PREMA, Pin back to victory at Zandvoort
PREMA Racing went back to victory in F1 Academy as the series returned to action at Zandvoort. Both races were held on Sunday morning as treacherous weather forced to postpone Race 1 from Saturday.
French racer Doriane Pin achieved pole for Race 2 in the wet qualifying and dominated from start to finish to secure her second win of the year. Pin also delivered a fifth place in Race 1 after a false start penalty deprived her of another potential podium. Coming from a challenging run at Circuit de Catalunya, Pin showed she is now back to full potential ahead of an Asian tripleheader that will wrap up the season.
Maya Weug had an impressive weekend too, posting a double podium finish. After capturing third in Race 1, she made a brilliant start to gain second place in Race 2, handing PREMA a 1-2 finish. Also coming from a tough run in Spain, she bounced back to her earlier form and is now looking forward to the next event in Singapore.
Wild-card racer Nina Gademan left a strong impression. The 20-year-old Dutch driver made two positive starts from sixth place, and even contended for a potential podium. She finished fourth in the opening race, while a penalty for avoidable contact dropped her from P4 to P10 in Race 2.
Tina Hausmann kept fighting for the points zone, and improved her position in both races. She eventually claimed an 11th place in Race 1, which handed her one point due to the non-scoring wild-card car, and a 9th place in Race 2.
#19 - Tina Hausmann
“It was an amazing weekend here in Zandvoort, the vibe was incredible with so many fans and such good music. Qualifying was very good in the beginning, but the final stages were not perfect. Still, we did a good job in the races, finishing both of them in the points, which was the goal. We look forward to getting even more points in Singapore.”
#28 - Doriane Pin
“It has been a positive weekend, I’m happy about taking the win in Race 2. It’s an amazing feeling and the team deserves it too as they did an amazing job during the summer break. We are here to fight for the win, and that’s the positive thing. We need to focus on the last part of the season, where we can do really good things.”
#64 - Maya Weug
“A positive bounce back after Barcelona, happy with the two podiums. Qualifying compromised our starting positions a bit, but in the dry, our pace was really good. It’s very difficult to overtake around Zandvoort, especially with the dirty air, so I think we made the most out of it by managing to finish in P3 and P2. Good points for the championship, which is starting now for me. Let’s push for Singapore!”
#4 - Nina Gademan
“We started the weekend very well in free practice, which was a good start to the weekend. After FP we looked into the data and I knew what I had to do differently for qualifying, which went very well even if our best lap was red-flagged. Still, we got a double P6, a positive starting point for the races. In Race 1, I went up to P4 quite quickly and the gap between me and the car in front stayed around the same. That means the pace was getting much better than in FP2. In Race 2, I got another P4, but unfortunately, I also got a penalty for a move in T11. The tyres were gone after following closely for so much, but I managed to keep the position. Two good races, and a good weekend. "