Tveter Records Two Seventh-Place Finishes – As FIA Formula 3 Visits the Streets of Pau
PAU, France, May 16 — The FIA Formula 3 tripleheader on the street course at Pau is one of the most prestigious events on the series’ calendar, and it was even more so this year since it was the 75th anniversary of the event. It turned out to be an excellent points-earning weekend for the only American in the field, as Ryan Tveter of Oyster Bay, N.Y. posted two seventh-place finishes on Saturdayand Sunday.
American Ryan Tveter had his second and third points scoring finishes of the FiA Formula 3 Championship season on the difficult Pau street circuit. (Photo Courtesy of Restart Communications)
Two races of 33 minutes plus one lap were held on Saturday. Tveter started tenth and finished seventh in the first one on Saturdaymorning even though the narrowness of the street circuit keeps passing to a minimum.
He was involved in an accident in the race on Saturday afternoon, but he got another seventh-place finish on Sunday afternoon after he started ninth and missed a big collision on the opening lap.
Visibility was poor throughout Saturday morning’s race due to spray from rain. The polesitter’s car stalled at the start but Tveter got around him safely and leapt into action immediately. The seventh-place driver on the grid also had problems initially, and Tveter passed him as well as the driver who started right in front of him, Sergio Sette Camara, to rise to seventh place.
He continued to hold seventh through the end of the race. There was one full-course caution on lap eight when one of Tveter’s teammates, Zhi Cong Li, got into a barrier, and two incidents came under investigation after the race, but Tveter wasn’t involved. He took the checkered flag on lap 24 just 1.290 seconds behind sixth place and a whopping 4.169 seconds ahead of eighth place. His fastest lap of that race was lap 22, when he turned a 1:24.090. He was the fastest and highest-placing driver using a Volkswagen engine.
Sunday’ race was held under sunny skies, but it got off to a rocky start when the two drivers who shared Row 2, Sette Camara and Nick Cassidy, made contact and several drivers behind them couldn’t avoid becoming involved in a chain-reaction crash. Tveter took evasive action and emerged unscathed and in sixth position for the restart on lap five.
Joel Eriksson passed him on the outside of Turn 1 working lap eight to push him back to seventh after Tveter’s car’s brakes locked up when he ran over some oil. Tveter remained in that position for the rest of the race. He set his fastest lap of the 25-lap race on lap 13 with a 1:11.589 while successfully holding off the challenges of Niko Kari to once again score valuable points in the championship.
“Pau was a great weekend for us as a team and also my best to date in FIA F3, so I’m feeling very confident and excited going into Red Bull Ring this coming weekend,” Tveter said. “Conditions at Pau were very difficult throughout, with constantly changing, wet conditions in free practice and qualifying, but the pace was right there from the beginning and I’m very happy we scored some good, consistent points in the races.
“The Pau Grand Prix is an incredibly historic event and it’s a massive privilege to be able to race at such a prestigious and challenging circuit,” Tveter added. “I loved every minute of driving there, and I’d like to thank the team and also congratulate my teammate, Alessio, on his Pau GP win.”
The next event is another tripleheader this coming weekend at the Red Bull Ring in Austria. Tveter will celebrate his 22nd birthday there on Friday.
Tveter’s primary marketing partners are Skratch Labs, Pacha Macau, Hintsa, Stilo, Freem, and the social media app With. His black and blue #3 is also carrying the logos of three not-for-profit organizations this year: Right To Play, MTV Staying Alive, and the Lessons for Life Foundation.
For more information see RyanTveter.com and follow him on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube. For more information on the series, live timing and scoring and live video streaming, see FIAF3Europe.com. Tveter’s team’s Web site is at Carlin.co.uk. Videos of all the races are available on YouTube.