Le Mans: Cheng Congfu weekend summary

October 3rd-5th, 9th race of 2008 F3 Euro Series came to the 4.185 kilometers long Circuit Bugatti in Le Mans.

To Cheng Congfu, Le Mans meant a lot.In July, right here, he became the first Chinese driver to stand on the podium of Le Mans 24 Hours, he really hoped to repeat it, but for some problems of setting-ups, Cheng Congfu didn't get good result in Friday's qualifying, the grid position for Saturday's race was 23rd of total 28 drivers. But on Saturday, he performed much better and promoted to 16th with his best lap time of 1 minute 32.465 seconds which was the fastest of RC Motorsport drivers. But nothing was so certain as the unexpected. Light rain set in right after the start. Because of this, some drivers spun off the track as the asphalt had become slippery. When Jon Lancaster (ART Grand Prix) lost control of his Dallara-Mercedes and hit the barriers, the race was interrupted with a red flag. After a re-start behind the safety car, the race run for three more laps and had to finish early shortened from the original 27 to eleven laps. At that moment, Cheng Congfu's position was 24th.

After the race, Cheng Congfu says: the car was not so comfortable in free practice and qualifying, but on Saturday, I felt better with the positions promoted. Actually, I had been confident on Sunday's race, but the rain came very suddenly, as a result, cars started to spin and touch each other, situations were not so easy, I hadn't good opportunities to overtake during only 11 laps. However, I will try my best in the last race of this year.

Last race of 2008 F3 Euro Series will be held in Hockenheim, Germany on October 24 to 26.

-credit: chengcongfu.net