F.3 – Nicholas Latifi accomplishes the feat and wins his first race at Vallelunga
15 days that are so hard to forget for Nicholas Latifi. After a powerfully gained second place in Imola, the young Italo-Canadian driver got up to the highest step of the podium, scoring the first win of the season.
This is a noteworthy result achieved at the end of a sprint race he ran as a leader from the very beginning to the end. He didn’t make any mistake and showed all his great sangfroid in handling the race in a clear-headed way since the depart from the pole. Even during the trickiest moment of the race, he was able to maintain a very good pace, just as it happened when the safety car got off the track and the race restarted.
That was a brand new situation for the JD Motorsport team driver who was able to face it in the best way, keeping the other drivers bottled up behind him.
We don’t have to forget that this is the very first season for Latifi behind the wheel of a Formula car, after beginning his young career in the Canadian karting. It took only five months for him to get up to the highest step of the podium, scoring a win on Sunday afternoon which marked the end of the seventh race, the second last one of the Italian F.3 European Series, valid also for the tricolour series.
Thanks to the win scored at Vallelunga, Nicholas preserves his 4th place inside the rookie standing and the 7th place inside the Tricolour and European Series’ general standings.
NICHOLAS LATIFI: “This weekend in Vallelunga was probably one of the toughest race weekends for me so far. We were struggling throughout all the sessions to get the car dialled in. After qualifying 6th and 9th I was disappointed and knew that the races were not going to be easy. I was pleased to finish 6th in race one, which gave me reverse grid pole for race three, but in race 2, my race ended early after another driver tried to make a pass when there was no room for a pass. I managed to come away with the win in race 3 which felt amazing, as it was my first win, and my teammate Riccardo finished 2nd so it was a great result for the team.”
MICHAEL LATIFI (Nicholas’ father): “ I’m very satisfied with Nicholas’ race. This win is the result of a great job. Over these months Nicholas has demonstrated his continued progression throughout the races. Coming straight out from karting, we knew that It was not going to be easy , even because he has competed with much more experienced drivers. This win must be a starting point to continue to develop and improve. Now we would like to end the season, gaining another important result in Monza.”
DAVID TENNYSON: “Nicholas has continually demonstrated his immense driving and racing skills this entire 2012 racing season. Coming straight out of karts and into F3 was a true challenge and I am more than impressed by his progression this season. We set realistic goals all year and focused on developing his understanding of the car and how to work with his engineer to optimize car setup and performance. The win on Sunday was truly impressive as he maintained his composure all race and never put a wheel wrong. The JD team were also flawless in car preparation and professionalism.
GIOVANNI MINARDI: “ First of all I’d like to congratulate Nicholas who, with this win, has reached the goal he was longing for a long time. I’m sure this is only a starting point and a great boost of confidence to get into the final race in Monza. I’d like also to congratulate the staff who supports and looks after Nicholas.”
Mission accomplished. At the international circuit of Imola, where the sixth race of the Italian F.3 European Series and the Italian F.3 took place last week-end, Nicholas Latifi got an extraordinary 2nd position in the sprint race, making it onto the podium for the first time in his career and marking his debut in the world of open wheels.
One month after the challenge at the Red Bull Ring, the Italian F3 European Series is now ready to come back to Italy for the last three races which will take place at the international circuits of Imola, Vallelunga and Monza.
FAENZA – With the sixth race of Formula Abarth which will take place at Imola circuit (on programme the week-end of September the 2nd), spotlights will be turned again on the second meeting of the ACI CSAI-FDA project which is fully devoted to those young drivers who came to the fore in the past season of kart championship.
ZELTWEG – At the Red Bull Ring, the Austrian circuit where the fifth race of the Italian F3 European Series took place, although Nicholas Latifi had a week-end full of ups and downs, he showed his progressions behind the wheel of a hard-driving car such as a F3.
This week-end the fifth race of the Italian F3 European Series will take place at Red Bull Ring winding circuit and will be the last race abroad.
The result of the 24h race in Spa wasn’t as good as planned for Davide Rigon. Just two years after scoring an epic win in the FIA GT World Championship driving a car of the “Scuderia”, the talented driver from Veneto had prepared to the smallest detail this challenging event, which was the fourth round of the Blancpain GT Endurance Series.
The Italian Formula 3 European Series gets ready to get into the second part of the Championship, so it’s time for Nicholas Latifi to take stock of the racing season.
Last weekend meeting at the “ Marco Simoncelli” Misano World Circuit was not only a turning point for the the Italian Formula ACI CSAI Abarth and Formula 3 European Series Championships, but also a great hall for the new project planned by ACI CSAI and the Ferrari Driver Academy in order to support young drivers.
The race week-end at the Misano circuit named after Marco Simoncelli has given to Nicholas Latifi the awareness of working in the right direction, even if the final spoil hasn’t fully reflected all the expressed abilities.
Just one week after getting on the podium at the Speed Euroseries Davide Rigon, together with his team mates Zampieri and Gattuso, got another amazing result in the third round of Blancpain GT Endurance. On the French track of Paul Ricard, the talented driver from Italy obtained a third place, after having been so close to it in the first round at Monza circuit. The podium is a right result of a race always run in top positions. After taking measurements of the track during free practices, in pre-qualifying session the driver of Kessel Racing team steeply climbed standing, getting up to the fourth place, the first in category, and completed the work with a pole position in qualifying session. The threesome Rigon, Zampieri, Gattuso called the shots in all qualifying sessions.
