Laurens Vanthoor fights back in Silverstone
This last weekend Laurens Vanthoor proved that he retains a true fighting spirit. The young Belgian finished, notwithstanding difficulties during qualifying, successively in fifth, sixth and fourth place in the British round of the F3 Euro Series at Silverstone, and is now back again in fifth spot in the championship, with all the opportunities of ending in fourth place in the final rankings. Laurens Vanthoor has now achieved finishing in the points in fifteen races and this season has only missed out once in not scoring in no less than 21 races. Laurens Vanthoor has not only shown that he is fast, but consistent also.
For the Signature VW driver qualifying did not go well. Under a grey cloudy sky and during his first attempt at a fast lap Laurens Vanthoor managed to register a fifth time, but during the second run matters went wrong.
Laurens Vanthoor: “I momentarily skidded in the dirt and I saw my chance of a good result go up in smoke. I had to be satisfied with the 10th and 11th places, which on a fast track such as Silverstone, with limited overtaking possibilities, is not ideal. After those qualifying sessions I was furious. On top of that the tyre wear problem once again reared its head and I was absolutely unsure as to whether I could continue to go out and attack.”
But Laurens Vanthoor would not be Laurens Vanthoor if he let himself become discouraged. The ambassador of Circuit Zolder drove a strong first race, especially in the middle part when there was some light drizzle, to finally cross the line in sixth place.
Laurens Vanthoor: “Unfortunately the rain did not fully set in, because otherwise I would have ended even higher, but we were still faced with the tyres. I attacked hell for leather and each lap felt just like a qualifying one. I’m delighted to have been able to produce a great climb-up through the pack.”
Following a fifth place in the short second race, Vanthoor once again faced another catch-up race on Sunday, and here he slotted in two places higher, in fourth spot, less than one second from the podium.
Laurens Vanthoor: “My tyres were truly worn out...... I just couldn’t carry on attacking, even though I pushed right through to the finish. I’m really disappointed not to be standing on the podium. With a third place I might still have enjoyed a decent weekend, but now I’m reasonably satisfied, especially seeing I have moved up one place in the championship. I still have two weekends left in which to move up one more place to finish fourth.”
On 1st and 2nd October the eighth of nine meetings of the F3 Euro Series are on the programme for the RACB National Team driver.
