Lehdistötiedotteet - GBA1 & Drivers Update #01

GBA1 & Drivers Update #01

Weeks one and two were a mixed bag of results for Great Britain and their drivers in the inaugural Nations Cup, but those involved and spectating have agreed that the first events have been above and beyond what the humble GB squad expected to achieve.

Week 1 saw UK legend Jonas Gudas snatch a double victory from 5th on the grid and lead by example at Wroclaw, Poland. Solid points in Week 2 at Dijon has seen Gudas rise to the lofty heights of 5th in the drivers standings, tied on 161 points with F1 stars Acarini and Rapido.
This weeks ranking points also saw Gudas jump into the World Top 10!!

Robert Headington, who this week surpassed retired driver Ray Striver for 2nd in the UK National Rankings, had a mixed bag of emotions. Week one saw a relatively stoical, processional race. Headington approached week two "...expecting to qualify around 13th..." having looked through his list of competitors, but a monster effort put him 6th on the grid for his races. Regrettably this effort was neutralised with an unjust retirement in race 1, leaving the 22 year old to fight back from 21st in race 2, achieving a respectable 11th in the circumstances.

Chris Kemp has undeniably been punching above his weight. The British F3 Series veteran arguably has a deceptive ranking score having spent several seasons at F3 level. So going in to these races it was great to see Kemp taking some solid results. With a stand-out performance in Sundays race at Austin, climbing as high as 6th before an error saw him drop down the order.

Jonny Herbert has had a rough ride, but taken results from an increasingly difficult field of drivers. The twisty Hungaroring proved too much strain on the Brits engine as an oil pressure issue put and end to his event.

Wildcard entry Paul Edward has done a great job, showing persistently good race pace in a field of youngsters. It is becoming apparent that most of the success in the Nations Cup Junior races is from 20/21 year olds, so the very young 19 year old can take plenty away from his results!

Rubik Beardy is the youngest driver in the UK Top 20 and has shown more than enough skill to challenge for podiums and wins at his level. Qualifying and race issues have hampered the youngsters results to date, but Beardy has done more than enough to secure his place in the junior squad for the season.

All in all a great showing from the UK drivers, going up against the greatest drivers in the industry. GB National Association sits 9th in the National Standings, locked in a tight battle just 4pts behind Finland and 4pts ahead of Switzerland.

As promised, we take the time to acknowledge British success. Week 1 saw these drivers make the biggest gains in the UK National Rankings Top 100.

R. Headington + 116.6

R. Beardy + 67.1

T. Scragend +61.2

J. Storm + 56.6

S. Reign +47.0

Also a shout out to several British drivers who, after two weeks, are leading their respective series'.

R. Headington, 1st in F2 Oceanic

D. White, 1st in F3 Benelux

J. Cleland, 1st in F3 Latvia

And lastly a monumental scrap for the top spot in F3 Australia! With three British drivers tied for supremacy on equal points.

M. Bennett 156pts
M. Ripley 156pts
A. Brown 156pts

Keep posted for more news and results from A1, and GB overall!

A huge thankyou to Headington manager RH0258 for some excellent race reports on the forum!!