Norisring, Nuremberg, 15th July 2013 - Indonesian Sean Gelael had one of his best performances of his rookie racing season in Europe when he finished in 15th position from the field of 28 cars on the challenging Norisring street circuit in Germany.
The 16-year-old, who is the youngest and least experienced driver in the FIA Formula 3 European Championship field, kept cool in a hectic fight around the streets of Nuremberg, where one mistake will put you in the wall and out of the race.
Gelael’s encouraging result came in the final of the three races: he was 20th in race two, but crashed out of the first.
It was a typical Norisring accident, where Sean was fighting with his old karting friend and rival, Australian Mitchell Gilbert, and New Zealander Nick Cassidy. “I was thinking that if I braked too hard into the hairpin that the tyres would lock up and I would go out of control,” he explained. “I was trying to avoid Nick, who was right in front of me, and to do that I had to brake off the racing line, where it was really dusty. The car just locked up and I could not avoid hitting Mitch. There was nothing else I could do.”
That was a shame, as Gelael had completed an encouraging learning process through free practice and qualifying, ending up just 0.678 seconds off pole position man Felix Rosenqvist, who is in his fourth season of Formula 3!
“It is so close around here!” he said. “This is a fun circuit and you have to be on the limit all the time. You need to go as close to the walls as you dare to maximise your speed, and this is like playing with fire. This is a street circuit so at first it is very dusty, then it gets more grip, and this is tough for the new guys like me because we find it harder to judge how much faster you can go in the corners as the track improves.”
The collision was also a shame because at the time of the accident Sean was running ahead of German Andre Rudersdorf, who went on to finish ninth and score points.
But he put all that behind him with a strong second race, where he ran among a wild snaking pack and nearly snatched 19th position off Rudersdorf at the finish line, after setting lap times quicker than several drivers ahead of him.
“Since I crashed in the first race, I was a little bit cautious in the first 10 to 15 laps,” said Gelael. “So I lost some places. Soon, as I got into the rhythm, I was able to catch the guys in front of me. Sometimes me and Rudersdorf and Nicholas Latifi were three-abreast in some places so that was a really good fight – very enjoyable!”
In the third race, Sean kept his head, steering through numerous crashes to rise up the order, and always keeping Gilbert, Spike Goddard and Rudersdorf behind him. It was a very satisfying 15th position.
“I made a good start but the first corner at Norisring is always notorious for crashes, so I stayed safe to the inside. Then Sandro Zeller hit my right-rear tyre, and the guys got a gap in front and I could not get back into their slipstream.
“So it was tough for me, because the guys behind had me as their target and I had no-one to use as my target! I tried pushing for a lap or two but realised it was more important to stay consistent.”
Gelael’s next focus is the Belgian Grand Prix circuit of Spa-Francorchamps for the second round of the British Formula 3 International Series, a contest in which he had a fantastic opening event at Silverstone with two podium finishes. The Spa weekend takes place on July 25th-27th.
“I am hoping to take this momentum to Spa,” said Sean. “I think we are catching the guys in the middle of the field now, so this is good, and I am really pleased that later in the season I will be going back to some circuits that I already know, like Hockenheim and Zandvoort. That will really help me.” (sm/arl)
