Oct 2006
Avila and Performance Racing renew partnership
Macanese motorsport
rising star Rodolfo Avila will join Performance
Racing Europe team to contest the F3 Macau Grand Prix
2006, next 16-19 November
The agreement just comes true after Macau SAR driver guaranteed the support of China Telecom (Macau). The first China mainland-based telecommunication operator to grant a mobile communication license outside of the Mainland China will be joined by worldwide leader fire and security services provider Chubb as Rodolfo Avila’s Macau GP Official Partner. Rodolfo Avila season 2006 project key backers - Macau Government, Rio Casino, Hotel Fortuna, Macau-Slot.com, BNU, Gain Well Group, Tong-Lei, CESL-Asia, PAL - Asia Consult, RP Macau, Tsingtao Beer, Fat Siu Lau Restaurant, PT Asia and Sujika Crafts - will also be well represented at the most known East Asian Motorsport meeting.
The 6.2km circuit is like no other track in the world, varying in width from 14 metres along the main straight, to just seven metres as it twists through the back streets of the former Portuguese colony. This is the most important race of the year for Macanese motorsport biggest hope.
"Macau means a lot to me. It's one of the most famous F3 races in the world, and this is my home race. My target is similar to my previous races; my sights will be on getting a respectable finishing position and the best result among Macanese racers - but, of course, anything better than that would be magnificent. After one season in British F3 I feel much more confident but at Guia Circuit we never know", says Avila.
After analysing all the received proposals, the 19-year old finished fourth of British F3 National Class in his first European campaign this year decided to remain with Performance Racing Europe. “My team had never been here before but they are working hard to overtake the difficulty. My engineer is a Macau GP previous winner so I guess we can do a good job during the weekend to honour Macau colours!”.
Performance Racing Team Manager, Bobby Issazadhe shares the same spirit: "Performance Racing are very excited for the opportunity to race in the 53rd Macau Grand Prix with our regular driver Rodolfo Avila. The Macau Grand Prix is by far the most challenging and prestigious race on the Formula 3 calendar and for Rodolfo it is the only opportunity to showcase his talent in front of his sponsors and fans. From the start of the season we always knew how important this race was for Rodolfo and much of the work we have done this year has been in preparation for Macau. Rodolfo has developed tremendously as a driver and I am sure he will perform very well and make Macau proud of him"
Next Monday Rodolfo Avila will be driving at Croft (England) the more powerful Performance Racing Dallara F306-Mügen Honda. The young Macanese will accomplish four days testing before Macau GP challenge.
The agreement just comes true after Macau SAR driver guaranteed the support of China Telecom (Macau). The first China mainland-based telecommunication operator to grant a mobile communication license outside of the Mainland China will be joined by worldwide leader fire and security services provider Chubb as Rodolfo Avila’s Macau GP Official Partner. Rodolfo Avila season 2006 project key backers - Macau Government, Rio Casino, Hotel Fortuna, Macau-Slot.com, BNU, Gain Well Group, Tong-Lei, CESL-Asia, PAL - Asia Consult, RP Macau, Tsingtao Beer, Fat Siu Lau Restaurant, PT Asia and Sujika Crafts - will also be well represented at the most known East Asian Motorsport meeting.
The 6.2km circuit is like no other track in the world, varying in width from 14 metres along the main straight, to just seven metres as it twists through the back streets of the former Portuguese colony. This is the most important race of the year for Macanese motorsport biggest hope.
"Macau means a lot to me. It's one of the most famous F3 races in the world, and this is my home race. My target is similar to my previous races; my sights will be on getting a respectable finishing position and the best result among Macanese racers - but, of course, anything better than that would be magnificent. After one season in British F3 I feel much more confident but at Guia Circuit we never know", says Avila.
After analysing all the received proposals, the 19-year old finished fourth of British F3 National Class in his first European campaign this year decided to remain with Performance Racing Europe. “My team had never been here before but they are working hard to overtake the difficulty. My engineer is a Macau GP previous winner so I guess we can do a good job during the weekend to honour Macau colours!”.
Performance Racing Team Manager, Bobby Issazadhe shares the same spirit: "Performance Racing are very excited for the opportunity to race in the 53rd Macau Grand Prix with our regular driver Rodolfo Avila. The Macau Grand Prix is by far the most challenging and prestigious race on the Formula 3 calendar and for Rodolfo it is the only opportunity to showcase his talent in front of his sponsors and fans. From the start of the season we always knew how important this race was for Rodolfo and much of the work we have done this year has been in preparation for Macau. Rodolfo has developed tremendously as a driver and I am sure he will perform very well and make Macau proud of him"
Next Monday Rodolfo Avila will be driving at Croft (England) the more powerful Performance Racing Dallara F306-Mügen Honda. The young Macanese will accomplish four days testing before Macau GP challenge.
