The 2021-2022 Grand Prix United European F3 Championship is just around the corner and will kick off tomorrow evening at 20:00 CET for the first round of the season. 30 drivers will line up on the grid for lights out, and with pre-season testing done and dusted, it's time to look forward to Imola. How do the teams and drivers compare?
26 drivers turned up last week for the first official test session, which lead up to the 2021-2022 Grand Prix United European F3 Championship. For some rookies it was their first taste of Formula 3 machinery, and given that the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari is no easy circuit, the grid proved to be immensely close nonetheless, with most of the field only being separated by under two seconds before the red flag brought an early end to the session.
What are the conclusions after round 1?
Nocturne
For the UK-based Nocturne it was a pre-season test to remember. Tom Stevens managed to top the timing sheets for the newly formed team and continued to show his amazing pace after two successful seasons in Grand Prix United, in which he achieved a total of 2 wins, 7 podiums, 1 pole position and 127 points, on the back of finishing 6th in the 2021 Asian F3 Championship. Moritz Kropp was only three tenths behind his team mate in sixth place, and showed great potential after achieving mixed results in the 2021 Asian F3 Championship, where he didn't manage to score points. However, with his pace being right at the top it is no surprise that he will be a close match to his new teammate.
Tom Stevens, co-principal of Nocturne: "Finishing p1 in the official test was a nice bonus but it's a shame the session was cut short by the red flag. Everyone looked really close, and I think it's going to be a really competitive season ahead!"
Moritz Kropp, Nocturne driver: "Although the test was cut short and we couldn't complete the last hour, I'm still very happy with how it went. There are still some areas which still need to be improved but I'll surely get on top of it."
Valle Esports
For Valle Esports it was a successful test as well, with Peter Vagapov in second and Massimiliano Ribolli in fifth. With their aim being a top five in the teams' standings this season, they sure seem to have the pace to be able to fight at the front.
Massimiliano Ribolli, team principal of Valle Esports: "We are satisfied with test session. We were running race simulations and our pace was definitely better than expected. For sure there were some teams hiding their true pace, but we still think that we have the resources to do pretty well this season, especially after our pace in the long runs yesterday. We made some small setup changes during testing, and we feel that we now have managed to create a car that is capable of fighting for the top spots."
MODE Auto Concepts: MODE Auto Concepts continued their good form from last year during the pre-season test, with the experienced Dutchman Guyon Branten securing a solid third place - on the back of finishing third in the driver standings last season - and the American Kenneth Singleton managing a ninth position on his debut in the league. With both cars in the top ten, the German team has set their sights on another successful season in the league. Guyon Branten, co-principal of MODE Auto Concepts: "Kenneth showed great potential during his first official Grand Prix United test session. We managed to get him more comfortable with a new car setup, and we feel that - if the red flag didn't get brought out - we could've been even higher up if we managed to do some more low fuel push runs. Some teams were sandbagging for sure, but we are 100% confident that we can be in the mix with them."
Buttler-Pal Motorsport: For German newcomer Buttler-Pal Motorsport it was a solid pre-season test. Both drivers have shown to have solid pace, but with one driver at the top of the sheets and one driver in the middle, there is room for improvement. With the team's experience in rFactor 2, their aim will be to secure steady points - if not more - and with drivers Marijn Pfeifer and Alexandre Peroche they should be able to definitely do so if they put in the work. Alexandre Peroche, co-principal of Buttler-Pal Motorsport: "Testing was 'ok' for us. We wanted to see where we are pace wise and it didn't look that bad. Marijn (Pfeifer) looks pretty fast and the whole field is tight in general so we have a lot of work to do to manage good results."
Mazumder Motorsport:
Mazumder Motorsport brought an experienced line-up to the official test session with last season's number two in the championship Sven Geelhoed and previous point-scorer Alessandro Valente. With a seventh place for Valente and an eight place for Geelhoed, both drivers seemed to be evenly matched, and the team is now looking to improve on their already good form.
