The first FIA Formula 3 European Championship race of the weekend was an eventful one for the Jagonya Ayam with Carlin drivers this morning, in an action packed race which saw Blomqvist take a strong fourth place at Spa-Francorchamps. Team mates Sean Gelael and Antonio Giovinazzi suffered opposite fortunes with Gelael stuck in the mid field and Giovinazzi failing to finish after an incident with Santino Ferrucci.
The first Formula 3 race of the weekend was action packed from the outset with Blomqvist enduring a tough start from his sixth place grid slot. The British racer was forced to the outside in the run down to La Source and had to take to the run off area, losing a handful of places as a result. By the end of lap one Blomqvist was ninth just ahead of Giovinazzi in 12th while Gelael was 19th.
Determined to make up for his unlucky start, Blomqvist was on a charge, passing Nicholas Latifi for eighth place on lap three. The Prema driver took the position back a few corners later though in a fight that would last a few more laps.
Gelael meanwhile was defending hard from Jordan King in the sister Carlin car; the British racer finally made his way through. At the same time Blomqvist was putting Latifi under pressure again, taking P7 with a decisive move into Les Combes on lap 5.
The action kicked off for Giovinazzi on lap six, the Italian racer was in a fight with Santino Ferrucci when the two made contact which put drivers out of the race. With two cars stranded on track, the racing was neutralised as the safety car circulated allowing the wreckage to be cleared away.
At the restart both Blomqvist and Gelael held their positions, as Blomqvist remained in close contact with fourth placed Jake Dennis in the Carlin car. Blomqvist was under attack from behind through, Antonio Fuocco passed the Brit for fifth, but Blomqvist wasn’t giving up and soon took the position back.
The tense racing action continued to the chequered flag, with Blomqvist staying close to Dennis who was attacking Felix Rosenqvist for third. Both Dennis and Blomqvist made it past on the final lap, meaning the Jagonya Ayam driver took the flag in fourth place while his main championship rival Esteban Ocon failed to finish. Gelael came home in 18th.
Speaking about the race, Blomqvist said, “It was a pretty exciting race but I didn’t have a great first lap. I got put on the grass at the first corner but my start wasn’t perfect so I shouldn’t have been in that position anyway. I dropped down outside the top ten but then with the slipstream effect here I managed to get a run going into Les Combes to get a few cars. Then I was just slowly pecking away at it. The car was working well and we were quite competitive so it was a case of picking the guys off. I made a few little mistakes which might have cost me a podium but I’m pretty comfortable with fourth after that first lap.”
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