Preview – Round 3 – Aragón
MotorLand Aragón near the Spanish city of Alcañiz is the destination for Hitech TGR this coming weekend for the third round of the Formula Winter Series. After securing victory last time out in Valencia, second-placed Leo Robinson is aiming to close the points gap at the top of the championship.
With a dominant lights-to-flag victory for Hitech in Race 3 in Valencia a fortnight ago, Anglo-Algerian racer Leo Robinson heads to the MotorLand Aragón circuit in Spain this coming weekend just 34 points behind the championship leader. Robinson took a clean sweep of podiums at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo to keep himself in title contention – with just one round to run after this one.
The Aragón circuit is the longest of the four tracks in the Formula Winter Series, measuring 5.44km and featuring a total of 16 corners (nine left-handers and seven right-handers). Its main characteristic is a long back straight which should encourage plenty of overtaking moves in the slipstream.
“We spent one day testing there in pre-season and the ambient temperatures were really low,” says Leo, who will be celebrating his 16th birthday this coming Friday. “It was definitely an experience in getting the tyres to work. The forecast is a little better this weekend, but there’s an outside chance of rain for Saturday.”
As a Formula 4 rookie, Ireland’s Fionn McLaughlin will be once again racing at this track for the first time and he says that out of the four circuits the Formula Winter Series visits, it’s probably the most challenging on the schedule. “I would say that Aragón is the most unusual out of these races, but to be honest I’m happy racing at all of them – I wouldn’t say that I have a particular favourite, I’m just excited to get back behind the wheel again.” Fionn took three runner-up spots in the Rookie Class in Valencia and will be hoping to get back to the winners’ circle, as he did in the opening round in Portimão.
Nina Gademan took two wins and a second place in the Female Trophy in Valencia a fortnight ago and will be keen to maintain her record of finishing on the podium in every race in class. Meanwhile, at the wheel of the #7 Hitech machine, British racer Thomas Bearman is also on the hunt for more silverware after a P3 in the Rookie Class in Valencia.
“Compared to Valencia, I think qualifying – while still important – will be less critical than it was there,” says Thomas. “There it was very difficult to overtake and we saw the pack running in close formation. But at MotorLand Aragón, I think the long back straight will offer much more overtaking opportunities. It will be particularly exciting on the opening lap, when I think we’ll see three or four cars running side by side.”
The racing gets underway with Race 1 from MotorLand Aragón on Saturday afternoon (2pm local time), followed by two more races on Sunday.
