Dennis Hauger gjorde det beste ut av et meget vanskelig utgangspunkt i sin debut i det italienske F4-mesterskapet på Vallelunga i helgen.
Dennis ble diskvalifisert fra kvalifiseringen etter at det ble avdekket feil ved bensinen på hans bil ved en analyse av bensinprøve. Dermed startet han på 33. startsposisjon i alle de tre finalene, og hadde dermed verst mulig utgangspunkt. Men den unge nordmannen foretok ikke mindre enn 59 forbikjøringer i de tre løpene, og kjørte inn til henholdsvis 21., 10. og 11. plass.
Pressemelding fra Red Bull Jr Team
Drama and deluge – a messy weekend of Italian F4 at Vallelunga for Hauger and Edgar
#62 Dennis Hauger (NOR – VAR Tatuus F.4 T014 Abarth)
Qualifying 1: Disq – Race 1 Grid: 33rd – Race 1 Result: 21st
Qualifying 2: Disq – Race 2 Grid: 33rd – Race 2 Result: 10th (after penalty)
Qualifying 3: Disq – Race 3 Grid: 33rd – Race 3 Result: 11th
Italian F4 Championship position: 19th – 1 point after 3 of 21 races
#17 Jonny Edgar (GBR – Jenzer Motorsport Tatuus F.4 T014 Abarth)
Qualifying 1: 10th – Race 1 Grid: 10th – Race 1 Result: 7th
Qualifying 2: 23rd – Race 2 Grid: 23rd – Race 2 Result: 19th (after penalty)
Qualifying 3: 19th – Race 3 Grid: 19th – Race 3 Result: DNF
Italian F4 Championship position: 13th – 6 points after 3 of 21 races
Constantly varying conditions, rivers of water across the track, ultra long safety car periods and illegal fuel were all part of a very difficult Italian F4 weekend at Vallelunga for Red Bull Juniors Dennis Hauger and Jonny Edgar.
Hauger, the 16-year-old Norwegian, dragged the very best out of an event when things were totally stacked against him by making a total of 59 passes in three races, and even more incredible achievement considering the fact that most of the ‘racing’ was behind the Safety Car.
15-year-old Briton Edgar could also pick positives out of and extremely testing second weekend in an F4 car. He had a very good drive to take seventh is Race 1 and grabbed a place on the Rookie podium.
Fast enough but framed!
The weekend had started very well for Hauger. “In FP 1 and FP2 I had really good pace in the dry,” explained Hauger who was first and third in those two sessions. “Then in Q1 I was P12 and P3 in Q2, Not so bad but then we were told that our fuel sample had failed and my times were scrapped. I would start all three races from the back of the grid.”
“There is something very strange there because our team just doesn’t do that sort of thing plus you are bound to get caught, there is no point in doing it.”
The team statement made their own position clear: “Van Amersfoort Racing is fed through passion for the sport and driven by soul integrity. We very well realize that incidents like these may raise questions on such specific statements. We are convinced of our own clean and structured work procedures and therefore feel the need to re-stress that we are not prepared to take blame for this incident.”
“We will however take this blind hit and will only use it to make us stronger!”
Fight back
Hauger explained how they tried to make the best of a terrible situation. “For the first race we went for wets but could do nothing stuck behind the Safety Car. In Race 2 we were able to make a good run from 33rd to P8 and in Race 3 again we were stuck by the Safety Car for most of the race but still managed to get through to P11.”
Not easy for Edgar
Edgar also didn’t have the best fortune in qualifying. “The way the qualifying works,” explained the Jenzer Motorsport drover. “Q1 is for Race 1, Q2 for Race 2 and then your second best time from either session counts for the Race 3 grid. But we didn’t have the right tyre pressure for Q2 but that was the quicker session so we were well down the grid for Race 2 and 3.”
“The weather was changing all the time, raining heavily, then drying quite quickly, a lot of Safety Car laps.”
A nice podium
“Race 1 was good though, getting through to seventh and third Rookie. In Race 2 I got damage as I was trying to get through so only got up to P17 and in Race 3 I spun around in the wet. So not an easy weekend but we had some pace and I learnt a lot,” concluded the youngster.
More info on the Junior Team at:
www.redbulljuniorteam.com
Facebook:
www.facebook.com/RedBullJuniorTeam