Doohan Races against Technical Issues at Spa
Jack Doohan has finished P12 & DNF at Round 7 of the Formula 3 Championship in Belgium.
Race 1 - Position 12
The race weekend at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps began perfectly Doohan who recorded the fastest time in the free practice session on Friday morning.
The Australian set a first lap in qualifying, but a red flag interrupted the session and on the restart rain fell which meant that Doohan only had one pushing lap and finished in P13.
Doohan made a great start to Saturday's race, overtaking two cars in the first few metres and entered Eau Rouge in P10.
Doohan continued to apply pressure but a Virtual Safety Car phase put a stop to the racing on lap three.
A technical problem with his GPS under the VSC meant Doohan had to come to a halt to avoid a penalty and as a result, the other cars were able to draw closer and make use of their DRS systems to overtake him once the racing restarted.
The Number 16 Driver fell back to P11 on lap seven and then slipped back another place one lap later as he was unable to prevent another overtake.
Doohan attempted to go back on the attack but no longer had the same pace as at the start of the race and he crossed the line in P12 after an error-free race.
Race 2 - Position DNF
Doohan was mounted for another attack on the points positions on Sunday, starting from P12 and making a good start to the race.
The 17-year-old moved up to P11 but heading into the second lap he was made collateral damage when another car hit him under braking into the final Bus Stop Chicane.
Doohan was forced to head into the pits with tyre damage and retire from the race.
“I had a great start in Saturday’s race, I overtook two cars at once on turn one and moved up to tenth place. I was able to pull away from my rivals behind me a bit and apply some pressure to the cars in front. Then there was a virtual safety car phase when we had a technical problem. I lost nearly two seconds and dropped out of the DRS window. The cars behind me all had DRS and were able to use it. I no longer had the best grip with my tyres and fell back to twelfth place. I made another pretty good start on Sunday and moved up to eleventh. It got pretty hectic out there in the second sector and I made a braking error as I left some space for the car behind in the corner, as I thought he would overtake me but he didn't go past. Then I felt a bump on the final turn before the start-finish straight and I had a flat tyre. The other driver apologised to me after the race. But unfortunately, that was the end of my race. Now we have to concentrate on Monza, where I hope I will have better luck.”
Doohan will now prepare for the eighth round of FIA Formula 3 Championship, which will run at Monza, Italy on September 5-6.
FORMULA 3 CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS
- 1 - Logan Sargeant, Prema Racing - 152 points
- 2 - Oscar Piastri, Prema Racing - 145 points
- 3 - David Beckmann, Trident Racing - 111.5 points
- 4 - Liam Lawson, Hitech Grand Prix - 111 points
- 5 - Theo Pourchaire, ART Grand Prix - 106 points
- 25 - Jack Doohan, HWA RaceLab - 0 points