RACE REPORT – NSW State Formula 3 Series Round 4

 

The AGI Sport Formula 3 Team competed in the 4th round of the NSW Formula 3 Championship at Sydney Motorsport Park, 27th – 29th September, 2013.

Team driver Nathan Gotch qualified 2nd in front of a 20 car grid.

Race 1 on Saturday afternoon featured a few dramas before the cars even took to the track. A rubber O-ring in the hydraulic clutch slave cylinder failed on AGI Sport car #66 in the ‘dummy grid’ prior to the cars leaving for the race start. Without a clutch pedal, team driver Nathan Gotch managed to make it onto the circuit but would have to watch all 20 cars go past off the grid and into turn 1.

Starting the Dallara ‘in gear’ on the starter motor allowed Nathan to chase the field into turn 2 and a succession of fast laps enabled Nathan to climb to 7th place by the finish.

With a loss of straight line speed discovered during Saturday’s qualifying, the team decided to complete a precautionary engine change on Saturday night. A clutch hydraulic cylinder needed replacing and an engine change was decided on as well, Saturday evening was a late one for the team!

More bright blue skies greeted the teams on day two of the NSW State Motor Racing Championships.

Some sharp driving in race 2 lifted AGI Sport team driver Nathan Gotch from 7th on the grid up to 2nd place by the time the chequered flag came out.

It was a front row start in race 3 for car #66. Nathan drove a steady race to bring the Dallara home in 2nd place. It was a challenging and enjoyable weekend with the team working together to overcome some sizeable obstacles.

You can catch all the video highlights of the race weekend by clicking on the following link:

Comeback weekend at Sydney Motorsport Park

The next event coming up for AGI Sport is the AGI Track Day at Wakefield Park on the 24th of October. Hope to see you all there!