|
Tamworth’s
Martin Plowman faced his most challenging weekend yet in round seven and eight
of the Formula 3 Euro Series at the Norisring, Germany, on 28 & 29 June 2008.
Despite a blinding opening lap round seven performance from 20th to
11th, Plowman’s luck ran short forcing a retirement. Hopeful
of a good recovery for round eight on Sunday, Plowman was taken out of the race
on the first lap of the re-start, bringing his weekend to a premature end.
Facing
the challenge of the fast, sweeping, Norisring for the first time, Plowman made
the most of Friday practice to learn the track in preparation for qualifying
late that afternoon. Over heating brakes, however, were hampering the team but
Plowman qualified 20th, top of the RC Motorsport drivers, with one
second covering the entire field.
A
monumental effort for round seven on Saturday saw Plowman blast around the
outside of the Boschkurve to take an impressive nine places and finish lap one
in 11th. Conceding one place to the flying Christian Vietoris (GER)
on lap four, who then passed Henkie Waldschmidt (NED), Plowman closed to within
one second of Waldschmidt by lap 12, while staving off the advances of Renger
van der Zande (NED).
Plowman
slashed the Dutchman’s advantage to three tenths of a second by lap 15
and started lap 17 in 11th to pull alongside on the pit straight.
The Brit held the inside line under breaking but Waldschmidt moved to the
inside and closed the door at the last minute, forcing Plowman onto the marbles
and straight on at the Boschkurve.
Recovering swiftly from the resulting 180 degree spin, Plowman rejoined the
fray down in 21st place and pushed hard to within two seconds of
Cong Fu Cheng (CHN) by lap 21, with Daniel Campos-Hull (SPA) and Niall Breen (IRL)
completing the three-car train ahead. Easily lapping on par with the front
runners, Plowman was just four tenths adrift on lap 29 when Cheng took
Campos-Hull. Barely a tenth off of the Spaniard, Plowman swooped alongside down
the pit straight to take 18th in to the Boschkurve on lap 32.
With
Cheng once again his target, Plowman reduced the gap by over a second to under three
tenths the following lap to challenge for 17th in to the Boschkurve.
But despite his efforts Plowman’s tyres were past their best and he was
unable to take the place and took avoiding action. Cheng then passed Breen and
although Plowman stayed within two tenths of Breen for a further lap, a problem
with a right-rear wishbone forced the 20-year-old to retire on lap 40.
Starting
from 23rd on the grid for round eight on Sunday, Plowman was
confident of repeating Saturday’s lap one performance to put him back in
the frame to score some championship points. A multi-car pile up at the
Boschkurve on lap one, however, caused the race to be red flagged.
Due
to stalling on the grid, round seven-winner Nico Hülkenberg (GER) was to re-start
from the back of the grid, with the field behind the safety car. As the safety
car peeled off into the pits, Plowman was following the single-file train of
traffic in to the Boschkurve when Hülkenberg came surging through, collecting
an innocent Plowman. Suffering rear suspension failure and a broken rear wing,
Plowman’s race was run and he limped back to the pits to retire.
“This
has been a really frustrating weekend of events beyond our control that have
prevented us from showing our true potential,” said Plowman. “The
first lap of Saturday’s race was awesome and we have definitely moved
forward in terms of pace and just keep getting stronger. We will put this one
down to experience and stay calm and positive for the next rounds at Zandvoort
where we will be aiming for some championship points.”
The
Formula 3 Euro Series will head to Zandvoort,
Netherlands,
for rounds nine and ten on 12 & 13 July. For further information, news and
results, visit www.f3euroseries.com
|
