Italian sophomore driver Alessio Lorandi secured two point finishes during the opening weekend of the 2016 FIA European Formula 3 Championship, and ended up the leading driver of the Carlin quartet at Paul Ricard.
The teenager was disappointed to open his season with a twelfth place finish in race one, but got his weekend back on track with a hard fought sixth place in a race he found entertaining due to the numerous on-track battles he was embroiled in.
“It’s been a long weekend, with the collective test on Thursday followed by practice and qualifying on Friday and finally the two races today” said Lorandi on Saturday. “The goal was to score points immediately and I managed to accomplish the feature in race 2 which was a pretty entertaining one.
“I recovered several spots from the seventh row, and in the closing laps, with the rain coming abruptly, it was really difficult to stay on-track. Our sixth place, captured at a last-gasp, was a great reward for the job done by myself and the Carlin team over the preseason.
“It’s a pity for race 1, when I ended up 12th and out of the points zone.”
Lorandi ended the weekend with a ninth place finish in race three, and is now looking forward to the Hungaroring weekend after a tough weekend in France.
“We worked so hard throughout the whole weekend and finally we scored ten points which isn’t bad considering that Le Castellet was a tough track for us,” said Lorandi.
“The Carlin staff gave their 100% and completing the weekend with a sixth and a ninth place after two tough qualifying sessions is surely positive. We are looking forward to the next round at Budapest, where we will try to perform even better.”