#1 Dennis Hauger (NOR – Prema Dallara Mecachrome)
Qualifying: 2nd – Race 1 Grid reverse top 12 Quali: 11th – Race 1 Result: 9th
Race 2 Grid reverse top 12 Race 1: 4th – Race 2 Result: 2nd
Race 3 Quali Grid: 2nd – Race 3 Result: 2nd
FIA F3 Championship position: 1st – 66 points – after 6 of 21 races
A wet Race 3 at Paul Ricard brought out the best of Red Bull Juniors Jack Doohan and Dennis Hauger who put on a great battle for the lead. From the soaking wet start, Hauger, the 18-year-old Norwegian, cut through from 2nd into a lead he quickly built on.
Doohan struggled for grip off the line and slipped from 4th to 5th but he kept his cool and as the track started to dry the 18-year-old Australian got quicker and quicker. He battled through to 2nd and started to put pressure on Hauger at ¾ distance with little standing water left.
A dive down the inside into the corner onto the start and finish by Doohan was spirited and Hauger repassed on the exit but Doohan was determined and soon made his move stick. He opened up a lead of just over a second but then Hauger fought back. Doohan answered and had the gap back up to over a second for the penultimate lap.
It capped a strong weekend for both drivers. Hauger had already taken 2nd in Race 2 after 9th in Race 1 and Doohan added his win to a 5th and 7th
Hauger off colour but on form
“Not bad, obviously some good points for the championship. Leading now by 6 points or so, so it is still close.”
“Qualifying was pretty good, P2. The main difference there I think was that I didn’t have a slipstream compared to the pole but overall it was pretty good.”
“Started P11 in Race 1, wasn’t perfect, got up to P9 so got some points which was the main thing and OK for the Race 2 grid. I’d been struggling with some sickness this weekend so especially in Race 1 I was not at 100% and felt pretty bad, I struggled to breathe after the race so I was just trying to survive.”
“I got some medicine for Race 2 and was a bit better, so P2 in Race 2 was not too bad. I was the only one on used tyres compared to the guys around. So the pace was looking pretty strong and we were quite confident going into today.”
“But then it started raining, which was quite unexpected. It was raining quite a bit. I had a really good start, got off in front and once I got away, just tried to manage the small gap. But then the rears were just not there anymore by mid race as the track dried out. I got caught by Jack.”
“Once I got passed, I tried to stick with him, tried to stay there but there was not really much more I could do with the tyres in the condition they were in. Overall it was a good weekend for points.”
|
