Finding the right feeling and getting ready for bigger goals (F2 next year) was the aim of this season for Juan Manuel Correa, but there was also a goal to achieve, and that was to return on the podium, as he did in F2 in 2019.
The first part of the “programme” has been fulfilled and there are still four races to go, one tomorrow, Sunday, here in the Netherlands and three more in Sochi, the circuit that replaces Austin for F3 to close the season. Getting back on the podium in the third race at Zandvoort is a very difficult task starting from the back of the grid, but today in the second race Juan Manuel Correa moved up 10 positions and got to fight in the pack.
In the morning, his Mexican friends could have sung to him “Una piedra en el camino…” (A stone on the road…). Juan Manuel started 25th and started to move up to 20th. The safety car came out towards the end of the race, with four laps to go when it left, at which point Juan Manuel went to the pits. A brief stop and he was off again. The paddles used by the cars to change gears were blocked. A stone flying from another car fell into Juan Manuel’s cockpit and lodged itself between the gearshift paddle and the steering wheel, blocking any possibility of changing gears. This left him last and forced him to start 28th in the second race.
In the second race Juan Manuel started a great recovery from the beginning. It took him from 28th to 18th after finishing the race. Two safety cars allowed Juan Manuel to show his grit, as he was very frustrated after the bad luck he had during the first race. He took advantage of every gap he was given, pushing to the limit, using different trajectories in the banking of turn 3. He kept the times that the leading drivers were setting in the split times and that left a good taste in his mouth to face Sunday’s race in which he will start from 27th, the position he took in qualifying.
Juan Manuel Correa ’s comments
Sunday, September 5
10:45 Race 3 24 laps or 40 minutes