Report from Thruxton, Rounds 21 & 22
QUALIFYING (ROUND 21):
Under greying skies, in damp conditions, the
penultimate qualifying session of the 2006 British F3
International Series got underway. Running on the
incredibly fast Thruxton circuit, Performance
Racing’s Juho Annala was hoping to end the
season with a win. With the rain now stopping, most
drivers wandered out, warmed up the car, the
retreated to the pits for slick tyres. Juho made the
most of the situation to claim provisional pole early
on, but a mistake from the Finn saw the now almost
inevitable Rodolfo Gonzalez (T-Sport) pole position
result. He wasn’t too impressed at that, and
was even less impressed when Greg Mansell, son of
ex-F1 World Champion Nigel, got in front of him as
well, even though Mansell was in the Invitation Class
and thus not in a position to affect Juho’s
chances of a good points finish. In the second
Performance car, Rodolfo Avila was finding the track
difficult to get to grips with, the Macanese ending
up 5th in class when the session came to a close.
QUALIFYING (ROUND 22): The weather started slightly better for this session, but it deteriorated towards the end. However, making no mistakes this time, after falling all the way down the order in the first part of the qualifying, Juho then pulled himself together and put in a superb lap in the slippery, treacherous conditions, snatching pole from Gonzalez. He was able to hang onto it despite the Venezuelan’s efforts to dislodge him, and seemed to be enjoying himself, the car working to his liking. This time, too, Mansell was behind the Finn, and looked as if he could be a useful cushion. Rodolfo was also having a far better session, he ended his session 4th, just ahead of the other Mansell sibling, Leo.
QUALIFYING QUOTES: Juho Annala: “I'm really happy. The first one sort of slipped away by a small mistake, and now I felt in the second one that I don't want to throw it away again! And yeah it's good to hopefully end my F3 career in a pole position. In the first one I just lost it a bit in the first complex, and that was about it. I just lost so much speed coming to the straight then. And in the second one I was pushing really hard right from the first lap. I'm good in these kinds of conditions, I'm confident to say. I've always been good in these conditions, in karting, in Formula Ford. One condition where I'm not comfortable is sort of drying conditions with rain tyres. That's horrible. I cannot get any kind of feeling and the car is actually sliding and it's not gripping but here you know it's going to slide, and then you just have to sort of look around to see the dry patches and you just slide it there, and you just trust that it will stop in the dry patch. I liked the conditions and tried to make the most out of it. I really want to win tomorrow. It would be much better to win the race from pole after I lost the two pole positions in Brands so it would be really good to wrap up the whole package. There is some Mansells between me and Gonzalez. And Danny Watts starts in front of me, and I think he might open some doors. It's good to follow him I think.”
Rodolfo Avila: “This morning was quite hard because the conditions there were like slick tyres on a wet track and I'm really bad in those conditions. I really struggle so much because I don't like the car sliding. With slick tyres and a wet track it's even worse and the car moves around all the time. For the second qualifying we improved a bit. We're still a little bit off the pace, but at least we're not that far and we have something to work on and I hope tomorrow if everything goes according to plan, and if the track is dry and stuff I hope I can do better than today. At the end when we put the slick tyres on I managed to spin and then I couldn't restart my car - something wrong - I don't know - with the battery or something so that was just it. Let's see what happens tomorrow. At the end it was raining more so I couldn't go as quick.”
RACE (ROUND 21): Race day dawned soggy, with torrential showers interspersed with very brief dry periods. Just before the race started, conditions were utterly vile. A heavy downpour just as the cars lined up on the grid gave way to a dry five minutes, another downpour and a very sensible decision on the part of the organisers. The race would start behind the Safety Car and would continue behind it until it was safe to let them all go. It was while all that was happening that Rodolfo’s name came up on the screen as he’d seemingly set the fastest lap of the race. Granted, they were still behind the Safety Car. Three laps later and the race finally got underway. At the end of the first racing lap, Juho had set the fastest race lap, partly as a result of his efforts to pass Greg Mansell. The newcomer delayed him by a lap, which allowed Gonzalez to break away. Realising he was unlikely to catch the 2006 champion, Juho settled down to try and avoid running out of road, claiming 2nd at the end, despite the fact that all around him Championship Class runners were falling over each other and generally embarrassing themselves. Rodolfo was having some difficulties too, and spun away his 4th place while running in what amounted to a giant ball of spray. He spent the rest of the race trying to recover, a task made more difficult when the race leaders came up to lap him. Rodolfo behaved impeccably, pulling right over to let them through.
