FIA European F3 Championship 2015
Date: May 30, 2015
Monza, Italy
Session: Race 1
Circuit Length: 5.793km
Weather Condition: Dry
Race Duration: 35 minutes
Position: DNF
The fourth round of the FIA European F3 Championship moves to the world’s oldest circuit – the 5.793km circuit at Monza, Italy.
With 35 cars on the grid, Malaysian driver Nabil Jeffri faced a challenging round in his bid to continue on his podium hunt. Prior to the round, Nabil had had one day of testing in Monza but the test session was hampered by issues with speed and handling. This resulted in the team deciding to change the gearbox and the entire braking system for the race weekend.
By the time the race weekend came about, Nabil was handicapped by going out on track with unfamiliar settings and looked to be uncomfortable in the two free practice session. The team then found more issues with the damper, a costly problem that placed Nabil 33rd in the first qualifying session. The second qualifying proved to be a little better for the determined Malaysian driver when he improved on his grid position to 21st for Race 2 and 17th for Race 3.
However, more bad luck was in store for the gutsy young driver. Having survived the first corner mayhem at the start of Race 1, Nabil was already driving with more confidence and had clawed his way up to 18th position when he was hit from behind by F. Schiller from Team West Tec. The crash caused a punctured tyre and damaged the front wings of Nabil’s car. After 10 laps, Nabil was forced to retire, his first DNF for the 2015 season.
“I am happy to have gained better pace in the race as compared to the practice session. I feel more comfortable and was already starting to improve my position. It was really unlucky to have been hit from behind when I had worked so hard to move up by 15 positions,” said Nabil.
Nabil will start Race 2 on May 31, 2015 in P20.
