F3 France: Tough luck for Devlin DeFrancesco at Paul-Ricard
A PROMISING SHOWING DURING RACE 1 THAT WAS HINDERED BY A PUNCTURE AND HURT HIS CHANCE FOR RACE 2
As we mentioned here just after qualifying, the F3 field is quite competitive in terms of lap times with the top 20 often within a second of each other.
Race 1 for DeFrancesco, where he started 19th, was off to a good start as he made up several places early on. Staying out of trouble when others were being overly aggressive at times, Devlin had made up 10 places in the first four laps.
A points finish was highly probable while running in eight place. Unfortunately contact was made with another competitor as they were fighting for position and DeFrancesco’s car suffered a puncture that ended any chances of points.
About the incident, DeFrancesco had no hard feelings about it. “It was one of those places where I couldn’t give him any more room and he didn’t really back off as much as he could have, but it was definitely not on purpose, it’s the way it goes. We know we have the pace so we’ll regroup and go again.”
Having finished 21st in Race 1 that was to be his starting position for race 2. Again with a good start, Devlin made his way up trough the field but then excessive tire degradation halted his progress and eventually finished where he had started in 21st place.
“The championship is so tight, the level is so high, if you make a small mistake you end up P18 instead of P8 or P5. It’s all about consistency” Devlin commented.
Devlin is already looking ahead at the next race to take place this weekend at the Red Bull Ring in Austria. “I’m excited for Austria, I’m not going to set an expectation, but I think we have the potential to do a big result there, it’s a track I like, so I’m really looking forward to seeing what we can do .”
Image: devlindefrancesco.com
