Nurburgring, 8th August 2014 - Sean Gelael’s hectic programme of mid-summer races in the FIA Formula 3 European Championship finishes over the weekend of 15th-17th August at the famous Nurburgring circuit in Germany.
When the Jagonya Ayam with Carlin team packs up on Sunday evening from the circuit in the picturesque Eifel mountains, there will be a frustrating break of almost two months before the final two rounds of the championship.
Fortunately, Sean will have plenty to keep himself busy with. Not only the day-to-day task of keeping himself in peak race fitness and working with the team to hone the last fraction of speed out of the car, but he will also be starting a University course in England!
Gelael drove his Dallara-Volkswagen to two finishes in the points in the most recent round at the Red Bull Ring in Austria, showing fantastic speed in the races to gain ground from his qualifying positions, with some incisive overtaking moves and an uncanny ability to avoid the accidents that seemed to be happening all around him.
He knows he will need to show those skills again at the Nurburgring, which was built in 1927 and is one of the most historic tracks in the world. The circuit is a shorter version of the one that hosts the German Grand Prix every two years, so the field stays extremely compact and there are always tight clusters of cars fighting it out wheel to wheel. Sean has shown in the past that this is not a problem, and at the same round in 2013 – as a 16-year-old – he battled his way through from 23rd on the grid to finish 13th, which at the time was his best finish to date in the FIA Formula 3 European Championship.
Of course, things have gone considerably better for him since then. He had another 13th place later in the 2013 season, and in 2014 has already scored six top-10 points-gathering finishes: one sixth, one seventh, one ninth and three 10ths.
In motor racing, as in any other high-pressure sport, there is no point focusing on past achievements. You can only look ahead to the next challenge. “We are always looking at the next race,” said Gelael. “We will prepare really hard again for the Nurburgring and hopefully it will be good. Last year our pace was not that strong in qualifying but we made some nice progress in the races. We will learn from all this and put what we have learned into practise. Also, this year I am now with a team that has a lot more experience and success behind it, so compared to last season I go to the Nurburgring with a different team, a different car and as a better driver!”
The very nature of Formula 3 – with almost 30 young talents from all around the globe fighting it out to grab the attentions of the men who matter at the top of the sport – means that it is not just Sean who is getting better. They all are! So to progress, a driver has to make even more of a personal improvement than those around him. This makes the achievements of breaking into the points on a regular basis even more impressive. Gelael will be fighting to do just that once again at the Nurburgring. (ms/arl)
