Red Bull Ring, Austria, 29 Juli 2014 - Sean Gelael’s busy period of mid-summer racing in Europe continues as he heads to the Red Bull Ring – deep in the scenic Austrian Alps – for the eighth round of the FIA Formula 3 European Championship.
The Indonesian’s confidence is boosted by three podium finishes on a one-off outing in the British Formula 3 Championship at Spa-Francorchamps, with Sean taking two second places, one third and leading five laps in his Jagonya Ayam with Carlin Dallara-Volkswagen.
He also has been scoring points in recent FIA F3 European Championship rounds, and already knows the Austrian circuit from racing and testing.
Last year, the Red Bull Ring featured earlier in the season and Sean made a nice step forward from his initial race weekends to battle well in the midfield, showing how he was developing well from his complete lack of experience at the beginning of the year.
The teams then returned to the track at the beginning of this year for a pre-season test, with Gelael showing top-10 pace in some sessions and feeling that he could have been in the top six runners had he put together a good lap.
Therefore, the 17-year-old is confident of scoring more points on a circuit that is a historic one in European motor racing. It first opened in the late 1960s as the Osterreichring and hosted the Austrian Grand Prix from 1970-87. It was then revamped in the 1990s and again hosted a Grand Prix from 1997-2003. Under Red Bull’s new ownership it returned to the Formula 1 calendar earlier this year.
Therefore it is a crucial circuit to master for anyone trying to make it to the top in either Formula 1 or the other highest levels of world motor racing. Its long straights, tight corners and fast, flowing curves make it a track on which you have to be absolutely at the top of your game – as well as one where you have to avoid the inevitable accidents, especially when nearly 30 of the world’s hungriest young talents are going wheel to wheel in Formula 3!
“I am really looking forward to the Red Bull Ring,” said Sean. “It was good to get the extra racing in with the British Formula 3 round at Spa, and that was an opportunity to try some things on the car that should help us in the European championship. Anything can happen at this track – it can be very hot, thundery, or even snowing when we have tested in the spring! – so it usually leads to a completely unpredictable weekend.”
The weekend begins on Friday 1st August with free practice and then qualifying for race one. On Saturday comes the first race and qualifying for races two and three, and on Sunday Gelael and his rivals fight out the second and third races.
If everything goes well, he has every chance of making progress from his current championship position of 19th into the top 15, which is not too far away from his current points tally and would be a terrific achievement for someone in only his second season of European motor racing. (ms/arl)
