Tsuchihashi claims P3 podium in Race 3 and moves up to P5 in the standings
Spa-FrancorchampsKota Tsuchihashi rounded out a strong Spa weekend with a podium in Race 3.
Race 3: P4 on the grid → P3
Race 3 started at 10:45 on Sunday 21 June in dry conditions. Tsuchihashi, starting from P4 on the grid, made another strong start and moved up to P3 at Turn 1. He then challenged for P2, but shortly afterwards a car went off the track and crashed into the barrier, bringing out the Safety Car (SC).
It took time to recover the crashed car, and when the race restarted on lap 5, around just 13 minutes remained. As drivers throughout the field looked to move up, the SC was deployed again on lap 7, and the race resumed with one lap remaining.
On the final lap, the cars from P2 to P4 fought in a close three-way battle. Tsuchihashi, who had dropped to P4 before the second SC period, came out ahead in the fight and took the chequered flag in P2. However, after the provisional podium ceremony, he received a one-position penalty for cutting the chicane, leaving him P3 in the final classification.
Tsuchihashi scored a total of 31 points in Round 3, moving up from P8 before the round to P5 in the standings.
Round 4 will be held from Friday 31 July to Sunday 2 August at Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours in France.
I managed to position myself well to take advantage of the slipstream, which is quite significant at Spa, especially on the Combes straight. This allowed me to start 4th in the two most important races – the first and the third – which award the most points for the Championship. Strategically, I chose to use only two new tyres in Race 1, to save two more for Race 3. This meant I had a competitive car throughout the weekend.
It was a consistent weekend with three solid races, all finished in the top five. This has allowed me to move up from 8th to 5th place in the Championship standings, and I intend to push myself even further during the second half of the season to improve on this position even more.
I managed to position myself well to take advantage of the slipstream, which is quite significant at Spa, especially on the Combes straight. This allowed me to start 4th in the two most important races – the first and the third – which award the most points for the Championship. Strategically, I chose to use only two new tyres in Race 1, to save two more for Race 3. This meant I had a competitive car throughout the weekend.
It was a consistent weekend with three solid races, all finished in the top five. This has allowed me to move up from 8th to 5th place in the Championship standings, and I intend to push myself even further during the second half of the season to improve on this position even more.
©KSP Reportages