A triple round this weekend was the beginning of the Championship which will count with 33 races
Silverstone, in the heart of England, one of the most traditional Motorsport venues in world Motorsport, hosted this weekend (10-12) the opening round of the FIA F3 European Championship. The Championship will have in this season its record of participants with 36 pilots and, among them, the Brazilian debutant pilot, Sergio Sette Câmara (Banco Mercantil do Brasil / Lalubema).
After an intense preparation in the winter tests at the end of last year and the collective practice in the beginning of this season, Sette Câmara arrived at Silverstone still on last Tuesday, when he participated in the last collective practice session before the Championship.
With the German team Motopark Academy the 16-year Brazilian pilot, had his first experience with the selective and technical British track, with an extension of almost six kilometers. Together with the team’s engineers, he began to work in the tuning of his car, even without track activities, he followed intensively on Wednesday and Thursday.
On Friday (10) the track was officially opened for the official free practice and the takings of time. Learning a lot on every entry in the track, Serginho managed to improve significantly the times established in the collective practices and followed confident for the taking of times. In the first session, which defined the grid of the first race, the pilot from Minas Gerais established the time of 1m52s446, which guaranteed him the 18th position on the starting grid. In the second qualifying session, which would set the starting grid for the other two races, Sette Câmara did not achieved the same performance and, according to him, the front of his car was sliding, and he made only the time of 1m53s005 and obtained the 27th and 28th positions for two and three races.
Saturday was reserved for the first two races. Shortly before the first race, however, a thin rain wetted the whole track and disturbed the strategies of the teams. With the track wetted, all pilots started with slick tires. Sette Câmara, after a positive start, managed to stay in the middle of the peloton and, facing opponents much older and experienced, he proved to be very well positioned. He was fast, constant, overcame two opponents and eventually received the checkered flag in the 16th position. In the second race, after a spectacular start, Serginho won no less than seven positions. On the braking to turn two, however, a hit right in front of him forced him to swerve quickly not to hit and, as a result, he ended up being hit by a competitor. With the left rear suspension broken the pilot was forced to abandon the race.
This Sunday, it was held the third race from the 33 planned for the season. In another good start, Serginho won two position and followed in a strong rhythm. Lap by lap he was earning positions until, in the last five laps, he fought a great duel for the 20th position. He outpaced the competitors but with more time to attack other opponents, he received the checkered flag on the 20th position.
“I can say it was a weekend of too much growth. By the time we achieved in the collective tests and in the free practices, I honestly expected to have done a little better. However, I can say that I have learned a lot and also our team. They were German champions, but, like me, they are in their first season of the European Championship. I am sure that we will have a season of great growth and many results to celebrate”, commented the pilot.
The F3 FIA European Championship follows its calendar at the beginning of May, between the first and the third in the Hockenheim race track in Germany.