Jun 2006
AVILA preserved his fourth position in Ireland
Macanese racing
prospect Rodolfo Avila preserved his National Class
fourth position in weekend’s fourth round of
the British F3 International Series at Mondello Park,
Ireland
The 2.17 miles of the Mondello Park Circuit, just 25 miles from the Irish capital Dublin are not easy for any driver and the double qualifying session was far from good. Avila claimed fourth and sixth National Class grid positions for the two races.
"I dislike the circuit - it’s very bad for Formula 3 cars - and I never felt comfortable at the wheel. In the first Qualifying was raining and I did a mistake and went off. Race Director let me return to the track with 5 minutes to go so it was impossible to avoid the end of the grid”, he held.
There were no dramas in the Qualifying 2 and Avila set the fourth position in the grid.
In the first race, Avila did an outstanding start and came into the top-3 of the class. But after a safety car period on lap two, Macau driver entered in the pits to repair the front wing and lost his hopes to repeat GP Pau podium.
“I hit Cristiano Morgado in the first corner and went to the pits to check my front. When the race restarted I recovered some positions but I hadn’t time to go further. The result was the achievable”, said Performance Racing Asian driver.
The second race at Mondello was less successful for Avila. He finished in fifth of National Class after lapping on third position.
"It was a disaster. It was extremely difficulty to manage the car. I'm very disappointed because we weren't quick all weekend. We know we could have strong race pace. Anyway I feel confident for the next races. I'm looking forward to the next race in Snetterton, where I want to be on the top again”, concluded the driver sponsored by Macau Government, Rio Casino, Hotel Fortuna, Macau-Slot.com, BNU, Gain Well Group, Tong-Lei, CESL-Asia, PAL - Asia Consult, RP MACAU, CTM, Tsingtao Beer, Fat Siu Lau Restaurant, PT Asia and Sujika Crafts.
The next round of the Lloyds TSB Insurance British F3 International Series will be in three weeks time, at Snetterton in Norfolk (July 15/16)..
The 2.17 miles of the Mondello Park Circuit, just 25 miles from the Irish capital Dublin are not easy for any driver and the double qualifying session was far from good. Avila claimed fourth and sixth National Class grid positions for the two races.
"I dislike the circuit - it’s very bad for Formula 3 cars - and I never felt comfortable at the wheel. In the first Qualifying was raining and I did a mistake and went off. Race Director let me return to the track with 5 minutes to go so it was impossible to avoid the end of the grid”, he held.
There were no dramas in the Qualifying 2 and Avila set the fourth position in the grid.
In the first race, Avila did an outstanding start and came into the top-3 of the class. But after a safety car period on lap two, Macau driver entered in the pits to repair the front wing and lost his hopes to repeat GP Pau podium.
“I hit Cristiano Morgado in the first corner and went to the pits to check my front. When the race restarted I recovered some positions but I hadn’t time to go further. The result was the achievable”, said Performance Racing Asian driver.
The second race at Mondello was less successful for Avila. He finished in fifth of National Class after lapping on third position.
"It was a disaster. It was extremely difficulty to manage the car. I'm very disappointed because we weren't quick all weekend. We know we could have strong race pace. Anyway I feel confident for the next races. I'm looking forward to the next race in Snetterton, where I want to be on the top again”, concluded the driver sponsored by Macau Government, Rio Casino, Hotel Fortuna, Macau-Slot.com, BNU, Gain Well Group, Tong-Lei, CESL-Asia, PAL - Asia Consult, RP MACAU, CTM, Tsingtao Beer, Fat Siu Lau Restaurant, PT Asia and Sujika Crafts.
The next round of the Lloyds TSB Insurance British F3 International Series will be in three weeks time, at Snetterton in Norfolk (July 15/16)..
Report from Pau, Round 5 & 6
Arriving in South
Western France for the latest rounds of the Lloyds
TSB British F3 International Series, Performance
Racing fielded three cars in the National Class,
Angolan Ricardo Teixeira having joined the squad
three days previously.
