Race #1 went well right from the start. I got a great start and moved from third into second. I battled hard with the third place competitor, Gabby Chaves of JDC. I saw his car was handling well and he is a very experienced driver from the GP3 series. I have a lot of respect for Gabby and I knew it would be a long race. I didn’t make a mistake or drop a wheel all weekend off course and I think that was the key in our ability to bring home a second place finish in race #1. We harvested good points and I jumped a slot in the standings to 6th place.
In race #2, I was forced to start in the 5th position. Starting position for this race was determined by our fast laps of race #1. My start wasn’t the best but came out of turn two in 5th place. I passed for 4th several laps later. I was under heavy attack by the #83 car and we banged wheels several times. There was one time where we were on the straight, flat out, and he turned into me. I had to avoid the contact, as the in-car video reveals, and I still managed to keep the car in front of him.
the yellow flag came out and I had a decent lead on the #83, which hurt us. I knew it would take everything I had to hold off the opposition because my car balance was very loose. On the restart going into turn 5, the competitor through his car into the turn. His car was out of control and his rear end would have hit me if I didn’t take corrective action. I dodged him but had to give up the position.
With two laps to go I was settled in at the 5th position but under attack by #81, which is the teammate of #83. In his desperation to get by me, he punted me off the track. I kept the car running and got it back on track. With one lap to go, I passed five cars and finished in 13th place.
We dropped back down to 7th in the series standings, but I am still optimistic about the season. I will maintain my professionalism, but won’t forget what happened. I plan on making a career out of racing, and I know how short irresponsible driving lasts. My team is awesome and we will work even harder to climb back up in the standings.