Ryan Mazumder, team principal of Mazumder Motorsport: "For now, I'm quite happy with the results from pre-season testing. I was expecting a bit more from Sven since he is the number one driver, but we're confident that we can find those three tenths to the front of the grid before the start of the season."
Beyond Esports:
Beyond Esports had a mixed debut in Grand Prix United. Experienced driver and team principal Michael Eyres brings a load of experience to the table and finished the official test in tenth place. His team mate Liam Howard finished the session in 20th place. With red flags and sandbagging playing a huge factor in the pre-season test, it wasn't really possible to get a clear image of the potential of the British team, but they will definitely be a challenger for some good points throughout the season.
SimApex RT: SimApex RT experienced a bittersweet debut in Grand Prix United as Martin Novák finished just outside of the top ten, with team principal Stijn Prins not being able to attend due to the early red flag halfway through the session. However, practice times have shown that, even though he missed the official test, Prins will be able to be near the front end of the grid pace wise. The question is: can they translate it to race day? Martin Novák, SimApex RT driver: "Discussions in the team made it clear that we would fight for the top spots in the upcoming races because of the pace we had shown in private testing. For both of us the car is very new as we are mainly endurance drivers, but we are trying our best to understand the car setup and to familiarize ourselves with the new driving style, which leads us to improve day by day."
Team Iris:
Team Iris can be proud of their debut in Grand Prix United. It was a promising and consistent start for the Greek-based team. With a 12th and 16th place the team would be classifying just outside of the points. But, if you keep in mind that Teun Louer was a stand-in driver for Loïc Meunier and the fact that the drivers hadn't posted any lap times in the official server before attending the event, the team has definitely shown that even with little practice they can be right in the mix.
Gallery82 Motorsport:
After the lights turned green in Imola, it was Gijs Sonneveld who was the first driver on track in the #10 Gallery82 Motorsport car. Bringing his experience from other competitions, the Dutch rookie Sonneveld managed to set a time that was good enough for 14th on the timesheets. His team mate Aleksander Rogoza would only manage a few laps, but despite it being only his first session with the car, he managed to get up to speed quickly, before the red flag brought an end to the session. It is difficult to place the Dutch team, but they will surely have no difficulties to score points this season.
THR:
Big favorites were THR. The British team came off the back of an incredible team win in a different competition, and with Luke Maguire and Chris Butcher they seem to have one of the best line-ups of the field. Seeing the team in 13th and 15th in the pre-season test was probably a big surprise to many, but with their main focus being to get a better understanding of the setup, the team doesn't seem too worried about the results of pre-season testing.
Chris Butcher, team principal of THR: "We're happy with the progress we made during the pre-season test. There's still some work to do with the balance but we did gain a better understanding of the car and we now have a clearer direction to move in. It's hard to know where we stand in the pecking order as teams were running different programs, but we are cautiously optimistic for a strong start to the season.
STAX Racing:
Another big pre-season surprise came from STAX Racing. The team, with their drivers Daniel Brewer and Lewis Bickers, are named challengers for the title by many, but only managed a 21st and 23rd place respectively during the pre-season test. However, times weren't important for the Canadian team, who focused mainly on setup work during their Grand Prix United debut.
Christian Zoerner, team principal of STAX Racing: "We were concentrating on setup work, so we didn't really mind where we would end up in the results. Because of the strong opposition, it is hard to say exactly where we will be in round 1, but we hope to have a strong start to the season and leave Imola with a strong points haul."
Epic Racing:
If there is one thing to learn from the results of Epic Racing during pre-season, it's probably that both drivers are very close to each other. With the team finishing the session in 17th and 19th place, with only 0.057 seconds between both drivers, it was a solid debut for the team in Grand Prix United, but it remains very unclear as to where to team will be in round 1. Team principal Lee Davidson remains optimistic ahead of the new season.
Lee Davidson, team principal of Epic Racing: "Unfortunately we were unable to find our rhythm before the pre-season test was brought to a premature end, however both Alex Hallows and Jurgen Langerak have found themselves extremely comfortable within the car during private testing. We remain firmly optimistic of a fantastic season's racing and can't wait for lights out at Imola!"
