Hockenheim, 16^th October 2014 - Sean Gelael and his rivals finish their FIA Formula 3 European Championship season on familiar ground at Hockenheim in Germany this coming weekend.

While Indonesian Gelael will be bidding to build on his seven points-scoring finishes in this year’s championship with his Jagonya Ayam with Carlin Dallara-Volkswagen, the competition will be ferocious as everyone aims to finish the regular season on a high – particularly vital as confidence will be needed for the trip to the big race in November: the Macau Grand Prix.

With Hockenheim having two rounds per season on the calendar, this will be Sean’s fourth race weekend at the circuit as he nears the end of his second year in Europe.

The season has brought much improved results over 2013, with Gelael showing real signs of being a contender in European motorsport as his career progresses.

Carlin team boss Trevor Carlin is something of a godfather for junior motorsport, with his team running cars in not only F3, but also GP2, GP3 and Formula Renault 3.5. He has run many current Formula 1 stars in the 17 years since his team starting competing, including 2010-13 World Champion Sebastian Vettel.

He is impressed with Gelael’s progress. “A lot of it is confidence and self-belief,” said Carlin. “With the team he was with last year he did not have an experienced driver as a reference, but this year he has and because of this we can help him. Sean is very good at listening and doing what the engineers tell him to do.”

Bearing in mind Sean’s form in 2014, in which he has been occasionally qualifying in the top 10 and more frequently finishing there, Carlin added: “Our target was to get him into the top 10 as often as possible, and this is something we are starting to do now. The next step is to actually start qualifying quite regularly in the top 10, and from there we can target the top six. These are realistic steps.

“He has been up against an extremely competitive field this year, so you have to be a very decent driver to make the top 10. And now that he has moved to the UK to study this will do him a world of good.”

Anything can happen at the Hockenheim circuit, which has held the German Grand Prix on many occasions dating back to 1970. It features long straights and tight hairpins, meaning that there are overtaking moves and incidents galore. If you can stay out of trouble in the races, this can reap big rewards, so Gelael and his rivals know that everything is to play for. (ms/arl)