QUALIFYING (ROUND 5): In beautiful sunshine, the three cars took to the over-crowded track for qualifying late on Friday evening. It was a struggle to get a clear lap with twenty-seven cars out on the narrow street circuit, and everyone suffered traffic problems. As in the previous races, Rodolfo Gonzalez (T-Sport) again claimed pole, but the next two slots went to Performance, Juho Annala was a close second to the series leader, the Finn just outpacing Macau’s Rodolfo Avila, who qualified third. By contrast Ricardo struggled to get to grips with his car, which was so new the team had not had time to make any adjustments to the settings. With only half an hour to get comfortable, he finished seventh in class with a less than representative time.
QUALIFYING QUOTES (ROUND 5): Juho Annala: “It’s big fun! It’s just every lap loads of yellows, then there’s no yellows, so people try and make a gap to themselves, and then they slow other people down. So it’s hard to make a lap time, but I think I managed to do it pretty well when I got the chance. I was pretty confident I can do it, and so I’m happy with that. I’m confident that I can beat Gonzalez now because I thought there was more to come from my last lap but I did a mistake. Without that mistake I could have been there. Maybe next time!”
Rodolfo Avila: “It was OK now. We started the weekend quite slow compared to the other teams but I put some more effort into it, start pushing a bit harder, started to get more familiarised with the track and I went quick, but I think I could have been quicker, but there was so much traffic and I think I was really lucky to have at least that quick lap, because all my other laps were totally destroyed by other cars or by my mistakes.”
Ricardo Teixeira: “I was behind Juho and he moved over to let a Championship Class car through but he didn’t saw me. So he closed me the door, and I had to brake and I touched my front wing on his rear tyre. So I came in and changed the front wing. I got back into it but my head was a mess after that. After I touched twice in the rails I couldn’t get a clean lap because all the Championship Cars pass and the marshals just keep giving the blue flags at me.”
RACE (ROUND 5): A massive start line crash, caused when one of the Championship Class cars stalled on the grid, saw Rodolfo taken out of the race in the ensuing mayhem. Juho shot away into the class lead, but Gonzalez made a brave move round the outside, and there was nothing Juho could do to stop him. After that, he concentrated on keeping ahead of Morgado, who turned out to be two laps down, and making sure he didn’t make any mistakes. Ricardo had a scare having to squeeze between two wrecked cars, then got trapped behind Keiko Ihara (Carlin Motorsport) when the officials scrambled the Safety Car to neutralise the race while the debris was cleared away from the start/finish line. He managed to pass the Japanese after the race restarted, but was then mistakenly shown a yellow flag and the Safety Car board, so he dropped back again, then had to spend the next six laps trying to get back ahead. While Gonzalez romped home to his fifth victory of the year, Juho came home second, and was joined on the podium by Ricardo, who was third.
RACE QUOTES (ROUND 5): Juho Annala: “Donington was a really bad weekend for me and now it’s second place which is more than nothing, so it’s alright. I think was it Hollings slowed at the start and I got round and made a really good start. I got past Gonzalez, but he made a big risk and went out round the outside and made this nice move around everyone. There was nothing I could do. After that it was pretty easy for me. I couldn’t keep up with Gonzalez so I just tried not to make any mistakes and I thought Morgado was third, but he was actually a lap or two behind so I was just trying to keep away from him and controlling that a little bit and not do any silly mistakes. I was trying to push at the end just to know how quick I can be and how the car feels and stuff, but then I was just more or less cruising back home safely.”
Ricardo Teixeira: “At the start I just missed Hollings by inches and I got a bit scared there. It’s a good result I have to say, especially as I joined my team three days before the race so it’s a brand new car and we didn’t have anything we could do to it. I made a good start but then I was in front and the Lebanese guy just braked – I don’t know why – so I had to brake and actually I thought that that was my luck, because when I braked everybody just crashed. And when I passed between Hollings and Kudzak, Hollings was going backwards so I passed through the gap. But then I’m behind the Safety Car and it is very difficult to see if the Safety Car comes in or not. When I come to the straight I outbraked Keiko really hard but when she braked I just put myself behind Juho. She was half a straight behind me, but some guy was still giving yellow flags and the Safety Car board so I braked but it was really a green flag and everybody just passed me. After that I spent six laps to pass her. I tried to push by her in the first corner but she wasn’t looking at her mirrors at the time. She was braking really early and it’s really dangerous when you brake early here because you have no room. She was stopping the car in the middle of the corner because she had the power in the exit and then she would just open the throttle again.”
