Vallelunga, October 13, 2013 - Indonesia’s Sean Gelael proved himself the king of first-lap overtaking in the latest round of the FIA Formula 3 European Championship at Vallelunga, but he was disappointed with his results in the race.
Sixteen-year-old Sean was unwell in the lead-up to the race weekend on this very technical circuit, near the Italian capital city of Rome. But he shook that off to run very strongly in the top 10 during the free practice sessions, which took place in damp conditions.
He then qualified within a second of pole position in his Double R Racing Dallara-Mercedes, although such is the incredibly competitive nature of the championship that this left him 25th on the grid. He felt he would have done better, but another driver crashed in front of him when he was on his quickest lap, forcing Gelael to slow.
In the first race, he made up an incredible seven positions on the first lap to run 18th, and made even better progress than championship contender Felix Rosenqvist, who was running behind Sean.
Unfortunately, a clutch problem put him out of the race on the second lap.
“I showed Felix a few skills!” smiled Gelael. “I made up a lot of places on the first lap but the clutch problem was already there. Then it got worse and eventually I had no drive, so I had to come into the pits.”
In the second race he did even better, making up nine places on the opening lap to run 16th, and then passing Australian Spike Goddard on the second lap to progress to 15th. In the close-packed field he had picked up damage to his rear wing on the first lap and this made the car difficult to handle. Sean briefly went off-track in the middle of the race, but recovered to finish 21st.
The final race brought drama right at the beginning. Once again Gelael was making up places at the start, but was sandwiched between two other cars on a flat-out kink. Contact between all three sent Sean and Lucas Wolf careering off the road, Gelael’s car taking off as he bounced over the grass. Although he returned to the pits, he was forced to retire for the second time this weekend.
“Tom Blomqvist made contact with me,” he said. “The track was wide enough for three cars, but I don’t think Tom realised I had Lucas on my other side. I was flying and everything! It is a shame as I really wanted to finish the weekend with a good result.”
If there is something to be positive about in the wake of this disappointing result, it is that there are only five days before battle recommences at the German Grand Prix venue of Hockenheim for the final round next weekend, where Sean will be bidding to finish the European F3 season on a high note.(arl)