RACE QUOTES (ROUND 21): Juho Annala: “It was alright. I think I got a good start but I lost some time overtaking the other superstar (Mansell). I lost something like one lap or something. That let Gonzalez make the break. I tried to push really hard and I think we were doing basically exactly the same lap times, because the gap stayed more or less the same. And then I thought there's no point. I'd better take this thing so I was pushing really hard... Yeah. It was alright. I'm happy with it. If the weather is like this I think it will help me a lot. Because in this race I couldn't see anything in the first two laps and I was behind the other Mansell, so I lost lots and lots of time trying to get past him and that was my race basically. I was pushing really hard just trying to catch him but at some point I noticed I was never going to catch him and slowed down a bit and I just wanted to finish.”
RACE (ROUND 22): This was the one Juho wanted to win. He got off the line well, and was making good progress when things started to go awry up ahead. The Championship Class boys were scrapping furiously and in the midst of the melee Maro Engel (Carlin Motorsport) managed to get it all wrong. The German spun and was across the track when Juho arrived on the scene. There was nowhere to go. They made contact and Juho lurched round to the pits. The team took the opportunity to replace his wet weather tyres with slicks. He went back out again, but he was now a long way down the order. Things got steadily worse, and he was eventually forced to retire. Meanwhile, Rodolfo had made contact with Alex Waters (Promatecme F3) during the first lap. After and eventful couple of laps Rodolfo was able to continue after a pitstop to remove a lot of grass from the radiators, regaining his 4th place when Juho had to retire. Pushing on as the race wore on, Rodolfo was in the right place when Gonzalez went out too. The Macanese was now 3rd, and while he was surprised, he wasn’t going to turn down a podium placing.
RACE QUOTES (ROUND 22): Rodolfo Avila: “It was really bad, but then we had some touch and then I spun. After that I just try to make my race and tried to push as much as I could. I kept the car - I went off track once. I managed to some back and then I managed to spin across the finish line and I Think I'm third so it's OK. In one of the fast corners I just lost it on the way in and just understeered over. On the way out I just got in the grass I just had to come back to the track and there was quite a lot of grass in my radiators so the car was overheating. I managed to finish and that's good.”
Points after 22 Rounds – National Class:
1st – Rodolfo Gonzalez, 355 points
2nd – Cristiano Morgado, 300 points
3rd – Juho Annala, 258 points
4th – Rodolfo Avila, 182 points
5th – Martin Kudzak, 105 points
6th – Alex Waters, 78 points
7th – Ricardo Teixeira, 74 points
8th – Alexander Khateeb, 42 points
Next Race Meeting: Macau Grand Prix, November 16th/19th 2006.
QUALIFYING (ROUND 22): The weather started slightly better for this session, but it deteriorated towards the end. However, making no mistakes this time, after falling all the way down the order in the first part of the qualifying, Juho then pulled himself together and put in a superb lap in the slippery, treacherous conditions, snatching pole from Gonzalez. He was able to hang onto it despite the Venezuelan’s efforts to dislodge him, and seemed to be enjoying himself, the car working to his liking. This time, too, Mansell was behind the Finn, and looked as if he could be a useful cushion. Rodolfo was also having a far better session, he ended his session 4th, just ahead of the other Mansell sibling, Leo.
QUALIFYING QUOTES: Juho Annala: “I'm really happy. The first one sort of slipped away by a small mistake, and now I felt in the second one that I don't want to throw it away again! And yeah it's good to hopefully end my F3 career in a pole position. In the first one I just lost it a bit in the first complex, and that was about it. I just lost so much speed coming to the straight then. And in the second one I was pushing really hard right from the first lap. I'm good in these kinds of conditions, I'm confident to say. I've always been good in these conditions, in karting, in Formula Ford. One condition where I'm not comfortable is sort of drying conditions with rain tyres. That's horrible. I cannot get any kind of feeling and the car is actually sliding and it's not gripping but here you know it's going to slide, and then you just have to sort of look around to see the dry patches and you just slide it there, and you just trust that it will stop in the dry patch. I liked the conditions and tried to make the most out of it. I really want to win tomorrow. It would be much better to win the race from pole after I lost the two pole positions in Brands so it would be really good to wrap up the whole package. There is some Mansells between me and Gonzalez. And Danny Watts starts in front of me, and I think he might open some doors. It's good to follow him I think.”
