Comunicats de Premsa - F3 Masters Season 30 Complete Review
F3 Masters Season 30 Complete Review
Hey guys, sorry if it's late, I've been so busy I had no time to get this done but I finally found the time to get this done and get this off my chest so here it is :D
We've had some brilliant races, we've had some things to spice it up, we've saw some surprises (Callaway and Holguera winning in the wet at Spa and Macau respectively) but we saw Marc Vilanova snatch the championship from Bartek Szybki in what you can say was in some dominant display.
Marc Vilanova had the dream start he wanted when he took the clean sweep at Pau but Bartek Szybki and fellow Spaniard Marc Montane looked like to be the favourites to stop him from taking the throne, when we got to Monaco, things started to shake up a bit, with the likes of Zaggro, Macieira and Nannini having done well there in the past, they would really be in contention to win here. Steve Villeneuve might've been looking good to win the Sprint Race at Monaco but the major mix up and a late errors by Vilanova, Zaggro and a costly one Steve Villeneuve ensured Bartek Szybki took the win but in the Feature Race it all went wrong, fell into traffic after staying out for the first safety car period, crashed coming into Tabac, other drivers falling foul through the streets of Monaco, claimed Montane, Morgan, Alex Reis as well but with Macieira and Austin making their way back through the field and Nannini and Zaggro scrapping for victory til it all went wrong, it allowed Macieira to cruise through to take a sesnational win from almost dead last!!! What a drive!! But Marc Vilanova stayed out of trouble and was able to take another podium home. Dexter Morgan might've taken pole but the Spaniard resumed business as normal as his championship lead increased despite Steve Villeneuve trying his best to give him a headache, coming to Spa, where things spiced up big time, Morgan took another pole position but this time he was able to keep Vilanova behind and win finally! But coming to the Feature Race which was the title decider, and it gave us rain to spice things up, big time, all Vilanova needed to do was stay ahead of Szybki who is the only one left to stop him from winning but already at Spa?? Vilanova must've been doing something right all season, we saw him on the podium every race but that can't last forever...
Rain hit hard, safety car once again played a role and surprises did happen, race and strategy wise, Bernando Reckziegel got it right and led a couple of laps til it went to Szybki who needed it the most then to Nannini, it was playing big time but Nannini looked set to win before his gearbox failed then Reeves Callaway out of nowhere came around to take his a shock win no-one had expected! Honzik Volak Jr. finishing 2nd to silence his critics and Szilveszter Salonna finishing 3rd, another podium since last time out at Monaco, also stealing the podium of Marc Montane who came back from the back after making pitstops in consecutive laps, but with Szybki's strategy mistake throwing him out of the picture, Vilanova might've had a poor race in 11th but it didn't stop him from being our champion of Season 30! Another win at Macau for the champion in the wet was what he needed and he denied poleman Abilio Nario a chance of victory before chaos again happened for the closure, Angel Holguera being our 2nd shock winner to sign off the season, Honzik Volak Jr. once again starring in 2nd and Abilio Nario on the podium to make sure he was the overall winner at Macau. Wow, what a season it has been, now it's time for the driver reviews, one by one! I'm sorry if I won't be able to do them all but I will try, you know me...
Marc Vilanova: champion, 191 points, best result: 1st (x5)
Absolutely dominant display by the Spaniard, 8 out of 10 times on the podium, 5 out of 10 times in the win, all races finished and he almost scored 200 points, 9 shy, the record for the most points in a season and defintely by the biggest margin ever, 83 points too, take a bow, after his run of brilliant form last season, I knew it would be scary and it was!
Bartek Szybki: 2nd, 109 points, best result: 1st at Monaco Sprint
Again, he's missed out on the title and due to his age like many others, I think that was his last chance, but being best of the rest is still a positive thing, right? Strategy mistakes was the biggest problem costing him points time by time, he'll need to talk to his team and discuss about that cause I'm starting to feel his frustrations.
Steve Villeneuve: 3rd, 99 points, best result: 2nd at Zandvoort Sprint
Steve Villeneuve deserved to win a race at least this season, a much more consistent season despite a rocky start, but he was often scoring big points than appearing on the podium which he did at both Zandvoort races, also took a pole at Monaco and almost took the win before crashing out.
Abilio Nario:, 4th, 90 points, best result: 2nd at Macau Sprint
A very competitive season by the young Portugese and also the best of those who will be there next season, is he confirming a title challenge for next season cause with that season, I'd love to see that, up there at races where everything mixes up.
Szilveszter Salonna, 5th, 83 points, best result: 2nd Monaco Sprint
Shoutout to the young Hungarian, was able to take some surprising podiums and still be around the top 5 which is encouraging, not bad for his first time in the F3 Masters, you know, a title is calling his name.
Marc Montane: 6th, 82 points, best result: 2nd Pau Feature
Started the season as one of the favourite to possibly win the title before things went wrong, with that crash at Monaco and that mechanical failure at Zandvoort realistically ended it all and also that ruined his 100% finishing record...
Bartolomeu Jarbas:, 7th, 74 points, best result: 4th at Pau Feature, U24 champion
Unarguably the most consistent driver of the season, and also took mega results in the final 3 races where it rained, we all knew he is mega in the wet but we all know is that, he's a future title contender in this.
Alex Reis: , 8th, 70 points, best result: 2nd at Pau Sprint
Solid season by the young Brazilian, started strong but then crashed out of Monaco feature, was nowhere at Zandvoort (once again) but rest of it was a solid job. Next season is going to be his title chance.
