Jagonya Ayam with Carlin’s Tom Blomqvist has taken a brilliant podium position following an assured drive to third overall in the 73rd edition of the Pau Grand Prix this afternoon. The race, which also forms part of the FIA Formula Three European Championship, saw the British racer start from fourth on the grid and drive effortlessly to third overall – claiming more valuable points for his championship campaign. Team mate Antonio Giovinazzi finished in another top ten position while Sean Gelael’s unfortunate day continued with a second retirement following suspension damage.
Off the line it was business as usual for the Jagonya Ayam with Carlin men; Blomqvist made sure to keep fourth position while Gelael had moved his Volkswagen powered Dallara up to 12th overall. Unfortunately Giovinazzi was held up at the start by another driver and as a result was forced to let Jordan King passed him in the sister Carlin car.
Blomqvist soon found himself running in a podium position making his way passed Max Verstappen however the latter of the two soon saw his race ended when he once again hit the wall and took himself out of contention – this bad luck for the Van Amersfoort racer elevated Giovinazzi in to the final points paying position.
After a brilliant start to the weekend in which Gelael scored his first points in the championship, he was once again to suffer with a tough race and ended his Pau weekend retired in the pit lane with suspension damage after the ninth lap of the race.
Blomqvist meanwhile had pulled a gap to Dennis who was running close behind him; the Jagonya Ayam driver with Carlin was looking to take home his second podium finish of the weekend and was hoping to hunt down Esteban Ocon ahead as he had done previously this morning.
With 18 laps complete the safety car had its chance on circuit when it was brought out to deal with the wreckage caused by an on track incident which bunched the field tightly together as they prepared for the restart. Despite waiting for a mistake from Rosenqvist and Ocon, who seemed to be very close at points, Blomqvist was forced to settle for a third while Giovinazzi continued to hold tenth.
As the race reached its conclusion, concluding with a fairly processional final few laps, Blomqvist drove another strong and assured race to claim his second podium of the weekend – this time in third. Italian racer and team mate Giovinazzi came home rounding off the top ten.
Blomqvist said of his weekend, ‘It was again another solid race for us, we took the win this morning and then third in the Grand Prix. We can be happy with that – especially after the disappointment of Hockenheim the last time out. I managed to pass Max [Verstappen] here as well which was pretty good; I was able to keep the gap to Dennis behind and try and close to those ahead. The pace was good and from here on in, it’s game on.’
-Ends-
For more information or high resolution photos, please contact Stephanie Tindall on
Press Release Dilihat Sebanyak 1862 kali
