Persberichten - F3 Masters of Season 29 Review Part 1

F3 Masters of Season 29 Review Part 1

Hey guys, I had no time to get review done before as promised but today is the day I'm getting it done, so we just gone through what was an exciting and competitive season once again with Bartek Szybki, Marc Vilanova, Luiz Thomazini, and the Canadian duo of Steve Villeneuve and Samuel Bellamy all winning races and fighting for the title but Luiz Thomazini came out on top with his brilliant consistency and now we're going to review the drivers one by one on their season.

Luiz Thomazini: champion, 150 points, best result: 1st (X3)
As expected, his consistency brought him to the title down the wire but to start a charge from Zandvoort and only take the lead in the champ after Spa, might've been lucky because of Bellamy's big mistake under the wet conditions at Spa but the young Brazilian deserves credit

Samuel Bellamy: 2nd, 140 points, best result: 1st (X3)
He was fast, he was fierce and he was brave but what went wrong for Sam? Despite a strategy blunder at Monaco Feature Race which denied him a clean sweep, he pretty much had the championship in the bag before that aquaplanning moment at Spa then the qualifying for Macau didn't help either but he did all he could to stop Thomazini even overtaking him on track but the damage was done... despite missing out on the championship, he should be happy with his peformances.

Bartek Szybki: 3rd, 124 points, best result: 1st (X2)
If he didn't have these disasters at Zandvoort and Spa then you know what it could've been, he was leading after the win at Monaco and a handful of 2nd places then it just all went wrong, at least he profitted from Vilanova and Villeneuve crashing out to take him 3rd in the standings with brilliant comeback drives at Macau so MOTM (Man of the Meeting for him) so next season is looking good for young Pole.

Steve Villeneuve: 4th, 123 points, best result: 1st
He's shown signs that he can match and beat his older compartiot Bellamy but the consistency throughout the season hurt him much, reaches a high point then hits a low for the next one, he can surely work on that for next season cause I see him fighting for the title also.

Marc Vilanova: 5th, 121 points, best result: 1st
Struggled in the early part of the season with poor pitstops under safety car pushing him back but then after the races he had after that has really proven the Spaniard's strong mentality even ending up with a win, shame he couldn't finish the season with a perfect podium streak onto next season but things are looking promising for next season.

Cordell Gifford: 6th, 104 points, best result: 2nd (X2)
Good driver, had chances to win but luck wasn't really by his side when he was in contention, however he looked good around the tight, tough street tracks notably Macau where he finished 2nd twice proving to be his best result.

Thorin Eichenschild: 7th, 71 points, best result: 2nd
Like Gifford, he's proven to be at the sharp end of the grid but luck wasn't by his side, 2 consecutive engine failures cost him dearly also the one at Spa really eliminated him from a potential win in any one of the races, a track where he knows well too.

Steve Wallace: 8th, 71 points, best result: 3rd
Steve Wallace is a man of consistency, finishing in the points 9 out of 10 times but finishing all of the races also having some standout results at Monaco Feature, Spa and Macau where he closed his camapign there with a podium finish, might've been bad for Bellamy's title charge but he's not sitting down for nobody.

Marc Montane: 9th, 70 points, best result: 3rd
Another consistent driver to go through, ok I know he had a bad start at Pau when qualifying mattered but he fought his way back one by one and starting taking home the results he needed to notably holding on in the monsoon at Spa and boosting himself up for next season where we'll see him fight for the title against the likes of Szybki, Villeneuve, his compartiot Vilanova also.

Heleia Genorés: 10th, 59 points, best result: 7th (X3)
And just behind is his wife Heleia Genorés, also consistent, having her standouts at Zandvoort and Macau only 1 DNF at Monaco where her fuel system failed but at least she took home the first ever Zahara Starwing Award (females championship) in the process as expected

Juca Macieira: 11th, 52 points, best result: 4th
After being nowhere at Pau, Macieira raised his level from Monaco onwards, despite being a bit younger to the guys at the sharp end of the field, he's proven in some races he can get up there, lost a podium at Macau and maybe a potential win through no fault of his own managed to ruin what was a promising ending but the future looks bright here for the young Brazilian. Wins the U24 championship though

Andrea DeCesaris: 12th, 48 points, best result: 4th
The Italian struggled in qualifying but he's proven to fight his way up through the field and snatch decent results especially at Spa where it mattered the most, even a decent race at Zandvoort Feature too, he does get it wrong sometimes but fair play to him for making an effort.

Massimilano Del Ragno: 13th, 45 points, best result: 7th
He's only 22 and he has exceeded my expectations this season, he really didn't dominate the Nations for nothing, I didn't expect him to give the top midfield a hard time even with in a field like this but also maintaining the finishes through out of the season, the only non-point finishes were at Pau the first race of the season and also Spa Feature where he literally had a disaster but he's proven his worth and will be one to watch for the next, also he won the U22 championship.

Mack Zaggro: 14th, 39 points, best result: 3rd
This season is much better than last season when it comes down to strategy but the luck wasn't by his side but peformances like Monaco has proven what he's really made of plus he always does well there so a race win is not out of the cards for next season, even a title challenge?

Zach Austin: 15th, 36 points, best result: 7th
Consistency has improved drastically this season but qualifying is still a hard pill to swallow but at least fighting through the field is easier with his brilliant overtaking and his development improving week by week, next season will be the real test where he can maybe fight for the title but qualifying is really key here.

Richard Verschoor: 16th, 32 points, best result: 6th
Decent driver, proven he can get past cars like Austin above and he could fight for wins when everything goes his way like Monaco Feature, just need to avoid showings like Zandvoort where car setup wasn't right and he'll be a solid one to look out for.

Roy Penninckmeester: 17th, 24 points, best result: 8th
Season was looking good despite two early crashes which affected him ever so slightly but after his dream meeting at Zandvoort, he suddenly switched off.

Alex Reis: 18th, 22 points, best result: 6th
It's been a tough season for the young Brazilian, he's proven his speed but his racecraft is lacking a bit somewhere and that's how he loses his qualifying peformances, I'd put it down to experience but next season is looking promising anyway, let's not forget about his brilliant drive at the final race of the season, 24th to 6th and his best result of the season. Not bad. Also needs to improve at Zandvoort cause it looks like it's his super bogey track.

Petter Solberg Jr: 19th, 14 points, best result: 7th
Started the season so well at Pau but kinda went downhill afterwards, he should focus for next season because he has the potential to rise up.

Cameron Pither: 20th, 14 points, best result: 9th
Despite a disasterous start at Pau, he finished often inside the top 20 and even taking some point finishes also having a good end to the season with 9th, he can fight higher next season.

Hey guys, part 2 will be coming up tomorrow-Friday because I kind of run out of time to go through everyone so stay tuned for part 2. Thanks for reading guys and I promise to get this done.

Fun Facts:
* Luiz Thomazini being champion meant that Brazil maintains it's 100% champion record
* Brazil had the most drivers in the field with 7, 2nd most was Spain with 5 and joint 3rd was Britain, Italy, Netherlands and United States with 3.
* Luiz Thomazini was only 10 points short from beating Rafael Drummond's record of 160 points in a season, had he finished 6th at Macau Feature, he would've equalled it.
* Most drivers had number 1 on their car but the number 1 went to Angel Holguera who was here last season so he comes first to use it.