Joel Eriksson takes rookie honours in 2016 Grand Prix de Pau

Joel Eriksson claimed rookie honours in the Grand Prix de Pau, one of the highlights on the FIA F3 European Championship calendar, as the 2016 edition of the French street classic took place this weekend.

17-year-old Swede Eriksson finished sixth in the third and concluding race of the weekend – the event which carries the prestigious “Grand Prix” title – to come home two places ahead of his nearest competitor among the F3 rookies. Eriksson’s fastest lap time in the race was one thousand of a second faster than that managed by eventual race winner Alessio Lorandi (Italy).

The Pau weekend was marred by very difficult weather conditions, with heavy rain throughout much of the event not making Eriksson’s first-ever acquaintance with a street circuit any easier to handle.

Despite the treacherous conditions, however, Eriksson steered clear of potential hazards at the barrier-lined city-centre track to finish all three races – taking 14th in the opener, ninth in Race 2 and sixth in the Sunday finale.

“This has been a weekend of many challenges, but it’s nice to have it underneath us and to have completed my first races on a street track,” says Joel Eriksson. “It’s a special kind of racing, and the weather certainly hasn’t made things any easier. I stayed out of trouble and got some decent points in the bag in the Grand Prix in the end, so overall with everything that’s been going on I think we can be quite happy. You learn a lot about the limits of the car when it’s pouring with rain and you do 230 km/h in the middle of a city, so this has been an interesting weekend!”

Eriksson now sits seventh in the FIA F3 European Championship standings, albeit just 30 points adrift of new leader Lance Stroll (Williams F1 development driver) in a closely-packed championship table.

The FIA F3 European Championship will be back on track at the Red Bull Ring in Austria in just one week’s time. The Styrian circuit holds dear memories for Joel Eriksson, who scored his very first single-seater race win at the venue in 2014 and racked up a further two victories at the track in ADAC Formula 4 last year.

STANDINGS – OVERALL (top five)

After 9 of 30 races

1: Lance Stroll (CAN), 98 p.

2: Maximilian Günther (GER), 85 p.

3: George Russell (GBR), 79 p.

4: Ben Barnicoat (GBR), 75 p.

5: Nick Cassidy (NZL), 74 p.

---

7: Joel Eriksson (SWE), 68 p.

STANDINGS – ROOKIES (top five)

After 9 of 30 races

1: Ben Barnicoat (GBR), 148 p.

2: Joel Eriksson (SWE), 138 p.

3: Ralf Aron (EST), 118 p.

4: Guan Yu Zhou (CHN), 108 p.

5: Anthoine Hubert (FRA), 100 p.