QUALIFYING (ROUND 6): This session was not at all kind to Juho, who coasted to a halt on his second timed lap with a broken driveshaft. The kerbs at Pau are pretty unforgiving to machinery, as he had discovered. Gonzalez was on provisional class pole early on, but spun out, causing the session to be stopped. It restarted without him, and Rodolfo was able to take advantage of the situation to move to second in class, just behind Cristiano Morgado (Fluid Motorsport). It looked as if pole might be possible, but then there was a series of red flags before the session was brought to a premature end after Mike Conway set pole position in the Championship Class and then crashed out a lap later. Ricardo was more confident this time out, though he found it even harder to get a clear lap than he had the day before, although he qualified ahead of Juho in sixth place.
QUALIFYING QUOTES (ROUND 6): Rodolfo Avila: “Qualifying today went much better. I improved around one second a lap. I had some luck. Some of the drivers went out in our class so I managed to get second, and I pushed really hard. I think if I could have done more laps I could easily have been first because I was going so easily down in the times. We’re just 3/10 tenths of a second off so I could have done it, but that’s racing. I’m happy with the way it turned out. To be honest I’m looking forwards to driving the track again but I think the first laps will be quite scary because there are some crazy drivers – all drivers are crazy but there’s some more than others – who will push hard because they need to get up in the championship. I’m sure the first laps there will be a lot of accidents and I think we have to be careful and take our time.”
Ricardo Teixeira: “This morning was worse than yesterday. After I changed tyres I just couldn’t get space. Twice I was by myself and trying to get space and red flags all the time.”
RACE (ROUND 6): There were more problems in the second race of the weekend, with a first lap crash, and a restart. By then Morgado was under investigation for overtaking in the yellow flag zone that had been imposed, and he would later be disqualified. At the restart, Ricardo fell foul of Ihara again, this time ending up out of the race when she braked unexpectedly and he couldn’t avoid running into her. Meanwhile, with Morgado failing to serve the drive through penalty he’d been given, Juho, Rodolfo and Martin Kudzak (Fluid Motorsport) were disputing the lead, as Gonzalez had crashed out. Kudzak spun at Gare, pushing Rodolfo into a spin, and Juho was able to avoid both of them and move ahead; that left them fighting over what was now 2nd in class. On the last lap it all fell apart for Kudzak. Rodolfo made an attempt to overtake, and got alongside. With their wheels interlocked, Kudzak leaned heavily on Rodolfo, but was pitched up the wall himself, coming down just in time to clip Championship Class runner Yelmer Buurman, who was lapping the pair of them. Buurman continued, while Kudzak was out of the race with a badly damaged car. Rodolfo was surprised to survive, but brought home a good second place, while Juho was a delighted – if confused – National Class winner and gained an extra point for fastest lap as well, the first man other than Gonzalez to win a race this season.
RACE QUOTES (ROUND 6): Juho Annala: “I’m really happy because I thought the championship and everything was gone after Donington, and now I’ve had two really good results, and my first win, which is really good, although my win today didn’t come the way I would have liked it to come. I was just trying to avoid all the crashes there, and then they said to me that I had won the race, so I said ‘Why not?’ I’m not going to argue about that!”
Rodolfo Avila: “My championship this year started really badly; I was quick in practice but I could never finish on the podium. And this weekend started really badly too. Today my race was going really well, I was in second, and I had a small incident with another driver and ended up spinning. After that, at the end, I was in fourth position and had a gap of twelve seconds to third place. I was pushing hard, but when I was trying to overtake, Kudzak was crazy and just put me in the wall. I was really disappointed with him. Once I got to the end, they told me I was second, so I thought ‘all right, good then, and good for the team’. I’ve enjoyed Pau, because I’m from Macau, so I’ve grown up watching street circuit racing, and it gives me great pleasure to be on the podium on a street circuit, and I think it’s good for the people of Macau too.”
