Zhou takes last-gasp crown
F3 ASIAN CHAMPIONSHIP YAS MARINA (ARE) 19-20 FEBRUARY ROUND 5/5
Guanyu Zhou fought back to snatch the title – and 18 Formula 1 superlicence points – from under the nose of Pierrelouis Chovet at the F3 Asian finale.
While Alpine F1 protege and Formula 2 race winner Zhou battled weekend-long with Formula Regional ace Patrik Pasma at the front, FIA F3 newcomer Chovet suffered his worst weekend of the quickfire Middle East campaign.
Zhou claimed pole for all three races in his Abu Dhabi Racing by Prema car, but fast starter Pasma’s Evans GP machine led him all the way in the first two races. The unfortunate Pasma lost the first of those two victories, however, when he was one of a handful of drivers penalised five seconds for improving sector times under a yellow flag, dropping to second.
Zhou finally got a good getaway in the finale, and this time it was Finn Pasma chasing the Chinese ace all the way to end another trio of processional races.
Pinnacle Motorsport-run Chovet lost a frantic battle with Roy Nissany for what became fourth (in the wake of the penalties) in the opener, and was eliminated in a clash with Roman Stanek in race two. He was fifth again in the finale, unable to find a way past Stanek.
Jehan Daruvala concluded an up-anddown few weeks with a pair of third places, as his Mumbai Falcons team-mate Kush Maini took a big step forward with a third and a fourth. Daruvala therefore finished a distant third in the points, with Pasma’s late form elevating him to a comfortable and worthy fourth spot.