Bangkok--7 May--stuvik racing project
Phuket born Thai racer Sandy Kraokaew Stuvik, showed his racing skills by dominating both wet and dry racing conditions for the season start of the EuroFormula Open at Nurbürgring this weekend. The 19 year old, constantly stayed amongst the fastest drivers during Friday test sessions in wet and foggy conditions, showing his determination to be a force to be reckoned with for the 2014 season.
During qualifying for Saturdays first race, Stuvik kept catching other cars during his fast laps and needed to find a clear lap without overtaking in order to set the fastest time. In the end he would have to settle for P2, with only one good clear lap to set a representative time.
In the season opening race, the Thai driver had to fend of several challengers in the first few corners, leaving the pole sitter an opportunity to open a lead on the first lap. Stuvik then gave chase through the race and in the end took the checkered flag only 2.9 seconds behind the Spanish racer Alex Palou.
For the Sunday qualifying, run at a sunny but cold Nurbürgring, Stuvik was unbeatable and set his fastest time in the middle of the session and again repeated the same fastest time in the end of the hard fought session. The Thai driver took his pole position with a time of 1:51:923, almost 4 tenths faster than the second placed driver.
The 21 Formula 3 cars saw the red lights go out for the second race at noon and a jumpstarting car immediately shot up past Stuvik to take the lead, however in the second chicane on then first lap, Stuvik overtook to regain the lead and started immediately pulling away from the other cars. Saturday’s winner Palou managed to move from 6th to 2nd in the start and gave the Thai driver a chase, but a mid race mistake from the Spaniard saw Stuvik pulling away with a huge lead. By the checkered flag Sandy Kraokaew Stuvik had built a lead gap of 10.6 seconds for a dominant victory at the German circuit.
After the race Sandy Kraokaew Stuvik himself said; ”For Sunday’s qualifying session I was determined to push to the maximum for a pole position and I felt all the hard training paid off when I got back up to the front again. In the race I felt I had a good start and was surprised to see Igor Urien flying past me into the first corner, however in the second chicane I saw an opportunity to pass him around the outside and after that I felt I could control the race pace. It was a fantastic feeling to be back on top of the podium again and hear the Thai National Anthem played in Germany”.
With a 2nd and a 1st place from the two season opening races, Stuvik takes a commanding lead in the championship with 44 points, with his team mate, Polish driver Arthur Janosz in second with 30 points and Alex Palou from Spain in 3rd with 27 points. The next round of the EuroFormula open Championship will run in Algarve’s Portimao Circuit on the 7-8 June, 2014.