First round of the season marked the debut of the driver in the category
The opening round of the F2 World Championship ended on Sunday. The Sakhir track in Bahrain received the 20 drivers for the first two stages.
Making his debut in the category, the Brazilian pilot Sérgio Sette Câmara (SANEPAV | BELL) had a weekend full of hard work, learning about the new equipment and the format of the activities as well as the disputes.
After six days of Pre Season testing, the driver was excited when he arrived in Bahrain and, in the only free practice that was part of the schedule, he got the 11th place. Still on Friday, the drivers returned to the track for the qualifiers and, with the mark of 1m40s168, Sérgio got the 10th place, one ahead of his teammate, the English driver Jordan King.
The first race of the weekend was on Saturday afternoon and, with the normal anxiety of a debut, Sette Câmara managed to do a good race. At the start he lost four positions but managed to stay on track and continued having a consistent performance. Doing fast laps and knowing the development of the car with tyre wear, the Brazilian made his pit stop in the 20th lap. Having done a good job, the team managed to return the driver to the track in 13th place, position in which he received the final flag.
The second race was on Sunday. After a good start, Sette Câmara sought a place that allowed him to gain positions. However, in the second curve, he was hit by Stefano Coletti which ended up causing a hole in his rear tyre. The driver went into the pit, the team changed the tyres and he returned to the track. However, feeling the car very unstable, Sergio returned to the pits in the next lap, suspecting a break in the suspension. The team worked fast, made the necessary adjustment and sent the driver back into the race. Although he was away from the main group without the slightest chance of scoring, Sette Câmara proceeded to impose a very strong pace. Lap after lap he pushed his limits and the limits of the car, and with that, he got to know the car much better. Five laps into the end, the team called Sergio for another pit stop and, by that time, the car was already much lighter than at the start of the race, making it possible for him to set the fastest lap of the race with the time of 1m43s950.
“I think I had a very productive weekend, and I got what everyone says is the hardest thing for beginners that is to adapt well to the car, to the track and to make a good lap in the qualifiers with just one practice. I was ahead of my teammate. I was on the dirt track in the first race and I lost a bit of grip, but later I did a good race, I learned a lot about everything, especially tyre wear. Today, I got hit, I couldn’t do much more, but it was a good race. In the end I still managed to make the fastest lap of the race, which shows that above all we have a really fast and competitive car. ” said the driver.
The F2 World Championship resumes its activities in one month. The second round of the Championship will be from 12 to 14 May in Barcelona, Spain.