Masters: Laurens Vanthoor race report

Bad luck strikes a blow at Masters F3 in Zandvoort ZANDVOORT. For Laurens Vanthoor the Masters of F3 in Zandvoort was a major disappointment. His qualifying chances were reduced to a minimum due to a damaged gearbox and the race itself was very ...

Bad luck strikes a blow at Masters F3 in Zandvoort

ZANDVOORT. For Laurens Vanthoor the Masters of F3 in Zandvoort was a major disappointment. His qualifying chances were reduced to a minimum due to a damaged gearbox and the race itself was very difficult. "I'm terribly disappointed, because after Valencia, where everything was improving following the difficult start to the season Lady Luck has turned against me once more. The sporting commission called me in for a drive through, which wasn't meant for me^a And that ruined my race of course. But all we can do now is carry on working to be back on track at the Norisring, during the first weekend of July"

The Masters of F3 in Zandvoort is not part of the F3 EuroSeries, but is in fact a 'stand alone' race, where the best F3 drivers in the world take it up against one another in one race. Laurens Vanthoor travelled on up to Zandvoort with a strong performance in Valencia in the back of his mind and was really hoping to put on a good show. During the free practice sessions everything went to plan, because Vanthoor clocked up a fourth time. But during the qualifying sessions Lady Luck once again let Laurens Vanthoor down.

Laurens Vanthoor: "I had a certain feeling with the car, especially in the bends and finally ended up in seventh spot during the first qualifying session. Overall not bad, even though I knew that I could get more out of it. Having looked into the data analysis it appeared that I was losing time in top speed on the straight. I went out for the second session in full confidence, but no sooner had I left the pitlane when the gearbox gave up the ghost. Over and out..... I'm truly disappointed. Overtaking here is very difficult, so I'll need to count on some support."

Just before the race on Sunday it started to rain and Laurens Vanthoor after all made the right choice to opt for slicks, being one of the few competitors in the Masters of F3 to do so. "

"The race winner made the same choice and as such my result should have been pretty good, as proven by my fast laps during the final part of the race. But in the meantime one or two things had started to go wrong. I was given a drive through for a reason I'm not very clear about and after the race the Sport Commission apologized. Meanwhile my radio communication wasn't working, so I was completely in the dark as to what the weather was going to do and in the final phase, just as I was trying to make up a few places I was nudged. Basically I can summarise this as a weekend to be forgotten soonest.."

Laurens Vanthoor will be back on track on 2nd, 3rd and 4th July during the F3 EuroSeries on the legendary Norisring in Nurnberg.