Rodolfo Avila: “This morning was quite hard because the conditions there were like slick tyres on a wet track and I'm really bad in those conditions. I really struggle so much because I don't like the car sliding. With slick tyres and a wet track it's even worse and the car moves around all the time. For the second qualifying we improved a bit. We're still a little bit off the pace, but at least we're not that far and we have something to work on and I hope tomorrow if everything goes according to plan, and if the track is dry and stuff I hope I can do better than today. At the end when we put the slick tyres on I managed to spin and then I couldn't restart my car - something wrong - I don't know - with the battery or something so that was just it. Let's see what happens tomorrow. At the end it was raining more so I couldn't go as quick.”
RACE (ROUND 21): Race day dawned soggy, with torrential showers interspersed with very brief dry periods. Just before the race started, conditions were utterly vile. A heavy downpour just as the cars lined up on the grid gave way to a dry five minutes, another downpour and a very sensible decision on the part of the organisers. The race would start behind the Safety Car and would continue behind it until it was safe to let them all go. It was while all that was happening that Rodolfo’s name came up on the screen as he’d seemingly set the fastest lap of the race. Granted, they were still behind the Safety Car. Three laps later and the race finally got underway. At the end of the first racing lap, Juho had set the fastest race lap, partly as a result of his efforts to pass Greg Mansell. The newcomer delayed him by a lap, which allowed Gonzalez to break away. Realising he was unlikely to catch the 2006 champion, Juho settled down to try and avoid running out of road, claiming 2nd at the end, despite the fact that all around him Championship Class runners were falling over each other and generally embarrassing themselves. Rodolfo was having some difficulties too, and spun away his 4th place while running in what amounted to a giant ball of spray. He spent the rest of the race trying to recover, a task made more difficult when the race leaders came up to lap him. Rodolfo behaved impeccably, pulling right over to let them through.
RACE QUOTES (ROUND 21): Juho Annala: “It was alright. I think I got a good start but I lost some time overtaking the other superstar (Mansell). I lost something like one lap or something. That let Gonzalez make the break. I tried to push really hard and I think we were doing basically exactly the same lap times, because the gap stayed more or less the same. And then I thought there's no point. I'd better take this thing so I was pushing really hard... Yeah. It was alright. I'm happy with it. If the weather is like this I think it will help me a lot. Because in this race I couldn't see anything in the first two laps and I was behind the other Mansell, so I lost lots and lots of time trying to get past him and that was my race basically. I was pushing really hard just trying to catch him but at some point I noticed I was never going to catch him and slowed down a bit and I just wanted to finish.”
RACE (ROUND 22): This was the one Juho wanted to win. He got off the line well, and was making good progress when things started to go awry up ahead. The Championship Class boys were scrapping furiously and in the midst of the melee Maro Engel (Carlin Motorsport) managed to get it all wrong. The German spun and was across the track when Juho arrived on the scene. There was nowhere to go. They made contact and Juho lurched round to the pits. The team took the opportunity to replace his wet weather tyres with slicks. He went back out again, but he was now a long way down the order. Things got steadily worse, and he was eventually forced to retire. Meanwhile, Rodolfo had made contact with Alex Waters (Promatecme F3) during the first lap. After and eventful couple of laps Rodolfo was able to continue after a pitstop to remove a lot of grass from the radiators, regaining his 4th place when Juho had to retire. Pushing on as the race wore on, Rodolfo was in the right place when Gonzalez went out too. The Macanese was now 3rd, and while he was surprised, he wasn’t going to turn down a podium placing.
RACE QUOTES (ROUND 22): Rodolfo Avila: “It was really bad, but then we had some touch and then I spun. After that I just try to make my race and tried to push as much as I could. I kept the car - I went off track once. I managed to some back and then I managed to spin across the finish line and I Think I'm third so it's OK. In one of the fast corners I just lost it on the way in and just understeered over. On the way out I just got in the grass I just had to come back to the track and there was quite a lot of grass in my radiators so the car was overheating. I managed to finish and that's good.”
Points after 22 Rounds – National Class:
1st – Rodolfo Gonzalez, 355 points
2nd – Cristiano Morgado, 300 points
3rd – Juho Annala, 258 points
4th – Rodolfo Avila, 182 points
5th – Martin Kudzak, 105 points
6th – Alex Waters, 78 points
7th – Ricardo Teixeira, 74 points
8th – Alexander Khateeb, 42 points
Next Race Meeting: Macau Grand Prix, November 16th/19th 2006.
Avila concludes British F3 Championship with a the podium
Macanese racing
prospect Rodolfo Avila finished his first European
season with a podium position at Thruxton, England.
