Spa-Franchorchamps, Belgium, 27th July 2013 - The Indonesian flag flew on the podium of the famous Spa-Francorchamps circuit in Belgium, thanks to a fantastic third place for Sean Gelael in the latest round of the British Formula 3 International Series.

Sixteen-year-old Sean picked a path through treacherous wet conditions in the first race of the weekend to add to his two podium finishes from the opening round at Silverstone. Combined with his other two results from Spa, this moves him up to fourth place in the championship.

Gelael was challenging Canadian Nicholas Latifi and British driver Jann Mardenborough in the battle for third when those drivers collided at the notorious Eau Rouge corner, sending Mardenborough into a roll and Latifi smashing into the barriers.

That moved Sean up to third position, and he kept everything calm to finish there after a race in which he set the third fastest lap.

“It was my first time in the rain here,” he said. “As the race settled down my pace was quicker than Nicholas and Jann. But it was so hard to pass them, because they were running low-downforce set-ups, so on the straights they were just gone.

“Then the accident happened – it was really scary and I was saying, ‘man!’

“I had a good start so that put in a good position already. We were three-abreast in the first corner despite the rain! I pushed and the speed was there.”

In the second race, Sean managed to finish fifth from sixth on the grid after a very consistent run, in conditions where everyone struggled with grip on the wet circuit.

Once again it was wet in race three. Gelael rose to sixth on the second lap and then closed the gap down to the third-place fight, which included Latifi, Englishman Jordan King and Brazilian Felipe Guimaraes.

Sean was just beginning to challenge Guimaraes when he spun. That dropped him back to eighth position, but undaunted he set the fastest lap of the entire race on the final lap – an amazing feat against such experienced drivers.

“I made quite a decent start,” said Gelael. “I ran side-by-side through Eau Rouge with Guimaraes, so because there was less room I had to put on more lock, so that gave me some wheelspin on the exit and I lost time down the long straight.

“But then I caught the group up again and the rain poured down. The spray made it so difficult to see, but I managed to pass Guimaraes into the hairpin, only for him to get me back again on the exit. Then I tried going faster in Pouhon, which is a really fast corner, and hit the kerb and spun.

“Still, I’m happy about the fastest lap, which gives me an extra point, and really it’s been a great weekend. The circuit is great! It’s difficult, with fast, flowing corners everywhere.”

Buoyed by his Belgian experience, Gelael now heads to Brands Hatch for the third round of the British Formula 3 International Series on August 10^th/11^th. This is on the Grand Prix circuit, where the characteristics of the corners are quite similar to Spa, so expect another good weekend! (ARL)