RACE REPORT – NSW State Formula 3 Series Round 2
Twenty-three cars braved cold and wet conditions at Sydney Motorsport Park for the second round of the 2013 NSW State Formula 3 Championship. It proved to be a challenging weekend for many with the weather contributing to numerous on-track incidents, yellow flags and safety car laps.
Lining up at the Dummy Grid before Race 2
Qualifying was less than straight forward for AGI SPORT, after only two laps an on-track incident brought out the red flags and the session was stopped. Team driver Nathan Gotch was sitting in P1 as the wait in the pit lane began while service crews removed a car stranded on circuit. The qualifying session recommenced with just over three minutes remaining, with our car at the back of the queue to leave pit lane it was going to be difficult to get a clear lap before the chequered flag came out. Nathan managed to better his time but his lap was heavily compromised overtaking several cars. Garnet Patterson had a clear track and went P1 in the dying seconds. Nathan and the AGI Sport team missed the top spot in qualifying for the first time at State level in the team’s history.
The team discuss options heading into Sunday
The recurring start-line launch issues that plagued the team in the first round were back in races 1 & 2. In Race 1, AGI Sport F3 car stalled on the grid and dropped from second to eighth. Nathan was quickly up to fourth by half way round the opening lap. By lap four Nathan had overtaken Graeme Holmes to move up to third. A final lap opportunity up the inside of second-placed Darren Choon heading into turn 2 saw contact between the two drivers. Both drivers spun with Nathan landing on the ripple strip with the rear wheels off the ground. With no ability to drive off the kerb, it was AGI Sport’s first DNF (Did Not Finish) since the opening round of the 2012 State F3 series.
Relegated to 14th on the grid in Race 2 (first of the non-finishers from Race 1), Nathan started overtaking the field at great pace in the wet and cold conditions. Into P6 by the end of the first lap, the safety car was called for an incident at Turn 2. Several damaged cars needing collection on the circuit and it took a few laps for the circuit to be cleared again for racing. The race was resumed with just two laps left under green. Nathan quickly disposed of the two cars in front heading into the penultimate lap. The final lap was a duel to the finish line with Graeme Holmes leading and Garnet Patterson closing in fast. Nathan tucked into Garnet’s slipstream and pulled out at the last second to claim second in a photo finish. It was certainly one of the most exciting conclusions to a race the AGI SPORT team has ever seen.
CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE NAIL BITING FINISH R2 Finish
The Race 3 Feature race was full of drama right from the get-go. The circuit was dry but drizzle in the air created a difficult decision for the teams as to whether they use wet weather tyres or stick it out with the dry weather slicks. Like most, AGI SPORT decided to start on the slicks. On the warm up lap fellow competitor Gary Smith slid and crashed his F304 Dallara heavily into the wall. It was apparent there was some light rain at the back of the circuit and Nathan reported over the radio that conditions were ‘dangerous’. The warm-up lap incident prompted a delayed start-board on the grid.
Brilliant on-track shot by Bill Fonseca
During the second warm up lap Nathan indicated he wanted to make a pit stop prior to the restart and change to the safer ‘wet’ tyre option. The AGI Sport team did a great job in changing the tyres in the pit lane while the rest of the field took off from the grid for the Feature race. Nathan exited pit lane and set about chasing down the rest of the field, mostly on the dry slick tyre option. Due to start delays, the race was unfortunately reduced to a three lap sprint. There was not enough time to catch the leaders but Nathan bravely made his way back up to fifth place while setting the fastest lap, a full five seconds quicker than the winning car.
The next event for the team will be the third round of the NSW Excel Series Championship at Wakefield Park one 29/30th of June 2013.
