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Having
joined Raikkonen Robertson Racing for the Formula BMW in Valencia, Spain, Australian youngster Sam
Abay took no time making an immediate impression when the cars hit the track
for the first time during Friday¹s practice sessions. Against the favoured
German teams, Abay shot to 3rd fastest in Practice 1 and topped the time sheets
in Practice 2.
With
confidence high for a strong qualifying performance Abay didn’t
disappoint, and was comfortably the quickest driver in a British team,
qualifying 4th and earning himself a spot in the Superpole shootout for the top
8 drivers. As the cars took to the circuit one at a time for their Superpole
laps, the pressure was on and once again and Abay delivered, setting the 3rd
fastest lap despite making an error on his lap.
"All
credit goes to the boys at Double R. Boyo
and the crew have given me quick car that¹s just a pleasure to drive. In
Practice 3 with a few things that didn¹t work as we wished, so we reverted to
the original set-up in qualifying and we have a solid start position for the
heats." However Abay felt that his
Superpole lap should have been better. "I made a mistake going into turn
two, braked a little bit too late and missed the apex of the corner" he
explained. "I¹m happy with third on the grid but we really should have
been quicker."
Starting
3rd in heat one, a quick getaway saw Abay through to second and challenging
Daniel Morad for the lead into the first turn. Settling into second, Abay and
Morad streaked away from the rest of the field to open up a 10 second gap over
third placed Niall Quinn. The Australian kept the pressure on Morad as the two
traded quick laps throughout the race. In the end, despite a gutsy effort, Abay
would settle for second as the two crossed the line together. Some consolation
come in the form of 2000 Euro in prize money for the Australian, setting the
fastest lap of the race.
"I
almost got past Morad" Abay reflected. "But he defended his position
quite nicely, so there was nothing I could do. He was tough, but fair – I
would have done the same in his position."
The
weekend then took an unfortunate turn for the Australian - it happened even
before the start of his second heat. The team was late getting the car out to
the pit lane for the grid, and missed the cut-off, forcing the Australian to
start from the pit lane instead of the second row of the grid.
Abay
however set about a dramatic charge catching the field and racing through to
12th place before crossing the line in a pack of cars battling for 9th place.
"No
one’s to blame, but we just missed getting the car out in time, as we had
to try to fix a technical issue," said Abay. "I had to start the race
from the pit lane and when I exited the pit lane, the last car had already gone
around turn one and I still had stone-cold tyres."
Heat
2’s drama along with the speed Abay had shown on the weekend attracted
the attention of one interested spectator, Sauber BMW Formula One boss, Mario
Theissen raced down to Parc Ferme to be the first to greet the Australian as he
stepped from the car after the race, eager to know exactly what had happened at
the start and praise the youngsters performance.
Heat 3
and a determined Abay was out to make amends for the drama in the previous race
and salvage a solid gird position for the World Final. Unfortunately that
wasn’t to be, a broken gear linkage cable putting paid to his efforts
whilst challenging for 3rd place.
When the
lights went out for the 2007 Formula BMW World Final, a brilliant start by Abay
from 19th on the grid saw him gain several positions in the run to the first
turn. However his efforts were thwarted
when he was forced to take to the gravel twice on lap one to avoid two
accidents in front of him, resulting in Abay dropping to 26th by the end of lap
one. In what was then one of the drives
of the meeting, the Australian picked off competitors one by one and amazingly
passed 12 drivers, to cross the line in 14th place. Two of the top 5
drivers were later disqualified for technical infringements, resulting in a 12th
place finish for Abay.
"We
had some major set back's this weekend, but the car was a pleasure to drive and
the team never gave up. It's just a
shame circumstances intervened and we couldn't get the result we came for,
because for the most part we were comfortably the quickest British team out
there." said Abay.
"I'd
sincerely like to thank Double R, Gandel Metals & Bib Stillwell BMW for
their incredible support and giving me the opportunity to compete at the World
Final this weekend."
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