Lehdistötiedotteet - Everything clicks together

Everything clicks together

Q: So at the end of last season (10) you didn't give us a chance to interview you. Why was this?

Robert: Well there wasn't really much to say. Last season was a disappointment.

Q: Can you give us a quick overview now then?

Robert: I didn't show as much progress as I felt I should have shown. While divers I was racing against in season 9 were able to get up the order, get wins and improve, I was getting similar results to the year before. After 18 races I had 5 retirements, the same points as Season 9 and was starting to doubt my ability as a racing driver, wondering if I'd ever make it.

The final race weekend gave me a boost though as I managed to get my first ever podium in F3, as well as strong results in qualifying and the other race. This gave me hope that the new training program (that I had started a couple of weeks before) might be finally moving me in the right direction.

Q: Well after this season it certainly seems like you are! When did you start to feel that you could win the F3 Oceania Series?

Robert: It wasn't at the beginning, that's for sure! Despite that strong final race of season 10, I would of been happy to finish 5th overall this season.

Yet my mentally was put to the test in the first two weekends of the season. I finished 7th and 8th in Albert park followed by a retirement and 11th in Surfers Paradise. This put me 11th in the standings after 4 races and my dream of being a successful racing driver seemed further away than ever.

Then Queensland came around. Qualifying wasn't my problem in the previous two races but starting 3rd was still encouraging. Then finally everything clicked. I managed to overtake both of the drivers who started in front of me to claim my first ever F3 win. This was a really emotional for me. I managed to regain my composure though for the next race to get my 2nd win. This was the start of my purple patch. 8 wins in a row, 3 poles in a row. 10 wins, 13 podiums, 1 retirement in 14 races. I am shocked at how well this season has gone for me.

But to answer your question, I felt I had a chance of winning the F3 Oceania Series after my 3rd win, that put me in 2nd in the standings and only 4 points behind Leholk, who was 1st. I wasn't expecting the domination that happened next and it was only after my 6th win that I felt that I should win this series.

Q: So what will Season 12 bring?

Robert: I'm moving to F2 Oceania Series for next season so I expect it to be difficult. Although F2 North America, F2 South America and F2 Africa all seems to have easier grids, I don't have anywhere near the data for them tracks that I have for the races in Oceania.

I hope that I will be able to finish somewhere in the top 6 in the series, get in the top 3 drivers in the UK and get close to the top 100 in the world, although I may be a little ambitious with these.