Motorland Aragon Circuit, Spain, 30th March - Indonesia’s Sean Gelael endured a frustrating Formula Renault 3.5 pre-season test at the Motorland Aragon circuit at Spain, with technical problems hampering his only day of running.
The 18-year-old Gelael could only make the first day of the test on Monday, as he is sitting an examination at Bath University on Tuesday morning, so was hoping to get as much time in the car as possible to gain experience.
But a series of dramas set him back, although Sean was able to show his speed early in the afternoon session by running as high as second in the times in his Jagonya Ayam with Carlin car.
That was encouragement for Gelael, who will be back at the very technical and challenging Motorland track for his first races of the season, which take place on 25th and 26th April.
“It was a frustrating day,” said Sean. “The quantity of running we did was OK, but the quality of running was nothing, because we had so many mechanical problems.
“I managed to get a run on new tyres early in the afternoon session and that put me second fastest, and I stayed around second to fourth for much of the session. I was planning to run another set of new tyres and that could easily have put me in the top five for the afternoon, but the driveshaft broke. That’s a shame, the kind of thing that happens in racing.”
Gelael now plans to maximise his preparation time before his first race in the powerful, 530bhp Dallara-Renault single-seater. In the meantime he will be cheering on his friends in the Jagonya Ayam with Carlin team that competes in the FIA Formula 3 European Championship, in which he competed in 2013 and 2014, when they have their first races at Silverstone in England on 11th and 12th April. (MS/arl)
