新闻 - Hamilton II apologetic after crash at Ponce takes out two cars

Hamilton II apologetic after crash at Ponce takes out two cars

Louie Hamilton II’s Copa Central Americana Campaign ended in heartbreak after a racing incident with fellow driver Marco Gisiato left both out of the race.

At the final race of the series in Ponce, Puerto Rico, with American Spike Lundberg crowned champion already, the remaining positions of the championship was yet to be decided. Gisiato was aiming for P2 in the series, whilst Hamilton II was attempting to protect his P4 from Manuel Fontana and Sergej Fahrlich.

With Gisiato starting P2 for the feature race and Hamilton II P4, the pair immediately got stuck in a three way battle, along with Simona Halepova, for P2 behind the leader Lundberg. Gisiato was overtaken by Halepova on Lap 3, but retook the position on the very next lap. The three remained within two tenths of each other, until lap 11, where Gisiato was overtaken by both on the main straight.

He responded well, however, overtaking both to reclaim P2 on lap 12, before Hamilton II and Halepova exchanged blows three times, at Turn 2, Turn 5, and Turn 7 respectively, with Halepova getting the upper hand. This happened yet again on the very next lap, leaving Hamilton II in P3 at the end of it.

On lap 17, Hamilton II got Gisiato on the main straight again, taking P2 away from the Italian, before proceeding to pull away from him slightly. On lap 31, however, disaster struck.

Whilst attempting to hold off the fast approaching Gisiato, Hamilton II made a tiny mistake at Turn 6, losing a small amount of time. This prompted Gisiato to go for the gap, which Hamilton II attempted to shut immediately. Both were over-aggressive and neither wanted to yield, leading to a huge collision between the two, which left both cars in the wall at Turn 7, meaning Halepova took P2 in the championship and Fontana finishing ahead of Hamilton II in P4.

Louie Hamilton II has since expressed his regret over the incident and later spoke to Grand Prix Express :

“I’m really sorry for the incident that I was involved in today, and obviously it was not the way we wanted to finish the series. I want to take this opportunity to apologise to Marco, as it cost him P2 and me P4. Overall, I’m happy with the result in the championship, this being my first ever series, and hopefully I will do better in the future. ”

On his future aspirations, he said :
“I’m planning to enter British F4 next season, and a good result there would be very welcome. It would be really cool to race on my favourite circuit, Silverstone, and taking part in an official series next season.”