Christian Mansell remains in contention for a top-five points finish in the FIA Formula 3 Championship after a chaotic penultimate meeting of the year at Spa last weekend (27/28 July).
A year on from a superb podium finish at the Belgian circuit, the Newcastle-based Australian took to the Ardennes looking to continue a fine run of form in recent rounds, with consistent front-running results including a double top-five in Budapest last time out.
Action began with free practice on Friday morning, and a strong session left the ART GP driver optimistic as he broke the beam with the third fastest time. The next step was a crucial qualifying session later that afternoon, and it would prove to be a chaotic outing for much of the field.
Mansell was one of those who suffered a tough time after a small mistake early on, leaving him out of position in 20th spot heading into the final runs. Traffic then played even less into his hands, leaving him with a fight on his hands for the weekend ahead.
Mansell, with backing from AJM Transport, Castrol, Vawdrey Trailers, Sargeant Transport and Ultimate Driving Tours, started the Sprint Race from the ninth row of the grid on Saturday morning. The Belgian weather was not so kind to the field, with rain entering the fray.
Mansell evaded dramas in the early laps as the field tiptoed around, emerging in the same 18th position he started in as the safety car interrupted proceedings. Upon the restart, Mansell maintained his place and battled among a pack of cars until the chequered flag, bumped up to 16th place after post-race penalties were applied to rivals.
Starting from 20th the following morning, the Australian enjoyed a mega opening lap in the feature race. Sliding to the inside of several cars at La Source under mixed conditions, an incident on the exit ahead of him gifted Mansell the chance to gain early ground to 13th.
The Rush Performance, Infinity Sports Management, IOR Petroleum, AMSL Diabetes Australia and NTI-backed driver overtook Dino Beganovic heading to the line for the second tour around, before the first of three safety cars was introduced for an incident further back.
Sitting in a brilliant 12th place and eight spots better off from where he started, it was until the third safety car that his race hit a stumbling block. Contact with Arvin Lindblad when squeezed to the damp inside line dropped him to 16th, and while he fought back to 14th position at the chequered flag, a post-race penalty demoted him to 21st.
Christian Mansell: “It was a very unpredictable weekend for most of us. The weather was mixed but not really a problem, however we were out of luck in qualifying and that set the tone for the rest of the weekend.
"I made a small mistake in qualifying and that meant we were chasing from that point, then there were a few interesting interpretations of driving standards in the final runs from those around us. It put us way out of where we wanted to be. In race one it was a case of fighting for positions in the pack, and then in the second we had a mega start but got caught in a tangle on one of the restarts that dropped us back.
"We're still in the fight for a top-five position in the championship which is the main thing. We'll regroup and go again at Monza which I think will be a fun and really close weekend.”
Mansell finishes his exceptional second FIA Formula 3 season at the end of next month (30 August to 1 September), as the championship reaches its conclusion at the historic Monza circuit in Italy.
Images from Dutch Photo Agency.
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