Team Yearone:
With only just one point scored in the 2021 Asian F3 Championship, Team Yearone will be looking to improve on that result in the 2021-2022 European F3 season. With a more rFactor 2-familiar line-up, the team showed slight improvements, but will be looking to improve just a bit more in order to fight for points in Imola. Sotiris Kontogouris managed to secure a 22nd place on the timesheets, but was only 1.3 seconds off from the fastest time. His team mate Nikos Anastasopoulos was set to drive in the final hour of the session, but was unable to with the red flag unfortunately ending the session early. That keeps us wondering: will Yearone turn into a solid point-scorer this season?
Tyler Manning, team principal of Team Yearone: "On paper the pre-season testing didn't look great for us, but after talking with my drivers I am certain that we had more to offer. We wanted to start the session off slow to then ramp up our pace, like we had learned from other teams, so pace wise we haven't shown our full deck of cards yet."
Scuderia Freccia Nera: Scuderia Freccia Nera had a difficult pre-season test session. The Italian team, ran by Grand Prix United admin Luca Tizzano, finished off the session with Dutch drivers Stan Vlietstra and Rienk Hoekstra in 24th and 25th place respectively. After being a solid points contender throughout the entire 2021 Asian F3 Championship, with a second place in Dubai as a highlight of the season, this sure was a disappointing outing for the team. However, with the grid being so extremely close and the drivers not being far off from the midfield, the team is optimistic to turn things around for the first race of the season next week. Luca Tizzano, team principal of Scuderia Freccia Nera: "We are happy to start this season in such a great track as the Imola Circuit. Unfortunately we did not have a great pre-season session this time around. We will have to revise in detail what went wrong during the test, but I am sure that the team will bounce back stronger for next week’s race." GT Omega RPM Esports: The team missing at the pre-season test was GT Omega RPM Esports. Drivers Dean Vella and Itamar Yativ have both competed with the team before during the 2021 Asian F3 Championship, and came close to points on multiple occasions. Unfortunately, the team didn't manage to score any as of yet, but server testing has shown that they have made a huge step forward, and we are expecting to see them fight for points soon. Full pre-season test results:
No and driver | Team | Time/Gap |
1. Tom Stevens | Nocturne | 1:37.044 |
2. Peter Vagapov | Valle Esports | +0.108 |
3. Guyon Branten | MODE Auto Concepts | +0.128 |
4. Marijn Pfeifer | Buttler-Pal Motorsport | +0.151 |
5. Massimiliano Ribolli | Valle Esports | +0.318 |
6. Moritz Kropp | Nocturne | +0.332 |
7. Alessandro Valente | Mazumder Motorsport | +0.350 |
8. Sven Geelhoed | Mazumder Motorsport | +0.369 |
9. Kenneth Singleton | MODE Auto Concepts | +0.448 |
10. Michael Eyres | Beyond Esports | +0.510 |
11. Martin Novák | SimApex RT | +0.556 |
12. Alex Lehoux | Team Iris | +0.649 |
13. Chris Butcher | THR | +0.658 |
14. Gijs Sonneveld | Gallery82 Motorsport | +0.717 |
15. Luke Maguire | THR | +0.905 |
16. Teun Louer | Team Iris | +0.992 |
17. Jurgen Langerak | Epic Racing | +1.078 |
18. Alexandre Peroche | Buttler-Pal Motorsport | +1.103 |
19. Alex Hallows | Epic Racing | +1.135 |
20. Liam Howard | Beyond Esports | +1.270 |
21. Daniel Brewer | STAX Racing | +1.273 |
22. Sotiris Kontogouris | Team Yearone | +1.312 |
23. Lewis Bickers | STAX Racing | +1.379 |
24. Stan Vlietstra | Scuderia Freccia Nera | +1.648 |
25. Rienk Hoekstra | Scuderia Freccia Nera | +1.699 |
26. Aleksander Rogoza | Gallery82 Motorsport | +3.387 |
With a grid closer than ever before we are looking forward to lights out at Imola tomorrow. Make sure to subscribe to our YouTube and click the bell icon to get notified when our races go live.
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