Hungaroring, 6th June 2015 - The Formula Renault 3.5 Series completes its recent intensive run of three race weekends out of four at the Hungaroring over the weekend of 12th-14th June, meaning a quick return to action for Indonesia’s Sean Gelael and the Jagonya Ayam with Carlin team.
From scoring his first Formula Renault 3.5 points in the glamorous but tight-and-twisty streets of Monte Carlo, 18-year-old Sean went straight to the long straights and sweeping corners of the forested Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium, finishing only just outside the points. And now he heads to a track that is a mix of the two preceding venues: the Hungaroring is set in rolling countryside just outside Budapest, but is a very technical circuit, with a never-ending sequence of medium-speed corners. In fact, when it was built some drivers described it as being like Monaco, only without houses!
The Hungaroring was constructed in 1986, when Eastern Europe was still under communist control, meaning that it was regarded as something of an adventure when the Formula 1 World Championship headed to the venue for the first Hungarian Grand Prix in August of that year.
That year the Grand Prix was won by Nelson Piquet after a famous battle with the legendary Ayrton Senna, and since then the Hungaroring has become a popular venue among Formula 1 fans. The endless turns – and the relatively short main straight – mean it has never been an easy track to overtake on, but the Hungaroring is renowned for very hot weather, meaning that it is rarely easy to conserve tyres, and it is not unusual for sudden bursts of rain to inject drama into any race.
Gelael has only raced once at the Hungaroring, in the 2014 Formula 3 European Championship. With his confidence up after scoring his first F3 point in the previous round at Pau, he had a competitive showing in Hungary, and moved into the top 10 with four laps remaining to get his name on the scoresheet for the second consecutive event.
Therefore this is a circuit that Sean likes, and so does his Jagonya Ayam with Carlin team-mate Tom Dillmann. In 2013 the Frenchman qualified on pole position for the GP2 Series race here, and in 2014 he started from the front row.
So this is a circuit for which the whole team will be confident. Gelael has already shown competitive form at the Hungaroring in his F3 car, while Dillmann’s pace in GP2 – which is very similar in performance to Formula Renault 3.5 – will give him a flying start when the drivers hit the track for free practice. Therefore the drivers should be gaining good data from very early in the weekend, to the great benefit of the whole team.
With almost a month before the following Formula Renault 3.5 round at the Red Bull Ring, Sean knows that a good result will put him in good spirits during the long break between races. “I have really been looking forward to the Hungaroring,” he says. “It was one of my most competitive qualifying performances in F3 last year so I hope I can transfer that to Formula Renault 3.5. It would be great to get a good result to end this hectic period of races – I am certainly hoping for a few points, and think we can get them!” (ms/arl)