The 19-year-old driver from Macau SAR conquered the
4th position of National Class of British F3
International Series 2006.
Monsoon-like conditions played a crucial role in the outcome of the final two races of the season at UK's fastest circuit. With Race 1 starting under a safety car for the first two laps, a early spin by Avila saw him lose what would be a recovering race. Avila’s hopes were soon dashed following a frustrating qualifying session and a wild race which left him languishing down in 5th (National Class) by the chequered flag. Race 2 started much better but Avila was taken off by an opponent on the second lap. The end of the race saw Performance Racing's Asian driver struggle for grip. A spin at the Complex on the fourth lap dropped him down again. Anyway Avila never gave up and managed to cross the finish line on the 3rd position.
Commenting on the round, Avila said, "It was a very difficult weekend. I felt no grip during all weekend. My first race had no story and in my second race I had a nice start but I’ve been thrown away by an opponent and spun. When I was pushing hard to recover my position I went off. Fortunately I get back to the track and managed to finish 3rd. My European season is over. Now I’m looking forward to Macau Grand Prix. That’s my favourite race!”
The driver supported by Macau Government, Rio Casino, Hotel Fortuna, Macau-Slot.com, BNU, Gain Well Group, Tong-Lei, CESL-Asia, PAL - Asia Consult, RP Macau, Tsingtao Beer, Fat Siu Lau Restaurant, PT Asia and Sujika Crafts preparations for Macau Grand Prix is underway. Before East Asia Motorsport highlight, in the next week Macau SAR is going to host 1st Lusofonia Games and Avila wants “to wish very good luck to all the athletes! This event shows that my hometown is more than ever ready to host high-profile international sport meetings”.
Monsoon-like conditions played a crucial role in the outcome of the final two races of the season at UK's fastest circuit. With Race 1 starting under a safety car for the first two laps, a early spin by Avila saw him lose what would be a recovering race. Avila’s hopes were soon dashed following a frustrating qualifying session and a wild race which left him languishing down in 5th (National Class) by the chequered flag. Race 2 started much better but Avila was taken off by an opponent on the second lap. The end of the race saw Performance Racing's Asian driver struggle for grip. A spin at the Complex on the fourth lap dropped him down again. Anyway Avila never gave up and managed to cross the finish line on the 3rd position.
Commenting on the round, Avila said, "It was a very difficult weekend. I felt no grip during all weekend. My first race had no story and in my second race I had a nice start but I’ve been thrown away by an opponent and spun. When I was pushing hard to recover my position I went off. Fortunately I get back to the track and managed to finish 3rd. My European season is over. Now I’m looking forward to Macau Grand Prix. That’s my favourite race!”
The driver supported by Macau Government, Rio Casino, Hotel Fortuna, Macau-Slot.com, BNU, Gain Well Group, Tong-Lei, CESL-Asia, PAL - Asia Consult, RP Macau, Tsingtao Beer, Fat Siu Lau Restaurant, PT Asia and Sujika Crafts preparations for Macau Grand Prix is underway. Before East Asia Motorsport highlight, in the next week Macau SAR is going to host 1st Lusofonia Games and Avila wants “to wish very good luck to all the athletes! This event shows that my hometown is more than ever ready to host high-profile international sport meetings”.
Report from Silverstone, Rounds 19 & 20
QUALIFYING (ROUND 19):
After a foggy start to the day, the track was damp to
start with. A couple of drivers went out but decided
it was too wet still. As a result, pretty much
everybody sat in the pits for the first half of the
session. The Performance Racing drivers Juho Annala
and Rodolfo Avila were among those in no hurry to get
out. When Juho did emerge he was on the pace straight
off, setting provisional pole in the National Class.
Cristiano Morgado (Fluid Motorsport) was giving him a
run for his money, and the two of them kept trading
times, until Rodolfo Gonzalez (T-Sport) joined in and
split them. With the track improving with every lap,
it was a question of timing your final run well. Both
Morgado and Gonzalez did a better job of that than
Juho, and he ended up 3rd. Rodolfo, meanwhile, was
battling the car in the rapidly drying conditions,
and was losing that struggle. He ended up 5th,
somewhat frustrated.
