After a perfect start, the driver gained two positions and led from start to finish
Sérgio Sette Câmara (ACER | CCR | SANEPAV | TAESA | CEMIG | BELL) has claied his first victory in the F2 World Championship at Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium on Sunday. The event was attended by approximately 100 thousand people in one of the majors temples of the motorsport world.
Sette Câmara’s weekend began on Friday with the free practice session. Just after that, the qualifiers took place, which, with the wet track, presented a new condition for the drivers. Sérgio, along with MP Motorsport engineers, set up a different configuration for the car and, with the time of 2m23s424, he was in the 11th place for the first race of the weekend.
Starting from the sixth row of the grid, the Brazilian driver structured a good strategy with the team that, using computer simulations, believed to have found a way for the car to consume less tyres. “We found a suspension adjustment that looks like it’s going to make the tyres deteriorate less and we’ll get a more balanced car at the end of the races,” Sette Câmara explained.
In this first race Sérgio had a good start and, focused on getting his first points in the championship, he continued to seek positions. With a fast and reliable set he managed some overtaking, gained a position in the pit-stop and, after 25 laps, received the flag in the eighth position. This result was further improved to sixth place after the technical declassification of two competitors. With this, Sergio opened his Championship score receiving eight points.
UNQUESTIONABLE VICTORY
With the result of the race yesterday Sérgio started today from the second row of the grid, in the third position. Very concentrated the driver made a very technical tyre warming lap and, the moment the red lights went out, the car # 14 made a real jump through the middle of the grid and with that, even before the first turn the Brazilian was already the leader of the race.
Followed by experienced drivers, such as Nick De Vries (HOL) and Norman Nato (FRA), Sérgio was not intimidated. Little by little, the driver was accurately building up a small advantage, which made it difficult for other competitors to attack him. With eight laps completed he had already established a lead of more than 1.5 seconds from the Dutchman. Three laps to the end Sérgio began to suffer a little with the tyres already worn out, when an accident caused the entrance of the Safety-Car in the track and remained there until the final flag.
“I am extremely happy to have achieved my first win in F2,” he said. “Winning at Spa in the debut year, and even more so in an intermediate team, I have no words to describe it. I swear I could feel the vibration of the public from inside the car. Everything worked out very well on the weekend, we have been improving the car since the free practice. In yesterday’s race, our strategy paid off and, mainly, we found a new detail in the adjustment of the suspension that made the car consume less tyres. This might have been the biggest change compared to the first races of the year. Today, starting from the third position in the grid, I was able to have a perfect race and I jumped to the first place just before corner 1. From then on, I tried to be 110% focused and, literally, I only thought about the next corner. Thank God everything went well and I could win. I want to thank everyone who has always cheered for me and I sincerely hope that this will be the first of many victories” said the youngest driver in the Formula 2 grid, aged 19.