Jon Lancaster’s superb charge through the field in round ten of the Formula 3 Euroseries was brought to a premature end after being forced out of Sunday’s 26-lap race with six laps remaining. The 19 year-old F3 rookie was clawing his way through the field and lapping consistently among the quickest on the 2.7 mile Zandvoort circuit.
The Multiflight-backed driver had been forced to start race two dead last after a first lap accident in Saturday’s opening race forced retirement. With the grid for race two being determined by the finishing positions in race one, the ART Grand Prix ace lined up 26th.
His team-mate, race one winner Nico Hulkenberg had been penalised for a technical infringement after the first race, excluded from the results and pushed to the back of the grid. A superb start by Jon enabled him to move up a handful of places off the line and by lap three had made up six places to cross the line 17th.
Throughout the race Jon was able to keep the experienced Hulkenberg, in his third season in F3 behind him, while chasing down Rodolfo Gonzalez and Henkie Waldschmidt ahead. On the lap 14, the Leeds teenager found a way past Gonzalez and as the cars entered the Tarzan bend on lap 20 was lining up to take Waldschmidt.
However when Jon attempted a move to pass him on the inside, the SG driver slammed the door, pushing Jon onto the grass and into the gravel. The collision damaged his left front wheel and caused instant retirement leaving Jon frustrated about what might have been.
“It was going well up until then,” said Jon. “I made a good start and had taken several places off the line and over the course of 20 laps was about the only person on track actually overtaking anyone. The car was great and the speed was there, I was lapping consistently as quick as the front-running drivers. When I was catching Waldschmidt, I was around eight tenths quicker than him and had had a look a passing him on the previous lap too.
“I outbraked him going into Tarzan but he just slammed the door and left me no room. I had all four wheels locked up and he just kept pushing.”
It was a frustrating end to a weekend that had begun with so much promise and came the day after he also failed to finish round 11. Then, starting from the sixth row, he’d made a good getaway from the lights but was hit by Niall Breen dropping him down the order. A determined Jon set about retaking the places but a rare mistake caused him to lock a wheel while challenging with Christian Vietoris on the opening lap and pitched him off into the gravel, his race over.
“It’s a disappointing finish to the weekend that we had such high hopes for,” said Jon. “We’ve been right on the pace for the last few races and although I didn’t start so high for race one, I was hopeful of getting a strong finish to give me a good start for race two.
“I had a great start and had made up several places but then I was alongside Breen and he sideswiped me off and I lost four places. I was pushing hard as I was trying to make up places when I locked up a wheel while challenging Vietoris and got off line onto to the sand and drifted off the track.
“Despite the results though I come away from Zandvoort feeling pretty confident about the races ahead. The car is great and the ART Grand Prix team is working very hard and doing a superb job. I need to get my head down and concentrate on getting it all together in qualifying so I’m up at the front for the races. My plan is to get into the top five in the championship and to do that I need to start scoring points in every race.
“In the briefing we looked at all the data and can see that the pace is there in the car and in me so there really is no reason why I shouldn’t be up at the front in every race, which considering it’s only my second season in car racing is pretty good. The opposition this year is the toughest it’s been for years and I’m up against some very experienced two and three year drivers.
“So looking ahead to the final four rounds the target is to concentrate on stringing together a perfect lap for qualifying and then hopefully we can convert that to strong finishes. I believe we can win races this season.”
Results of Round 11
1. Mika Mäki Mücke Motorsport Dallara F308 Mercedes 40:57.822
2. Jules Bianchi ART Grand Prix Dallara F308 Mercedes 41:00.427
3. Sam Bird Manor Motorsport Dallara F308 Mercedes 41:17.896
4. Yann Clairay SG Formula Dallara F308 Mercedes 41:19.520
5. Jean Karl Vernay Signature-Plus Dallara F308 Volkswagen 41:25.043
6. Renger v. d. Zande Prema Powerteam Dallara F308 Mercedes 41:29.465
Results of Round 12
1. Renger v. d. Zande Prema Powerteam Dallara F308 Mercedes 41:13.792
2. Yann Clairay SG Formula Dallara F308 Mercedes 41:17.541
3. Franck Mailleux Signature-Plus Dallara F308 Mercedes 41:19.212
4. Jean Karl Vernay Signature-Plus Dallara F308 Volkswagen 41:20.128
5. Mika Mäki Mücke Motorsport Dallara F308 Mercedes 41:20.616
6. Sam Bird Manor Motorsport Dallara F308 Mercedes 41:20.947