QUALIFYING (ROUND 5): In beautiful sunshine, the three cars took to the over-crowded track for qualifying late on Friday evening. It was a struggle to get a clear lap with twenty-seven cars out on the narrow street circuit, and everyone suffered traffic problems. As in the previous races, Rodolfo Gonzalez (T-Sport) again claimed pole, but the next two slots went to Performance, Juho Annala was a close second to the series leader, the Finn just outpacing Macau’s Rodolfo Avila, who qualified third. By contrast Ricardo struggled to get to grips with his car, which was so new the team had not had time to make any adjustments to the settings. With only half an hour to get comfortable, he finished seventh in class with a less than representative time.
QUALIFYING QUOTES (ROUND 5): Juho Annala: “It’s big fun! It’s just every lap loads of yellows, then there’s no yellows, so people try and make a gap to themselves, and then they slow other people down. So it’s hard to make a lap time, but I think I managed to do it pretty well when I got the chance. I was pretty confident I can do it, and so I’m happy with that. I’m confident that I can beat Gonzalez now because I thought there was more to come from my last lap but I did a mistake. Without that mistake I could have been there. Maybe next time!”
Rodolfo Avila: “It was OK now. We started the weekend quite slow compared to the other teams but I put some more effort into it, start pushing a bit harder, started to get more familiarised with the track and I went quick, but I think I could have been quicker, but there was so much traffic and I think I was really lucky to have at least that quick lap, because all my other laps were totally destroyed by other cars or by my mistakes.”
Ricardo Teixeira: “I was behind Juho and he moved over to let a Championship Class car through but he didn’t saw me. So he closed me the door, and I had to brake and I touched my front wing on his rear tyre. So I came in and changed the front wing. I got back into it but my head was a mess after that. After I touched twice in the rails I couldn’t get a clean lap because all the Championship Cars pass and the marshals just keep giving the blue flags at me.”
RACE (ROUND 5): A massive start line crash, caused when one of the Championship Class cars stalled on the grid, saw Rodolfo taken out of the race in the ensuing mayhem. Juho shot away into the class lead, but Gonzalez made a brave move round the outside, and there was nothing Juho could do to stop him. After that, he concentrated on keeping ahead of Morgado, who turned out to be two laps down, and making sure he didn’t make any mistakes. Ricardo had a scare having to squeeze between two wrecked cars, then got trapped behind Keiko Ihara (Carlin Motorsport) when the officials scrambled the Safety Car to neutralise the race while the debris was cleared away from the start/finish line. He managed to pass the Japanese after the race restarted, but was then mistakenly shown a yellow flag and the Safety Car board, so he dropped back again, then had to spend the next six laps trying to get back ahead. While Gonzalez romped home to his fifth victory of the year, Juho came home second, and was joined on the podium by Ricardo, who was third.
RACE QUOTES (ROUND 5): Juho Annala: “Donington was a really bad weekend for me and now it’s second place which is more than nothing, so it’s alright. I think was it Hollings slowed at the start and I got round and made a really good start. I got past Gonzalez, but he made a big risk and went out round the outside and made this nice move around everyone. There was nothing I could do. After that it was pretty easy for me. I couldn’t keep up with Gonzalez so I just tried not to make any mistakes and I thought Morgado was third, but he was actually a lap or two behind so I was just trying to keep away from him and controlling that a little bit and not do any silly mistakes. I was trying to push at the end just to know how quick I can be and how the car feels and stuff, but then I was just more or less cruising back home safely.”
Ricardo Teixeira: “At the start I just missed Hollings by inches and I got a bit scared there. It’s a good result I have to say, especially as I joined my team three days before the race so it’s a brand new car and we didn’t have anything we could do to it. I made a good start but then I was in front and the Lebanese guy just braked – I don’t know why – so I had to brake and actually I thought that that was my luck, because when I braked everybody just crashed. And when I passed between Hollings and Kudzak, Hollings was going backwards so I passed through the gap. But then I’m behind the Safety Car and it is very difficult to see if the Safety Car comes in or not. When I come to the straight I outbraked Keiko really hard but when she braked I just put myself behind Juho. She was half a straight behind me, but some guy was still giving yellow flags and the Safety Car board so I braked but it was really a green flag and everybody just passed me. After that I spent six laps to pass her. I tried to push by her in the first corner but she wasn’t looking at her mirrors at the time. She was braking really early and it’s really dangerous when you brake early here because you have no room. She was stopping the car in the middle of the corner because she had the power in the exit and then she would just open the throttle again.”
