F3 takes first step onto Euro oval
Marc Benz takes his Swiss Racing Team Dallara around Turn 3
Picture: EuroSpeedway
European single-seaters took the first steps towards oval racing at a junior level this week, with the first test of a Formula 3 car on the EuroSpeedway Lausitz.
Cars and drivers from the German F3 Championship took part in a two-day test, organised by the German motorsport body, the DSMB, and CART.
Former ChampCar winner and Formula 1 driver Roberto Moreno gave drivers and engineers from the Opel BSR Team and the Swiss Racing Team the lowdown on high speed oval running at the 2-mile venue.
The drivers take their final briefing from Roberto Moreno.
Picture: EuroSpeedway
Formula 3 drivers Frank Diefenbacher (Germany) from the BSR Team and Marc Benz (Switzerland), Norbert Siedler (Austria) and Gilles Tinguely (Switzerland) from the Swiss Racing Team took to the track in their regular cars in a strictly controlled test, which ran without incident. On the first testing day, top speeds of 248 kilometres per hour and lap best times of around 48 seconds were already achieved.
The drivers were impressed and enthused by the first laps under the completely new conditions: "Only after returning to the starting/finishing lane from turn 3 did it dawn upon me that I had been driving at full throttle the whole time. It was fascinating to experience how the car reacted to the tiniest steering movements with changes in the final speed", said Frank Diefenbacher
Othmar Welti, head of the Swiss Racing Team, stated that the first testing day was already a success: "During this oval test, our young drivers can concentrate on their cars in a totally different way and thus get a completely new feel for them. The pilots have a lot of fun driving the oval, and the machinery of the vehicles does not seem to suffer under the continual strain of the oval".
Also on hand during the testing days were Chris Kneifel, CART chief steward and Lee Dykstra, director of technology and competition, who assisted the teams with their long-standing experience. The CART officials additionally used the opportunity to take a look at the young up-and-coming Formula 3 pilots.
Hans-Jörg Fischer, CEO of EuroSpeedway Lausitz, was happy about the first successful tests: "As operator of the only 2-mile superspeedway in Europe, one focus of our work lies on establishing a culture of oval motor sport. We not only intend to bring American and British series to Europe, but also and especially to attract high-class German series and championships to our oval. If we succeed in winning over German and American motor sport experts to perform joint tests, as we have in the past two days, then we see ourselves on the right path."
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