Brands Hatch: Andrea Caldarelli weekend summary

Caldarelli's shows good pace despite struggles at Brands Hatch The seventh round of the 2009 Formula 3 Euro Series was held this weekend over the Channel, at the short Brands Hatch Indy configuration. On the British racetrack, Toyota Driver ...

Caldarelli's shows good pace despite struggles at Brands Hatch

The seventh round of the 2009 Formula 3 Euro Series was held this weekend over the Channel, at the short Brands Hatch Indy configuration. On the British racetrack, Toyota Driver Program's Andrea Caldarelli had still to fight bad luck driving the Mercedes-powered Dallara fielded by French outfit SG Formula.

"In Formula 3, the most decisive moment is Qualifying. In 30 minutes, it all needs to work perfectly to nail a spot in one of the front rows. At Brands Hatch we were split in two groups due to the circuit's reduced length. With no traffic to slow me down, everything seemed set for a really fast lap, until I started expe- riencing brake problems. We lost time, got a little nervous and ended up with the 11th time".

Andrea was then forced to start from the back, on Row 11. The first race pro- ved really dramatic due to a huge contact between Bianchi and Geronimi. As the series' organization decided to continue after a long stop, ending the remaining 18 minutes, Caldarelli ended up in 18th. On Race 2, he kept fighting back.

"The car handled well, and I clocked some good laptimes. I ended up in 14th, just one spot behind my team-mate Henki Waldschmidt, but I can't be satisfied with that. I hoped to inch closer to the points zone...".