QUALIFYING (ROUND 6): This session was not at all kind to Juho, who coasted to a halt on his second timed lap with a broken driveshaft. The kerbs at Pau are pretty unforgiving to machinery, as he had discovered. Gonzalez was on provisional class pole early on, but spun out, causing the session to be stopped. It restarted without him, and Rodolfo was able to take advantage of the situation to move to second in class, just behind Cristiano Morgado (Fluid Motorsport). It looked as if pole might be possible, but then there was a series of red flags before the session was brought to a premature end after Mike Conway set pole position in the Championship Class and then crashed out a lap later. Ricardo was more confident this time out, though he found it even harder to get a clear lap than he had the day before, although he qualified ahead of Juho in sixth place.
QUALIFYING QUOTES (ROUND 6): Rodolfo Avila: “Qualifying today went much better. I improved around one second a lap. I had some luck. Some of the drivers went out in our class so I managed to get second, and I pushed really hard. I think if I could have done more laps I could easily have been first because I was going so easily down in the times. We’re just 3/10 tenths of a second off so I could have done it, but that’s racing. I’m happy with the way it turned out. To be honest I’m looking forwards to driving the track again but I think the first laps will be quite scary because there are some crazy drivers – all drivers are crazy but there’s some more than others – who will push hard because they need to get up in the championship. I’m sure the first laps there will be a lot of accidents and I think we have to be careful and take our time.”
Ricardo Teixeira: “This morning was worse than yesterday. After I changed tyres I just couldn’t get space. Twice I was by myself and trying to get space and red flags all the time.”
RACE (ROUND 6): There were more problems in the second race of the weekend, with a first lap crash, and a restart. By then Morgado was under investigation for overtaking in the yellow flag zone that had been imposed, and he would later be disqualified. At the restart, Ricardo fell foul of Ihara again, this time ending up out of the race when she braked unexpectedly and he couldn’t avoid running into her. Meanwhile, with Morgado failing to serve the drive through penalty he’d been given, Juho, Rodolfo and Martin Kudzak (Fluid Motorsport) were disputing the lead, as Gonzalez had crashed out. Kudzak spun at Gare, pushing Rodolfo into a spin, and Juho was able to avoid both of them and move ahead; that left them fighting over what was now 2nd in class. On the last lap it all fell apart for Kudzak. Rodolfo made an attempt to overtake, and got alongside. With their wheels interlocked, Kudzak leaned heavily on Rodolfo, but was pitched up the wall himself, coming down just in time to clip Championship Class runner Yelmer Buurman, who was lapping the pair of them. Buurman continued, while Kudzak was out of the race with a badly damaged car. Rodolfo was surprised to survive, but brought home a good second place, while Juho was a delighted – if confused – National Class winner and gained an extra point for fastest lap as well, the first man other than Gonzalez to win a race this season.
RACE QUOTES (ROUND 6): Juho Annala: “I’m really happy because I thought the championship and everything was gone after Donington, and now I’ve had two really good results, and my first win, which is really good, although my win today didn’t come the way I would have liked it to come. I was just trying to avoid all the crashes there, and then they said to me that I had won the race, so I said ‘Why not?’ I’m not going to argue about that!”
Rodolfo Avila: “My championship this year started really badly; I was quick in practice but I could never finish on the podium. And this weekend started really badly too. Today my race was going really well, I was in second, and I had a small incident with another driver and ended up spinning. After that, at the end, I was in fourth position and had a gap of twelve seconds to third place. I was pushing hard, but when I was trying to overtake, Kudzak was crazy and just put me in the wall. I was really disappointed with him. Once I got to the end, they told me I was second, so I thought ‘all right, good then, and good for the team’. I’ve enjoyed Pau, because I’m from Macau, so I’ve grown up watching street circuit racing, and it gives me great pleasure to be on the podium on a street circuit, and I think it’s good for the people of Macau too.”
AVILA's GP Pau podium dedicated to Macau
Rodolfo Avila had a
mixed feelings weekend on the streets of Pau, in
South-Western France, in the latest round of the
British Formula 3 International Series but the
Macanese driver has recorded his first podium in
European Motorsport.
