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Jimmy Auby showed superb form in the third round of the FIAT Spanish
Formula 3 Championship in
Valencia this
weekend. However his practice and qualifying pace counted for nothing as his
weekend was fraught with mechanical problems and a crash which prevented him
from finishing either race.
The 21 year-old F3 rookie started the event, the
first time on the new F1
street This had seen him consistently as quick
as his illustrious team-mate, experienced Jaime Alguersuari. circuit, in a strong position following a
successful free practice and qualifying pace.
The opening session, held under yellow flags
served only to allow the drivers to learn the layout, but in the second, he was
right on the pace, winding up second to Alguersuari who was running on new
tyres. In qualifying Jimmy struggled to get a clear lap and his sixth quickest
time was not a true reflection of his pace despite ending up just sixth tenths
off pole.
“Qualifying went OK but I don’t feel it was
a true reflection as I was unable to get a clear lap, ending 0.6 of a second off
P1. My car felt very good but the track conditions were really tough. On my last lap I was quick and right up
until the last corner I was seven tenths up on my best time but I made a mistake
which dropped me down to a tenth slower than my best
lap.”
As the cars filed out onto the warm-up lap for the
opening race, Jimmy was optimistic of a good finish as he bids to become the
first Lebanese driver to win in
Spain. However,
his optimism was short-lived, as a broken driveshaft on the warm-up lap brought
his race to an end before it had even started.
“It was just bad luck,” said Jimmy. “Unfortunately
there is nothing I could do about mechanical problems but I was determined to at
least get to race in the second.”
Failure to finish the weekend’s opening race
forced Jimmy to start race two from the pit lane. Running in 29th
place at the start, a sterling job by the youngster allowed him to work his way
through the field and up into 16th where he was challenging a very
defensive Adrian Campos for
15th.
As the cars entered Turn Five, Jimmy made a move
to take the place around the outside but as they entered the next corner
side-by-side, the pair collided,
Campos running Jimmy off the track
and into retirement for both of them. Despite his two non-finishes the A1GP
driver was happy with his quick pace but left frustrated by being unable to
convert that into two strong results.
“I was really happy with my pace this
weekend as I feel I could have challenged for the class victory. Overall my car
was really good and I had found a really good rhythm. I really enjoyed the track
and I look forward to the next race here as the one-off support race to the
Formula One Grand Prix.”
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