Michael Damon Novikov:, 9th, 68 points, best result: 3rd at Macau Sprint
His development is exciting to watch, being able to get faster and faster time to time, his racecraft has improved lots, it's matching his qualifying peformances where he qualifies often inside the top 5, very consistent but there's still a little more work to do, he's got that podium but he'll want that first win to happen next season! Let's not forget he got pipped by Jarbas to the U24 championship by one point
Dexter Morgan: 10th, 67 points, best result: 1st at Spa Sprint
Best qualifier of the season, his raw speed in a lap proves it but he has a major problem converting that over a race distance, with DNFs either by crashes, mechanical failures and getting collected by another car, it's a shame that has gotten in the way because he would've been up there if he was more consistent.
Honzik Volak Jr.: 11t, 62 points, best result: 2nd (x2), U22 champion
What a turnaround, defintely the biggest improvement over the last few seasons, went from not being barely scoring points to being a consistent points scorer and also taking home 2 unlikely podiums in the wet at Spa and Macau and also dominating U22 championship out of a total of 14 drivers in it
Juca Macieira: 12th, 53 points, best result: 1st at Monaco Feature
Other than that sesnational win at Monaco, his season has been terribly unlucky, being forced to fight his way through the field after mechanical failures when he should've been up there more.
Kenny Werdheim: 13th, 49 points, best result: 5th Monaco Feature
A decent season by the Swede, consistently racked up points.
Angel Holguera: 14th, 40 points, best result: 1st at Pau Feature
Was an average season until that shock win came through at the end of the season, what a drive tho, fair play
Reeves Callaway: 15th, 39 points, best result: 1st at Spa Feature
Had a successful meeting at Monaco, came out of nowhere at Spa and won and continued the momentum into Pau before getting taken out on Lap 1 which ended it all for the Brit.
Mack Zaggro: 16th, 38 points, best result: 4th (x2)
Despite being at the sharp end at Monaco, and a failed promise at Spa, this season has been forgettable for the Brit.
Zach Austin: 17th, 37 points, best result: 6th at Zandvoort Feature
Due to shock wins by Callaway and Holguera, he ended up being the worst placed senior but he was up there a couple of times and bad luck really got in the way.
Abel Kiraly: 18th, 34 points, best result: 5th at Macau Feature
Was nowhere until Spa where he started scoring points and took home mega results at both rounds, the end that should've been how his whole season went.
Paolo Nannini: 19th, 31 points, best result: 6th at Pau Feature
After a promising start, his bad run had been nerveracking, lost opportunities at Monaco and Spa really hurt him and it weren't his fault either.
Francky Kowalski: 20th, 26 points, best result: 7th at Macau Sprint
Was there at the start, nowhere in the middle and came back again at the end.
Bernando Reckziegel: 21st, 14 points, best result: 9th at Zandvoort
Finished in the top 20 in all his races he finished, also only DNF'd once, a solid season by the young Brazilian, his highlights having been Zandvoort and leading at Spa in the wet until he faded away.
Tony Muller: 22nd, 13 points, best result: 13th (x3)
Became a consistent points scorer, a very good season by the Dutchman too.
Enrico Nuvolari: 23rd, 11 points, best result: 6th at Spa Feature
Was close to scoring points til he had his big one at Spa with 6th, and another one to add at Macau.
Alan Kulwacki: 24th, 5 points, best result: 13th Monaco Sprint
Started well but faded, but was able to see the chequered flag every race
Csabi Szasz: 25th, 5 points, best result: 12th at Spa Feature
Thanks to rain affected races, he was able to get on the scorecard like he wanted to
Nadia Portocarrero: 26th, 4 points, best result: 12th at Monaco Feature, U18s and Female champion
Best out of the U18 and the females has she confirmed to be one in the making, even that race at Monaco where she took 4 points showed her brilliance under attack and pressure
Tom Mater and Philip Goldberg: best results: 14th
Both were looking to be scoreless until they scored in the wet races and hanging on.
Tomek Pasek: 29th, 1 point, best result: 15th Zandvoort Feature
Just couldn't stay out of trouble most of the time and was in the wrong place, wrong time, only finished 1 feature race and it was at Zandvoort, the one he scored, should've scored more imo.
John Lawley, Ema Nishino, Max Ginther
All the 3 were so close to scoring points, especially Lawley. Nishino got robbed on the last lap of the last race also. Ginther too when he got taken out by Werdheim on the last lap at Spa.
Reinhold Hinteregger Jr. 33rd, best result 19th at Monaco Sprint
No comment, he will be back next season to do better.
Joao Travoada II: 34th, best result 20th at Zandvoort Feature
Finally got to take part but didn't come to get the results he was looking for... Ouch. But he will be back stronger for next season
Fun Fact:
Paulo Ricardo-Mentho, Max Kos, Dan Daniel II, Andrew Bauer Jr., Helio da Matta Jr. and Matthew da Costa all failed to finish inside the top 20, all the rest of the 34 have.
Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed, your rewards will come soon, don't worry, spreadsheet is the link below, see you next season whenever I'll put it up
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1jBxrkc3XxXM_Z1ZxfS0QdOP1RAzzb3R1H-3_bVnEQTc/edit#gid=1351293927
A couple of Fun Facts I Forgot...
Other than the champion Marc Vilanova winning 5 races out of the 10, there was no other repeat winner in the series as we had 5 different other race winners, total of 6, the most winners we've ever had, just one more in the last 2 seasons seperately,...
Last shout!
I take it we will not be able to participate again... A shame to have lost the 100% finishing record when it mattered most. Thanks mate for these series!