QUALIFYING (ROUND 20): In the afternoon session, all the drivers tried to get out as quickly as they could. Conditions were good and most people wanted to put their times in as fast as they could, making the most of the tyres. To begin with Gonzalez was fastest, from Juho and Rodolfo, while Morgado seemed to be having trouble getting up to speed. However, when he did, he first displaced Rodolfo and later Juho as well. As the session went on, the Performance boys’ fortunes fluctuated, with Rodolfo climbing as far up the order as 2nd, while Juho slipped right down the order. It wasn’t over, however, and a further reshuffle saw Gonzalez take pole, from Morgado, with Juho again 3rd and Rodolfo 4th. Later, Gonzalez was found to have exceeded the pitlane speed limit, and had his fastest times disallowed. However, it made no difference to his final position on the starting grid.
QUALIFYING QUOTES: Juho Annala: “The first session was alright. The gap was only 2 tenths. The car wasn't perfect but I was driving somehow reasonably (just a little understeer) so that just put me a little bit off. I think I'm pretty happy with that although I lost two tenths in the last corner, and that was the pole so it would have been nice to get it other way round. So I thought now in the second one I just do the last corner right and it will be lots easier but I just should have been quicker earlier on in the first corner basically! It took me quite a long time to get on the pace with the new tyres, I don't know what was really going on. It felt really different already in the track, even in the old tyres. I did a couple of laps, and then I went out again, but still it took me like three, well, third lap was my quickest and after that I just couldn't do anything, though I know that I did the last corner and the first corner better. It would be nice to win one race...”
Rodolfo Avila: “Not very much to say. I haven’t been driving really good. I've been struggling since yesterday and trying to improve the car, trying to improve the driving as well, trying to put everything together. It's been quite hard this weekend, but I think although we're a bit slow now, we made big progress and I think I know what's wrong with the car, so I think we can work and do something for tomorrow. Tomorrow in the race I'll just push as maximum as I can. I feel confident about it so I hope everything goes OK tomorrow.”
RACE (ROUND 19): At the start, while Morgado made a good start, Juho got a run on Gonzalez when the Venezuelan went wide. The result was that Juho was through into 2nd while Gonzalez spun, ending up last. He soon began a recovery drive that saw him catch Rodolfo. Keeping Gonzalez back was never going to be easy, especially as Gonzalez knew he needed to pass Rodolfo to clinch the championship. He was quickly through. From Juho’s point of view it was helpful. He had Alex Waters (Promatecme F3) trying to catch him, and was bottled up behind Keiko Ihara (Carlin Motorsport), unable to get past the Japanese Championship Class runner, but needing to keep Waters at bay to protect his 2nd place. Gonzalez setting about Waters was the best thing that could happen from Juho’s point of view. With one lap to go, Gonzalez found a way past, but it was too late for him to do anything about Juho. Rodolfo, meanwhile, came home 5th, behind Waters, deeply frustrated with what he regarded as a lack of progress.
RACE QUOTES (ROUND 19): Juho Annala: “The start I think was really good but then I start to lift off a little bit because Reindler was basically stopped there and then I just got past Gonzalez - he just started hanging on the outside and Valerio went to overtake him and I followed Valerio and he's still on the outside. I think it it ended up on the kerbs and spun. After that I just couldn't keep up. I think that Lola is going really well and Cristiano is good. I wasn't happy with my car at all. Now it's oversteering. OK, second place, but I just can't catch Morgado anymore.”
Rodolfo Avila: “I'm struggling like always. I made a really good start and the first laps were quite good, but then I had a huge mistake and I went of the track at Priory and I just lost all the positions. I was struggling all over the corner – I can't do it, I don’t know what's wrong. I don’t know; I really don't know if it was me, if it's the car. It's frustrating. I'm not enjoying it a bit now. I'm just struggling all the time, and it’s not a good feeling. I just want to give up because every time you sit in the car I say OK I'm going to try hard and I'm always trying hard, pushing, pushing, and I just can't do it. We've been pushing and we've been working and it's not there. It's so frustrating.”
RACE (ROUND 20): This was a pretty strange race in the end. It started normally enough, with Morgado in the class lead, though Gonzalez again ended up last at the end of the first lap. At least this time it was nothing to do with Juho. This time, however, Gonzalez didn’t get to put in a recovery drive. He was out of the race by lap 8, his car having lost all its oil. That took some of the pressure off Rodolfo, who had been within range of the Venezuelan at the time. With Waters again trying to chase him, Juho was stuck behind Ihara yet again, while Morgado streaked away in the lead. However, Waters pursuit came to an end a lap after Gonzalez exited. Waters suffered a clutch failure round the back of the circuit and never came back. That left Rodolfo in 3rd, a long way behind Juho, who was still 2nd. To the Finn’s surprise, he suddenly became the leader with a lap to go, when Morgado pulled off at the first corner, his engine clearly terminally sick. And so Juho came home to take his 3rd win of the year, a somewhat surprised victor. Rodolfo hung on to 2nd, though he wasn’t exactly happy about it afterwards.
