The second half of the ATS Formel 3 Cup continued at Nurburgring, Germany on August 31, 2014 after a 10-week summer break. Malaysian driver Nabil Jeffri who had spent the time wisely by taking part in the Zandvoort F3 Masters, the British F3 in Spa-Francorchamps and signing up for the Formula Medicine programme in Italy to beef up his fitness level arrived in Germany in good condition for the race. The hard work paid off when Nabil made it to the podium in all three races of the Nurburgring round.
The race weekend started off on a cautiously optimistic note. On Thursday, Nabil found that the pace wasn’t there and was having diffculties handling his car. However, he still managed to clock within the top three of all the practice sessions. During the qualifying which determined the start position for Race 1, Nabil posted fourth fastest in the grid but was promoted to third on the grid when Sam Macleod was penalized five grid positions for a technical infringement.
However, as Race 1 was flagged off, Nabil found himself swallowed up in sixth position at the first corner due to a number of jumpstarts from the back of the grid. But Nabil was able to regain his position as the offending drivers were penalized with the drive thru penalty. Nabil caught up to leader Markus Pommer but found it impossible to overtake and finally ended the race in second position only 0.599s behind the German driver.
Grid position for Race 2 was determined by reverse order from the results of Race 1. The team made minor changes to the car in response to Nabil’s request for better balance. Starting the race seventh on the grid, Nabil raced consistently to claw his way up the ranks before eventually snaring his second podium of the weekend in second place.
Heavy downpour half an hour before the start of Race 3 pushed Nabil and his team to opt for wet tyres but unfortunately the team did not have enough time to change the set up of the car. Starting from fifth on the grid, Nabil maintained his position well and managed to overtake Tan Wei Ron for fourth place. Three laps before the chequered flag, Indy Dontie spun out of the slippery circuit and Nabil moved up to third.
“I am very happy to have achieved my target of finishing on the podium in every race. Thanks to our team’s efforts this weekend, I have been able to maintain my second overall position in the Championship. It was all the more sweeter that this achievement came about during our national day celebrations and I will strive harder in future to bring back more podium positions and race wins,” said Nabil.
ATS Formel 3 Cup – Nurburgring Results
Race 1
1. Markus Pommer, 31’01.542; 2. Nabil Jeffri, 31’09.594; 3. Nicolai Sylvest, 31’22.728; 4. Tan Wei Ron, 31’39.294; 5. Thomas Anweg, 31’41.489s
Race 2
1. Nicolai Sylvest, 21’13.100; 2. Nabil Jeffri, 21’13.837; 3. Sam MacLeod, 21’15.572; 4. Indy Dontje, 21’16.324; 5. Nikita Zlobin, 21’23.827
Race 3
1. Markus Pommer, 30’53.255; 2. Sam MacLeod, 31’00.539; 3. Nabil Jeffri, 31’08.115; 4. Indy Dontje, 31’09.976; 5. Nicolai Sylvest, 31’12.830
