Jimmy Eriksson endured a difficult weekend in Spa Francorchamps this weekend, leaving the Belgian round without adding to his 2015 points tally.
From ninth on the grid, Eriksson made up ground in the early stages of Saturday’s Feature Race, on the verge of the podium before picking up a drive-through penalty for jumping the start; his Koiranen GP car moved ever so slightly before the lights went out. Eriksson was ultimately 13th having actually crossed the line in fifth place.
However, the Swede had served his drive-through penalty during a Virtual Safety Car (VSC) period which is not allowed as it reduces the impact of the penalty and as a result had twenty seconds added to his time following the race.
In Sunday’s Sprint Race the Swede again suffered from start-related issues, in the shape of an overheating clutch; consequently stalling on the grid.
Eriksson was left with the difficult task of trying to fight his way back up the field from last place, demonstrated by him taking 16th by the chequered flag.
“Unfortunately another difficult weekend for us,” says Jimmy Eriksson.
“We have been working hard trying to find the right set-up and balance, but qualifying was quite tough and we were held back primarily by poor traction. Things were a lot better in the first race – we made some good changes – and the pace was there to fight near the front. It was such a shame I picked up that drive-through penalty, but it was my own mistake – even though the car just moved a few centimetres. It really went from bad to worse, with the engine then stalling at the start of Race 2. It’s tough, but we will tackle this together and sooner or later we will fight back.”
Folllwing his pointless weekend Jimmy Eriksson remains in sixth place in the overall GP3 Series standings.