RACE QUOTES (ROUND 20): Juho Annala: “Big, big surprise! I really didn't expect to get it. He had the pace and I was just trying to try as hard as I could to bring it home. I only knew I was in the lead on the last lap. They showed the board but they stopped showing the board like four laps before and I thought what's happened? Then suddenly I was P1 and I take it easy. That was not expected at all. No, no, not at all. I was basically cruising as fast as I could. I was a little bit stuck in a couple of laps (behind Ihara) and then obviously I couldn't get close to her, or not even try to get past her. It's a shame we didn't have the pace, the car was understeering this time. I don't know really we just seemed to go from other end to the other for some reason, and what can you do? I've tried my best the whole weekend. It's good for the sponsors.”
Rodolfo Avila: It's OK. I was lucky that all the other competitors went out. I've been struggling and I keep on struggling. It was quite weird, all the cars were blowing up and stopping. I was lucky I just kept going and kept the car on the track and was quite surprised to finish 2nd. It's never good to finish the race on a podium like this but that's the way it is, and now I'll try look and work harder for next week and try to make it better. We're struggling quite a lot. I have the pace but I can't put it on the first laps, but at least I have the pace of my team-mate. Last race my fastest lap I was 2/10th off. OK, we have the same pace, but I can't just do it in the beginning. It's the confidence, but it's also the experience that really lets me down. I don't like to be last, to be honest; no one likes to be last. It's a shame that we only have five cars because I wish I could have someone to battle with on my own level and I don't, so it's quite boring.
Points after 20 Rounds – National Class:
1st – Rodolfo Gonzalez, 333 points
2nd – Cristiano Morgado, 268 points
3rd – Juho Annala, 243 points
4th – Rodolfo Avila, 162 points
5th – Martin Kudzak, 105 points
6th – Ricardo Teixeira, 74 points
7th – Alex Waters, 53 points
8th – Alexander Khateeb, 42 points
Next Race Meeting: Rounds 21 & 22, Thruxton, UK, September 30th/October 1st.
QUALIFYING (ROUND 20): In the afternoon session, all the drivers tried to get out as quickly as they could. Conditions were good and most people wanted to put their times in as fast as they could, making the most of the tyres. To begin with Gonzalez was fastest, from Juho and Rodolfo, while Morgado seemed to be having trouble getting up to speed. However, when he did, he first displaced Rodolfo and later Juho as well. As the session went on, the Performance boys’ fortunes fluctuated, with Rodolfo climbing as far up the order as 2nd, while Juho slipped right down the order. It wasn’t over, however, and a further reshuffle saw Gonzalez take pole, from Morgado, with Juho again 3rd and Rodolfo 4th. Later, Gonzalez was found to have exceeded the pitlane speed limit, and had his fastest times disallowed. However, it made no difference to his final position on the starting grid.
QUALIFYING QUOTES: Juho Annala: “The first session was alright. The gap was only 2 tenths. The car wasn't perfect but I was driving somehow reasonably (just a little understeer) so that just put me a little bit off. I think I'm pretty happy with that although I lost two tenths in the last corner, and that was the pole so it would have been nice to get it other way round. So I thought now in the second one I just do the last corner right and it will be lots easier but I just should have been quicker earlier on in the first corner basically! It took me quite a long time to get on the pace with the new tyres, I don't know what was really going on. It felt really different already in the track, even in the old tyres. I did a couple of laps, and then I went out again, but still it took me like three, well, third lap was my quickest and after that I just couldn't do anything, though I know that I did the last corner and the first corner better. It would be nice to win one race...”
Rodolfo Avila: “Not very much to say. I haven’t been driving really good. I've been struggling since yesterday and trying to improve the car, trying to improve the driving as well, trying to put everything together. It's been quite hard this weekend, but I think although we're a bit slow now, we made big progress and I think I know what's wrong with the car, so I think we can work and do something for tomorrow. Tomorrow in the race I'll just push as maximum as I can. I feel confident about it so I hope everything goes OK tomorrow.”
RACE (ROUND 19): At the start, while Morgado made a good start, Juho got a run on Gonzalez when the Venezuelan went wide. The result was that Juho was through into 2nd while Gonzalez spun, ending up last. He soon began a recovery drive that saw him catch Rodolfo. Keeping Gonzalez back was never going to be easy, especially as Gonzalez knew he needed to pass Rodolfo to clinch the championship. He was quickly through. From Juho’s point of view it was helpful. He had Alex Waters (Promatecme F3) trying to catch him, and was bottled up behind Keiko Ihara (Carlin Motorsport), unable to get past the Japanese Championship Class runner, but needing to keep Waters at bay to protect his 2nd place. Gonzalez setting about Waters was the best thing that could happen from Juho’s point of view. With one lap to go, Gonzalez found a way past, but it was too late for him to do anything about Juho. Rodolfo, meanwhile, came home 5th, behind Waters, deeply frustrated with what he regarded as a lack of progress.
