Karting star Alessio Lorandi, recommended to Van Amersfoort Racing by their 2014 F1-bound superstar Max Verstappen, had a wild day on track on Saturday at Silverstone.
The Italian qualified twenty-first for the opening two races, and retired from race 1 after running wide at Luffield and ending up stuck in the gravel trap that necessitated the introduction of the safety car.
For race two, Lorandi was disappointed to be pushed off the road and lose a handful of positions, but recovered well to finish sixteenth. He starts fourteenth in race three on Sunday and has high hopes of scoring his first points of the season and of his single seater career.
“I knew it would have been hard, the European F.3 series is really competitive and I have to get more experience,” reflected Lorandi. “In qualifying 1 and 2 I made some mistakes that forced me to the back of the grid.
“Despite the tough conditions of the track I was doing well in Race 1. The track was getting dry after a rainfall but it was still wet off the racing line. We needed to be very cautious. I was doing OK, but two drivers spun in front of me. I did everything I could to avoid them but I damaged the front wing.
“After the pit-stop for repairs I was pushing hard but I put a rear tire off the line, ending up into the gravel for good.
“In Race 2 I recovered several spots, but somebody pushed me off by hitting me on the side and I went back to 20th. I didn’t surrender though: I kept recovering as hard as I could, finishing in 16th.
“For Race 3 I hope to fight for the top-10 and for my first points.”