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Rising British single-seater racer Jon
Lancaster again finished top rookie in the F3 Euroseries with seventh place in
the second race at Pau on Sunday. The 19 year-old Multiflight-backed
driver, who scored his maiden podium finish on Saturday, struggled with a lack
of grip in the tricky conditions in the 26-lap race which was started behind the
safety car.
On a soaking wet track and with the
threat of more rain to come, the 30-car grid was forced to hold their grid slots
for four laps before the race properly got underway. As the safety car came in the rain started
again and at the restart, with blinding spray, Jon was passed by Italian Edoardo
Mortara, runner-up in Saturday’s race.
For the first half of the race there
was little overtaking as the conditions made passing too difficult with many
cars clouting the barriers on the demanding street circuit. On lap eight a move
by his experienced team-mate James Jakes, in his third season in F3, relegated
Jon to eighth.
However by the midway point, the rain
had stopped and the track began to dry. And on a track on which it is
notoriously hard to pass, Jon had to contend himself with getting his ART Grand
Prix car to the finish. Many of his more
experienced rivals bounced off the barriers causing handling problems for the
majority of them.
For Jon, though, a steady drive over
the remaining laps allowed him to get to the flag unscathed but just outside the
points. “After the great result we had
yesterday, I had hopes of repeating that performance and getting another strong
finish. However the conditions at the
start of the race were pretty horrendous.
“There was a lot of standing water and
a lot of spray which meant visibility was very poor. As the track dried it was a little easier,
but then I was really struggling for grip towards the end of the race which
prevented me from making up any places.
“But these things happen, you can’t
dwell on them, you have to just put it behind you and focus on the next
race. Race one was a real positive step
forward for me, I’ve shown in practice, qualifying and now the race that I can
mix it with the more experienced opposition.
“Now I’m really looking forward to the
next round of the championship where hopefully we’ll be able to capitalise on
what we’ve learnt here this weekend.”
Jon’s next outing will be in a month’s
time, at the Norisring circuit in Nuremberg, Germany over the weekend of 28/29 June.
Results of Race Two – 26 laps
1. Edoardo Mortara Signature-Plus
40:24.353
2. Renger v d Zande Prema Powerteam
40:28.407
3. Dani CLOS Prema Powerteam 40:28.539
4. Christian VIETORIS Mucke Motorsport
40:29.096
5. Franck Mailleux Signature-Plus
40:38.601
6. James Jakes ART Grand Prix
40:40.559
7. JON LANCASTER ART Grand Prix 40:41.920
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