RACE QUOTES (ROUND 19): Juho Annala: “The start I think was really good but then I start to lift off a little bit because Reindler was basically stopped there and then I just got past Gonzalez - he just started hanging on the outside and Valerio went to overtake him and I followed Valerio and he's still on the outside. I think it it ended up on the kerbs and spun. After that I just couldn't keep up. I think that Lola is going really well and Cristiano is good. I wasn't happy with my car at all. Now it's oversteering. OK, second place, but I just can't catch Morgado anymore.”
Rodolfo Avila: “I'm struggling like always. I made a really good start and the first laps were quite good, but then I had a huge mistake and I went of the track at Priory and I just lost all the positions. I was struggling all over the corner – I can't do it, I don’t know what's wrong. I don’t know; I really don't know if it was me, if it's the car. It's frustrating. I'm not enjoying it a bit now. I'm just struggling all the time, and it’s not a good feeling. I just want to give up because every time you sit in the car I say OK I'm going to try hard and I'm always trying hard, pushing, pushing, and I just can't do it. We've been pushing and we've been working and it's not there. It's so frustrating.”
RACE (ROUND 20): This was a pretty strange race in the end. It started normally enough, with Morgado in the class lead, though Gonzalez again ended up last at the end of the first lap. At least this time it was nothing to do with Juho. This time, however, Gonzalez didn’t get to put in a recovery drive. He was out of the race by lap 8, his car having lost all its oil. That took some of the pressure off Rodolfo, who had been within range of the Venezuelan at the time. With Waters again trying to chase him, Juho was stuck behind Ihara yet again, while Morgado streaked away in the lead. However, Waters pursuit came to an end a lap after Gonzalez exited. Waters suffered a clutch failure round the back of the circuit and never came back. That left Rodolfo in 3rd, a long way behind Juho, who was still 2nd. To the Finn’s surprise, he suddenly became the leader with a lap to go, when Morgado pulled off at the first corner, his engine clearly terminally sick. And so Juho came home to take his 3rd win of the year, a somewhat surprised victor. Rodolfo hung on to 2nd, though he wasn’t exactly happy about it afterwards.
RACE QUOTES (ROUND 20): Juho Annala: “Big, big surprise! I really didn't expect to get it. He had the pace and I was just trying to try as hard as I could to bring it home. I only knew I was in the lead on the last lap. They showed the board but they stopped showing the board like four laps before and I thought what's happened? Then suddenly I was P1 and I take it easy. That was not expected at all. No, no, not at all. I was basically cruising as fast as I could. I was a little bit stuck in a couple of laps (behind Ihara) and then obviously I couldn't get close to her, or not even try to get past her. It's a shame we didn't have the pace, the car was understeering this time. I don't know really we just seemed to go from other end to the other for some reason, and what can you do? I've tried my best the whole weekend. It's good for the sponsors.”
Rodolfo Avila: It's OK. I was lucky that all the other competitors went out. I've been struggling and I keep on struggling. It was quite weird, all the cars were blowing up and stopping. I was lucky I just kept going and kept the car on the track and was quite surprised to finish 2nd. It's never good to finish the race on a podium like this but that's the way it is, and now I'll try look and work harder for next week and try to make it better. We're struggling quite a lot. I have the pace but I can't put it on the first laps, but at least I have the pace of my team-mate. Last race my fastest lap I was 2/10th off. OK, we have the same pace, but I can't just do it in the beginning. It's the confidence, but it's also the experience that really lets me down. I don't like to be last, to be honest; no one likes to be last. It's a shame that we only have five cars because I wish I could have someone to battle with on my own level and I don't, so it's quite boring.
Points after 20 Rounds – National Class:
1st – Rodolfo Gonzalez, 333 points
2nd – Cristiano Morgado, 268 points
3rd – Juho Annala, 243 points
4th – Rodolfo Avila, 162 points
5th – Martin Kudzak, 105 points
6th – Ricardo Teixeira, 74 points
7th – Alex Waters, 53 points
8th – Alexander Khateeb, 42 points
Next Race Meeting: Rounds 21 & 22, Thruxton, UK, September 30th/October 1st.