Zandvoort, The Netherlands (July 13, 2012) – American Michael Lewis and the PREMA Powerteam have traveled to Circuit Park Zandvoort in The Netherlands to compete with some of Formula 3ís best drivers in the RTL GP Masters of Formula 3 event.
While the weather forecast called for rain today, the first practice session featuring the Formula 3 cars started promptly at 1:05 p.m. even in the wet conditions. The rain did subside some at the beginning of the practice session for the 20 Formula 3 drivers. Michaelís K&N – Eibach Springs Mercedes-powered PREMA Powerteam Dallara F312 hovered around the top-seven fastest times during the first half of the 40-minute session. Just past the halfway point of the session, Michael decided to return to his pit box to confer with his engineer. During the brief few minutes that Michael was in the pit box, the track conditions suddenly improved, which then dropped Michael to 13th position on the time chart as the other drivers on the track took advantage of the dryer conditions. Unfortunately, when Michael returned to the track the rain returned, so he was unable to improve his time. He finished the first practice session ranked 13th.
“I was gaining more confidence after each lap and I could see my lap times were improving,î explained Michael Lewis. ìI wanted to get input from my engineer and take a quick look at the data to see where I could improve. Unfortunately, more rain came during my brief visit to the pit box, so when I went back out with the knowledge about how to improve my times, the track became soaking wet again, preventing me from moving up.”
The second practice session experienced completely different weather conditions as the track dried under blue skies for the 4:15 p.m. start time of the second 40-minute practice of the day. Very early on in the session Michael recorded a lap of 1:33.671 that stood up the entire session and placed him 6th on the time chart at the end of the session. PREMA Powerteam teammate Daniel Juncadella recorded the fastest time of the session with a lap of 1:32.195, while another PREMA teammate Raffaele Marciello was fourth with a time of 1:33.499.
“Our PREMA cars were all good today,î commented Michael. ìEarly in the session I was able to record a good lap. I continued to work hard the entire 40 minutes trying to improve my time but towards the end of the session my tires had lost their efficiency. Qualifying here is so important because this is a fast track that offers limited overtaking. Starting up front in Sundayís race is my primary objective.”
Two 20-minute qualifying sessions are scheduled for Saturday at 11:45 a.m. (5:45 a.m. EDT/2:45 a.m PDT) and 3:40 p.m. (9:40 a.m. EDT/6:40 a.m. PDT). The RTL GP Masters of Formula 3 race is scheduled to begin at 2 p.m. (8 a.m. EDT/5 a.m. PDT) on Sunday. The race is scheduled for a maximum of 60 minutes or 25 laps, whichever comes first.
Michael Lewis’ 2012 sponsor lineup includes Eibach Springs, K&N Engineering, GoPro, Electric Sunglasses, Klotz Synthetic Lubricants, Cometic Gasket, Bell Helmets, Braille Battery, Wiisaa, CMNTY Clothing and Performance Racing Industry.
Practice for RTL GP Masters Formula 3 at Circuit Park Zandvoort
- Daniel Juncadella – Prema Powerteam – 1:32.195
- Carlos Sainz Jr – Carlin – 1:33.039
- Alex Lynn – Fortec Motorsports – 1:33.446
- Raffaele Marciello – Prema Powerteam – 1:33.499
- Felix Rosenqvist – Mucke Motorsport – 1:33.626
- Michael Lewis – Prema Powerteam – 1:33.671
- Will Buller – Carlin – 1:33.862
- Hannes van Asseldonk – 1:34.200
- Dennis van de Laar – Carlin – 1:34.215
- Pipo Derani – Fortec Motorsports – 1:34.278
- Sven Muller – Prema Powerteam – 1:34.292
- Pascal Wehrlein – Mucke Motorsport – 1:34.319
- Conor Daly – Double R Racing – 1:34.646
- Felix Serralles – Fortec Motorsports – 1:34.666
- Geoff Uhrhane – Double R Racing – 1:34.963
- Sandro Zeller – Jo Zeller Racing – 1:35.216
- Andrea Roda – Jo Zeller Racing – 1:35.438
- Luis Sa Silva – Angola Team Racing – 1:35.491
- Josh Webster – T-Sport – 1:36.089
- Spike Goddard – T-Sport – 1:37.125
(Results courtesy of www.stopandgo.tv)
