Zane Maloney hopes his victory at the Circuit de Monaco opens the doors for other young drivers from Barbados making the jump into motor sport.
The R-ace GP driver led from start to finish in a very disrupted second race of the Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine weekend in Monaco, with a red flag and two safety car periods making life difficult for the seventeen-year-old.
Maloney was under pressure also from R-ace GP team-mate Isack Hadjar throughout, but despite the Frenchman’s pace, he was unable to find a way ahead of the Barbadian racer. Maloney praised Hadjar after the race, but it was his desire for his countrymen to follow in his footsteps that was his primary focus post-race.
“Huge happiness to win here in Monaco, I am sure all Barbados will be cheering, and hope this will bring other young drivers from my country close to motorsport,” said Maloney.
“Not easy to keep Isack behind, and at every restart, after safety car, I was thinking how to do it better and what to improve.”
It was a positive weekend all round for Maloney, who was fastest in Qualifying on Friday before finishing second to Hadjar in Saturday’s opening race. Maloney is hoping the performance in Monaco is just the start of what could be a fight for the Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine title in 2021.
“Finally, all went well and I hope to continue in this direction growing race after race,” concluded Maloney, who now sits fifth in the Drivers’ standings after the first three rounds. He is twenty-three points behind ART Grand Prix’s Grégoire Saucy, who continues to lead the way despite a pointless weekend in Monaco for the Swiss racer.
Maloney, as well as the other drivers on the grid, will not have much time to rest as the next FRECA round is this coming weekend at the Circuit Paul Ricard in France.
