Bangkok--27 Jul--stuvik racing project
Round 4 of the GP3 Series took place at the historic Hungaroring circuit, close to the city of Budapest, in Hungary on the 24-26th of July. The Thai driver had a steep hill to climb in order to improve on his results of the previous Grand Prix in Silverstone 2 weeks ago. Sandy as usual races for Singha Corporation, The Pizza Company, Dacon Inspection Services, the Tourism Authority of Thailand, the Royal Automobile Association of Thailand, and the Sports Authority of Thailand.
Stuvik claimed 17th place in the qualifying on Saturday morning with a time of 1.35.090, 1.061 from the pole position driver Luca Ghiotto who set a 1.34.030, setting himself up for a challenge in the race later that evening. "We've improved from our last race but I made some big mistakes on my best lap which cost us 3 tenths. I took an extra day on the sim and we've completely changed our mentality from the last round. We've still got a ways to go but I feel we've now found a good basis to begin our hunt for more points."
Race 1: P22
Unfortunately for Sandy his race would be over before he even reached the grid. Due to a loose ignition switch causing a faulty engine, the GP3 tech team had to bridge a connection to keep the ignition on. Eventually Sandy got out on track and set several fastest laps before the end of the race. Sandy finished in 22nd place. First place was Luca Ghiotto, with Esteban Ocon and Marvin Kirchhofer filling out the podium. Sandy said "It's unfortunate what happened, so we took it as a test session to see what we could do with the tire. Our pace was very good but being in clear air makes things easier. Tomorrow we'll try to have the same pace and gain some positions from the back."
Race 2: P14
The final race of the weekend for Sandy took place on Sunday morning. Starting from the back of the field, Sandy had a lot of work to do in order to climb up the order. The Thai driver had a poor start and was cautious into the first few corners. After a short safety car intervention, Sandy started to make up some positions. Thanks to some good overtakes and a few shunts further up the order, Sandy finished in 14th. First place was Kevin Ceccon, followed by Esteban Ocon and
Jimmy Eriksson in second and third positions. Sandy said "I'm sure it could have gone better today if I was a bit more aggressive at the start of the race, but a top-ten was always going to be very difficult starting from the back."
The next race will take place at the legendary Spa-Francorchamps circuit in Belgium on the 21-23 August. Sandy has always done well at Spa, so he'll be looking to score some more points to pull himself higher in the championship standings.