03 April 2013

Off to Monza for first round of FR3.5

After a long off-season, the waiting will be over for Jazeman Jaafar this weekend as he takes the next step in his motor racing career and makes his debut in Formula Renault 3.5 (FR3.5), the headline championship in the World Series by Renault.

The Monza circuit in Italy will host the season-opening event of the nine-round Series, a track which Jazeman has raced at in British F3 and prior to this in Formula BMW Europe.  With three top-five finishes, including a podium placing on his last visit to this popular formula One track, Jazeman is pleased to be starting his assault on FR3.5 on familiar territory. Jazeman, a PETRONAS Talent Programme driver, says, “I enjoy racing at Monza and have had some good results there, so it will be a good starting place for my first weekend of FR3.5 racing. The track is quite challenging, but I think the weather could make it very unpredictable and if it rains it will be very slippery.  I’m very excited about the prospect of racing again, as it will have been nearly six months since my last one. I have been out testing in recent weeks and that’s been going well, so I’m getting more familiar with the car and understanding its capabilities.” Of his hopes for the first round Jazeman expects a tough weekend, “The grid will be a mix of drivers with previous experience of this series and others, like me, who are new to it and  I’m sure that the runners from last season will be the ones to watch. However, by the end of testing I was running comfortably in the top five and I’m not racing to make up the numbers, I’m there to win, so I’ll be going all out for quick laps, consistent pace and strong racing to bring home the best results possible.” One of the British Racing Drivers Club Rising Stars, Jazeman finished as Vice-Champion in the British F3 International Series in 2012 and after this success and the continued support of PETRONAS has made a move to the Renault FR3.5 Series, a category which features more powerful and technically advanced cars than British F3, with longer races and mandatory pitstops, as preparation for the ultimate goal of Formula One. Jazeman previews the season ahead commenting, “I’ve had a very busy off season, not only with FR3.5 testing with my team – Carlin – who I’ve raced with for the last three seasons, but also with an intensive fitness programme aimed at making sure I have the right level of fitness which is needed to handle the championship. Of course I’m still on a high from driving an F1 car for the first time after being given the opportunity by PETRONAS to be part of the demo run event held prior to the Malaysian F1 Grand Prix at Sepang. It’s been a hectic couple of months, but now I’m only focused on one thing and that is my FR3.5 campaign.” The Formula Renault 3.5 Series features 17 races at nine tracks, including a support race to the Monaco round of the Formula 1 championship. The timetable for the Monza round of the Series includes two final test sessions  on Thursday and Friday which replace a loss of running due to bad weather at an earlier test.   Monza FR 3.5 Timetable Saturday 6 April 9h00 – 9h30: Qualifying 1 13h00: race 1 (44’ + 1 lap)   Sunday 7 April 9h00 – 9h30: Qualifying 2 13h05: race 2 (44’ + 1 lap)
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