Jazeman just can’t wait to start F3 Series season

PETALING JAYA: Malaysia’s Jazeman Jaafar has set his sights on a podium finish in the first round of the International British F3 Series at Oulton Park Circuit in Cheshire starting today.

But with wintry conditions being forecast for the weekend, the young Malaysian driver is expecting a chilly start to the season.

The Petronas-backed driver said it has been a long winter wait for the new season to come around.

“I had a busy time preparing for my British F3 campaign, working closely with the Carlin team I’ve raced with since I entered this championship. As much as I enjoy the behind-the-scenes work, nothing compares to being on the grid and racing,” he said.

“It’s been a very productive winter of preparations and Carlin have put in a lot of work to make sure we are ready for the season.

“As it is a new car for this year, with the Dallara F312 making its race debut at Oulton Park, there has probably been even more work needed by the team as there was no data to refer to before we started testing.

“I have been working closely with myengineer to develop the car set-up and understand its characteristics each time we’ve been out on the track and we’ve had some good results.

“We’ve topped the time sheets in three of the four tests we’ve done, so we need to carry this momentum through to the race weekends.”

Jazeman is clear of the challenges that lie ahead in his third year in the championships.

“Strong test results are the best start I could have for my season, but it’s the races which count, so now I’m focusing on combining speed with race skills to get the best out of myself and the car,” he said.

“As always, my toughest competition will be my team-mates and this has already been the case in testing. Qualifying position is always going to be important as this can make or break a race finish, so I will also be looking to go all out for pole in every session to give myself the best chance in the race.”

The International British F3 Series is a 10-event, 29-race calendar featuring many of the top Formula 1 tracks as well as some of the classic European venues including Monza, Silverstone, Spa-francorchamps and Paul Ricard.

The first race of the weekend takes place today, with the second and third races scheduled for tomorrow.