Monaco, 15th May 2015 - With just one race weekend completed in his Formula Renault 3.5 Series career so far, Indonesia’s Sean Gelael is preparing for the most prestigious event of the season: Monaco!
Usually the Formula Renault 3.5 Series races as the headline event on the World Series by Renault travelling circus, but for one weekend only the competitors join the Formula 1 elite in the streets of Monte Carlo to support the glamorous Monaco Grand Prix.
Gelael and the Jagonya Ayam with Carlin team therefore experience a different format this time, with just one free practice session, one qualifying session, and then the race, which takes place on the Sunday morning as a curtain raiser to the Grand Prix itself.
Of course, it will be the first time for Sean on the historic track, which sits beside the sparkling Mediterranean Sea and first hosted a Grand Prix way back in 1929, and has been the scene of many magic moments in the 86 years since then.
But his Jagonya Ayam with Carlin team-mate Tom Dillmann has raced in Monaco before – he has contested four races over a two-year period in the GP2 Series, so he will be giving Gelael plenty of advice about the very particular challenges of this track.
Sean has a good record on street circuits, having scored his first FIA Formula 3 European Championship point on the tight, twisty track of Pau, and also performed well at the Norisring and in the Macau Grand Prix. “The track is easier in Monaco than in Pau,” says Dillmann. “It is less narrow and there is a bit more time between the corners. But the Formula Renault 3.5 car is bigger than what Sean is used to and has more horsepower, so it will still be quite a challenge.”
Dillmann pinpoints the fast left-handed Tabac corner – so called because there used to be a tobacconist shop there – as the toughest bend on the track, along with the Swimming Pool complex that follows immediately afterwards, consisting of a very fast S bend and then a slow chicane. Many people have crashed here over the years! “But in GP2 I always had a very nice feeling here,” he says. “You always have a nice feeling on street circuits – they are really something special, as you get more of a sensation than on a normal track. Sean will have to start at a quick pace but not too quick, because if you crash and lose track time it is a real setback. He will need to get into a rhythm, working out the lines and how to gain time.”
So what advice will Dillmann give Sean? “I do not want to say in case any of our rivals will be reading this!” he laughs. “But of course I will help him a lot. Monaco is a race on its own as far as car set-up is concerned, so although Carlin did not compete in Formula Renault 3.5 last year we should not really be at such a disadvantage as we might be at other tracks because it is so unique.
“I know Sean always aims to do really well, but in Monaco for his first time there it will be a fantastic achievement to score any points. But it will not be easy!” (ms/arl)
