Strong pace yields little for Joel Eriksson in Austria

Joel Eriksson looked set for his strongest showing so far in the FIA F3 European Championship when he topped Friday’s free practice session ahead of this weekend’s races at the Red Bull Ring, but was eventually left with sixth as his best result at the Austrian Grand Prix track.

After heading the times by two tenths of a second in practice, 17-year-old Eriksson went into qualifying vying for the first pole position of his fledgling Formula 3 career.

To the delight of his Team Motopark crew, the young Swede appeared to have done it as he snatched first place to end qualifying on top, only to be subsequently stripped of his quickest lap after he was found to have run slightly wide on the exit of the final corner. With his second-quickest lap also deleted, Eriksson still lined up a strong fifth on the grid for Saturday’s Race 1.

Once there, however, a lap-one collision caused damage to Eriksson’s front wing, necessitating a pit stop for repairs that left him half a lap behind the pack. He eventually finished 17th, in a race stopped prematurely by a massive crash from which the drivers involved miraculously escaped serious injury.

In Race 2, Eriksson then had a points-paying result taken away due to a post-race time penalty for track limits infringements – a recurring theme throughout the field during the weekend.

He fought back to take sixth in the final race on Sunday, finishing second among the rookies.

“Things got off to a really strong start this weekend, but it’s a shame we couldn’t transform that pace into results,” says Joel Eriksson. “The car felt good in practice and qualifying, and we were genuinely among the quickest out there in both. On Saturday, however, we lost some of that performance, and both the opening two races were disappointing. Race 3 was a bit better again and we got a decent result out of it, but I was aiming for more and struggled badly with graining tyres. This championship is extremely competitive and it’s inevitable to have a weekend like this at times. We will sit down and have a thorough look at what we can do better for the next race, and go for it again by then.”

After four of this season’s ten FIA F3 European Championship rounds, Joel Eriksson leads the Team Motopark charge with seventh place in the overall standings. The Swede is second to Britain’s Ben Barnicoat in the rookie classification.

The FIA F3 European Championship fraternity now takes a well-earned break, with racing set to resume on the Norisring street circuit in Nuremberg, Germany, on June 24-26.