Team West-Tec F3 takes first European Open F3 title of 2011
The first of the 2011 European F3 Open Championships was decided at Jerez on 16 October as Team West-Tec’s Fabio Gamberini put the Copa class title beyond the reach of his nearest challenger, West-Tec team-mate Sam Dejonghe.
Qualifying eight overall, Fabio made a superb start to race one to run fourth in the early laps. Becoming involved in a massive scrap Fabio dropped one place but held on for a fine fifth-placed finish overall and another Copa win.
This put him on the front row for the second race and the young Brazilian didn’t waste his chance, making an electrifying start to pass polesitter Noel Jammal on the run to the first corner before being edged out by the Lebanese driver though turn two as they raced side-by-side and wheel-to-wheel. Despite pressure from behind, Fabio was able to comfortably retain his second place and duly took the chequered flag in that position, for a dominant tenth Copa win of the season so far.
Sam had been quick in free practice but was unlucky to be held by a stuck wheel nut in qualifying, restricting him to just one qualifying run, which dropped him from being alongside Fabio to an unrepresentative 13th on the grid. A good start and some feisty racing saw Sam move up to eighth place, but an error at the final corner dropped him right back to 13th with just a few laps to run. In race two, Sam was quick but the Andalucian F1 test track is not the easiest to pass at and he was unable to improve on tenth position, finishing second in Copa both times.
The team’s F308 drivers had a mixed weekend, Victor Correa quick in free practice before struggling in qualifying. At a circuit difficult to pass at Victor was able to get into the points in both races. After a typically rapid getaway in race two he had been right at the sharp end, in the top six, but a trip over the kerbs damaged the underfloor of his Dallara, meaning he fell back to ninth.
Tatiana Calderon was taking her first competitive steps with the car in high downforce configuration, following her impressive low-downforce Monza debut, and showed well in free practice and qualifying but lost out in traffic in both races, but she notched up two more good finishes as she finds her feet in European Formula 3 racing.
Last, but by no means least, Luca Orlandi enjoyed a very competitive weekend in the team third Copa entry and he fought off his pursuers to claim the final podium position in race one, and a decent fourth place finish to back that up in race two – to maintain his third place in the Copa standing s with just the final two races to go at Barcelona at the end of the month.
So, on a scorching hot weekend in Southern Spain, always a happy hunting ground for the series only British team, the team has closed out the first title and still leads the Team’s Championship with just the 2011 finale to go, at the home of the Spanish Grand Prix on the weekend of 28-30 October.
Fabio Gamberini:
I am pleased to get back to the front of the field after Monza, and delighted to have won the Copa title. This is the first Championship title I have won since switching to cars in 2009 and I am really delighted. Sam pushed me very hard lately and I had to dig deep to stay in front of him.
Sam Dejonghe:
I was unlucky in qualifying and, realistically, that cost me the chance to maintain my run of overall podiums. Of course I am disappointed to lose the Copa to Fabio, but he is a great competitor and I’d like to congratulate him on his success.
Victor Correa:
I was unable to get a good grid position in qualifying and it is so hard to overtake here in Jerez. Last year, I went very well in Barcelona, so I will be looking for a top result there to end the season on a high, and I am sure we can do that.
Tatiana Calderon:
I was very happy with the car in practice, but had a lot of understeer in the races, especially race one. It is so hard to pass here that you have to be so much quicker to make progress.
Luca Orlandi:
I had another two very exciting races, and worked very hard to get the Copa podium in the first race. I could have done it again in race two but just lost out. My pace compared to Fabio and Sam is really improving and I am very happy with my progress.
John Miller, Team West-Tec:
We always enjoy Jerez, and this year was no exception.
Now we head to Barcelona for a dramatic finale. All of our drivers are very capable, and we will be looking to all of them to achieve good results. We have a nice lead in the Teams Championship but we can’t afford to relax as otherwise our competitors will take advantage!
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