Jul
21
Jack Harvey: Race Weekends 5 & 6 Blog
I’ve just got back from Paul Ricard and two really strong race weekends in a row which has put a big smile on my face!
The team and I have had a fantastic three weeks and after a tricky start to the season, with a few things not going our way it feels like things are changing for the better and the results are reflecting this.
We were at the Nurburgring in Germany at the beginning of the month and after making some decent steps forward at Brands Hatch we were hopeful of some solid results. It’s a track that I’ve raced at once before in Formula BMW and was looking forward to returning to.
We had a few set up issues in qualifying so I was forced to start the races quite far back. It’s always frustrating when things don’t go your way during qualifying as you end up fighting against cars that have a slower race pace than you but are tough to pass due to being stuck in their ‘dirty’ air.
In race one I managed to move through the field from P11 to P7. This meant four championship points but was also good news as the reverse grid for race two meant I was starting in P2. I made a really great start off the grid and managed to overtake the pole sitter Rupert Svendson-Cook from the off. I was then able to pull away and crossed the finish line in first place and took my first British F3 victory. It was an amazing feeling to get my first win in my rookie season and it was also my engineer Jose’s first win in British F3 so it was a special day for the whole team.
The F1 British Grand Prix was the weekend after the German British F3 race and I went along on Saturday and Sunday as a guest of the BRDC. I am part of the BRDC Superstars scheme and the other drivers on the scheme were also in attendance. We watched the qualifying and race from the BRDC clubhouse and although Jenson had a nightmare race it was great to see Lewis fight through the field at his home race. Competing in Formula BMW over the past two years meant I raced at Silverstone supporting the F1 and the atmosphere and the support from the British fans is always amazing. Winning there last year was one of the greatest racing moments of my career to date.
A week later we headed to Paul Ricard for the next three rounds of the British 3 Championship. It’s a track that I haven’t raced at before, and neither have any of the other drivers in the series, so we all went there not knowing what to expect.
I was very pleasantly surprised when I arrived at the circuit for the first time. It really is a fantastic track, surrounded by the mountains and close to the sea and it’s also a great track to race on. We were on the pace all weekend and although we didn’t qualify quite as high as we wanted to, due experiencing some traffic, I had three really strong races. I finished race one in P5, race two in P6 and the final race in P3 which meant another twenty five championship points! It was the strongest and most consistent race weekend of the year so far for us and a great achievement for everybody involved. We’ve made a big step forward as a team and now I can’t wait to get to go racing at Spa and hopefully continue the momentum.
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