10 races of the season. “Winning again at
Brands Hatch and the Norisring was fantastic and I’m confident more
victories will follow and, hopefully, so will the title.”
The two most recent rounds, held at the Nurburgring in Germany, saw
Paul return to the podium with second position in round 11 but an
incident involving team-mate Giedo van der Garde in round 12 saw the
Scotsman harshly stripped of his fourth win, Paul taking the chequered
flag and victory but subsequently given a 30-second penalty.
“I tried what I thought was a fair pass on Giedo to take the lead”,
explains Paul, “He moved twice on the run towards the NGK Chicane to
try and block me but I had a mega slipstream and so went to the inside
to make the move. But then he moved over on me again, wouldn’t give me
room, and we touched wheels.
“The track was wet at the time and I think that’s the only reason Giedo
spun. I was very disappointed with the outcome as I know I earned the
win fairly but we still lead the championship and I’m confident we
stand a great chance of winning the title. With eight races left, it’s
definitely a two-way fight now between myself and Sebastian (Vettel).”
Di Resta is the Ultimate Master
Within the realms of F3 racing, a coveted hat-trick of titles exists
which every competitor strives to achieve. The first piece of the
jigsaw is the stand-alone BP Ultimate Masters event, formerly known as
the Marlboro Masters, which took place in early August at Zandvoort and
saw Paul take an outstanding victory under the most intense pressure.
Challenged throughout the course of the 25-lap race by ASM team-mate
van der Garde, the Scotsman held his nerve to win the prestigious event
– one of the true crown jewels in Formula 3 competition – and cement
his place in history alongside countryman, and current F1 star, David
Coulthard who won the inaugural ‘Masters’ in 1991.
“Winning the Masters was a dream come true”, reflected Paul, “We knew
we had a great chance to win and although we just missed out on pole
position, I made a good start and led throughout. Giedo put me under a
lot of pressure but I knew if I concentrated on being consistently
smooth and fast we would take the victory.”
With the BP Ultimate Masters trophy in his possession, Paul is now
fully focused on securing the second part of the hat-trick, the 2006
Formula 3 Euroseries crown. Should he be successful in winning the
championship, only the Macau Formula 3 Grand Prix will remain but at
this stage the ASM star is unsure whether he will contest the event.
Paul added: “Unfortunately we don’t have the budget to race at Macau at
the moment but ASM is working very hard to obtain some sponsorship. I’d
love to go there, especially if we’re able to win the F3 Euroseries
title. Alongside the Masters victory, if we managed to succeed at
Macau, I’d be the first driver in history to hold all three titles at
once.”
The next on-track action for Paul will come during rounds 13 and 14 of
the season at Zandvoort in the Netherlands a little over a week from
now, 2nd/3rd September.
From there, rounds 15 and 16 will be held at Barcelona on 23rd/24th
September with the championship competitors then travelling from Spain
to France for the 17th and 18th rounds of the year at the world-famous
Le Mans circuit. The season finale will then see a return to
Hockenheim, the spiritual home of the F3 Euroseries, on 28th/29th
October.
The Macau Formula 3 Grand Prix meanwhile, the second stand-alone event of the year, is set to take place on 18th/19th November.
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Last Updated ( Saturday, 06 January 2007 )
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