The double qualifying session was good. In Qualifying one Rodolfo Avila was third fastest National Class driver and in Qualifying two he secured the second position in the grid. “This circuit has some corners which are very technical. For my first time here, I think my team and myself did quite well. I’ve improved in each session, and did third and second in this qualifying session, so it’s really good for me. There was a lot of traffic. I think we could have gone better if I’d got more clear laps. With 27 cars on a very small track with no places to overtake, you always get caught up behind other cars”.
On such a narrow track all he needed to do was make a good start and avoid mistakes in order to claim a podium. In the first race Avila started quite well but he was hit by an opponent. “My Championship this year started really badly; I was quick in practice but never finished on the podium. In the Sunday race I did 50 metres because another driver stalled on the grid and Charlie Hollings jinked left to avoid him and collected my car. It was impossible avoid his car".
A confusing second race in the National class saw Avila awarded with an outstanding second position. "My Monday race was going really well, I was in 2nd when I had a small incident with another driver (Martin Kudzak) and had a spin. After that, at the end, I was in 4th position and had a gap of 12 seconds to third place. I was pushing hard, but when I was trying to overtake, the other driver (Martin Kudzak) put me in the wall, so I was really disappointed and he was disqualified. Once I got to the end, they told me I was second, so that was really good and good for the team as well", he held.
Avila’s Grand Prix of Pau British F3 National Class podium was dedicated to his homeland Macau. "I’ve enjoyed Pau. As I'm from Macau I’ve grown up watching street circuit racing, and it gives me great pleasure to be on the podium on a street circuit. My first podium is dedicated to all my Sponsors, to Macau and to every Macanese", concluded the driver sponsored by Macau Government, Rio Casino, Hotel Fortuna, Macau-Slot.com, BNU, Gain Well Group, Tong-Lei, CESL-Asia, PAL - Asia Consult, RP MACAU, CTM, Tsingtao Beer, Fat Siu Lau Restaurant, PT Asia and Sujika Crafts.
Next round of British F3 International Series is at the tight and twisty Mondello Park in Ireland on June 25.
The double qualifying session was good. In Qualifying one Rodolfo Avila was third fastest National Class driver and in Qualifying two he secured the second position in the grid. “This circuit has some corners which are very technical. For my first time here, I think my team and myself did quite well. I’ve improved in each session, and did third and second in this qualifying session, so it’s really good for me. There was a lot of traffic. I think we could have gone better if I’d got more clear laps. With 27 cars on a very small track with no places to overtake, you always get caught up behind other cars”.
On such a narrow track all he needed to do was make a good start and avoid mistakes in order to claim a podium. In the first race Avila started quite well but he was hit by an opponent. “My Championship this year started really badly; I was quick in practice but never finished on the podium. In the Sunday race I did 50 metres because another driver stalled on the grid and Charlie Hollings jinked left to avoid him and collected my car. It was impossible avoid his car".
A confusing second race in the National class saw Avila awarded with an outstanding second position. "My Monday race was going really well, I was in 2nd when I had a small incident with another driver (Martin Kudzak) and had a spin. After that, at the end, I was in 4th position and had a gap of 12 seconds to third place. I was pushing hard, but when I was trying to overtake, the other driver (Martin Kudzak) put me in the wall, so I was really disappointed and he was disqualified. Once I got to the end, they told me I was second, so that was really good and good for the team as well", he held.
Avila’s Grand Prix of Pau British F3 National Class podium was dedicated to his homeland Macau. "I’ve enjoyed Pau. As I'm from Macau I’ve grown up watching street circuit racing, and it gives me great pleasure to be on the podium on a street circuit. My first podium is dedicated to all my Sponsors, to Macau and to every Macanese", concluded the driver sponsored by Macau Government, Rio Casino, Hotel Fortuna, Macau-Slot.com, BNU, Gain Well Group, Tong-Lei, CESL-Asia, PAL - Asia Consult, RP MACAU, CTM, Tsingtao Beer, Fat Siu Lau Restaurant, PT Asia and Sujika Crafts.
Next round of British F3 International Series is at the tight and twisty Mondello Park in Ireland on June 25.