Press Releases - Parr nets first career win at Slovakiaring

Parr nets first career win at Slovakiaring

Orechová Potôň - The atmosphere in the garage was electric on Friday afternoon as Simian Motorsports driver Nigel Parr picked up his first ever victory in style. Starting second on the grid, Parr's Arttech leapt off the line to beat polesitter Dávid Marko into the first corner. He never looked back, leading for all 22 laps.

"We're absolutely delighted for him," said Valeri Kavalchuk, Parr's race engineer. "I've known Nigel was highly cerebral driver since we signed him in Season 8, but it's great to see that he's now got the pace to challenge for wins." Parr has historically driven well at the Slovakiaring but he hasn't competed in a Formula 3 series race here since Season 10. "I raced here six times back then," said the 22-year old Canadian, "so I'm quite familiar with the circuit. The Slovakiaring is one of my favourites and I think the Arttech is well-suited for the high-speed corners here."

Though this was his first win, Parr has competed in three full Formula 3 national series. Last year he moved up to the F3 North America series where he ended up finishing 11th. "I needed to be home for awhile," Parr explained. "After three years overseas with mixed results I needed to come back to recharge. Being close to my family allowed me to focus on my racing and I feel refreshed."

"I think it was a great experience for him," said Kavalchuk. "Our car wasn't a little underpowered compared to the top teams so we didn't put a lot of pressure on Nigel to win." These lowered expectations allowed Parr to focus on perfecting his driving techniques. Parr's improvement over the season was noteworthy, especially during qualifying.

When asked about his chances of the Formula 3 Slovakia championship this year Parr tried to restrain his excitement. "We've only just started the series and anything can happen over the next 72 days, but now that I've collected my first win I'm hungry for more. We'll see how we do with the strategy on Sunday and go from there." See we will. Parr will start from pole in the second Slovakiaring race and will hope he can again beat Dávid Marko into turn one.