Lorenzo Fluxá, Top 10 on his debut in F3 Asia at Dubai

Positive debut for the young Majorcan at the wheel of a car by BlackArts Racing Team, with which he got a 10^th position as his best result on the last race of the first meeting of the Championship.

The entire single seater world has been looking at the start of the fourth edition of the FIA F3 Asia. This Championship has gathered attention due to the situation the World is going through because of the COVID-19. Drivers from all around the world, coming from various categories, including F2, met at the United Arab Emirates where, given the circumstances, a safe bubble was created ahead of the rise of the pandemic in Europe.

Apart from these drivers, the Championship received drivers like Majorcan Lorenzo Fluxá, who debuted in F3 coming from F4. Fluxá plans to race in 2021 on the new Formula Regional by Alpine. For him, the Asian F3 Championship will be his training ground and will bear again the colors of LJs Ratxó Eco Luxury Retreat, Reserva Park-Serra de Tramuntana and K-Zero Cancún Real Estate.

At the wheel of a BlackArts Racing Team car, Lorenzo has debuted this weekend finding himself on the track, as we mentioned, next to very experienced drivers. There were many of the talents who are part of junior teams from F1 contenders such as Ferrari, Red Bull, Williams or Alpine.

On the first race, in which Fluxá started 15^th on the grid, the Majorcan driver could finish 14^th. On the start gained a position and at the end of the first lap he put himself on 11^th after various drivers touched. Among them was his teammate, Mexican Rafael Villagomez, and Kush Maini (Mumbai Falcons). On the second lap, he was passed by Roberto Faria (Motorscape) and Isack Hadjar (Evans GP). Soon after he couldn’t hold Nicolo Mariangeli (Motorscape) and Alessio Deleidda (Pinnacle Motorsport). Placed in 15^th for most of the race, Lorenzo could hold Amna Al Qubasi (Abu Dhabi by Prema) and on the last laps he passed Mariangeli to finish the race in P14.

Starting 14^th on the grid on the second race, “Fluxi” finished 14^th again. There was an incident on the second lap between Rafael Villagomez and Amna Al Qubaisi that made race direction to deploy the Safety Car. On that moment, Lorenzo was sitting on P15 behind Roberto Faria. It was on the last part of the race when he could pass the Brazilian to finish on the 14^th place.

The third and last race of the inaugural meeting at Dubai was in which the driver from Palma de Mallorca got his best result: 10^th. Starting from 13^th on the grid, the man from BlackArts Racing had in front of him Reece Ushijima (Hitech) and Nicola Mariangeli behind him. On the start, Villagomez and Mariangeli stalled, so Lorenzo gained a position. He immediately put himself in 10^th, seizing the incindents in front by Faria, Bardinon (Pinnacle), Guanyu Zhou (Abu Dhabi by Prema) and Maini. ON the second lap, Lorenzo climbed up to 8^th. Later Ushijima passed him, sending Lorenzo to 9^th. After five laps Lorenzo was sitting in P10 after being passed by teammateZdenek Chovanec. On the ninth lap Jehan Daruvala (Mumbai Falcons) passed Patrick Pasma (Evans GP) and put himself behind Lorenzo. Halfway through the race the Indian driver passed him, putting him out of the top 10. Despite this, he recovered this place soon after because of the DNF of a driver in front. Lorenzo could hold Pasma’s pressure during the last laps, finishing his debut on a F3 car with a fantastic P10.

Lorenzo Fluxá: “We’ve learned a lot this weekend. It’s been very positive as we’ve improved every time we were on track and 10^th on the last race has been the cherry on top. The calendar of this Championship is so tight that I’m already wishing to race in Yas Marina, where I think we can improve. This year the tyre supplier is the Giti brand and all the teams are discovering what you can get out of them both in the race and in qualifying. As you can see, the level of this Championship is very high, possibly one of the highest in the World, as there are F2 and F3 drivers who are very experienced and that’s lucky because I can measure up with them and having them as a reference is such a privilege”.

RESULTS DUBAI MEETING

Race 1 (30’)
1st- Guanyu Zhou (Abu Dhabi by Prema), 19 laps, 32’24”438
2nd- Roy Nissany (Hitech Grand Prix), + 6″997
3rd- Jehan Daruvala (Mumbai Falcons India Racing), + 7″553
4th- Pierre-Louis Chovet (Pinnacle Motorsport), + 7″854
5th- Dino Beganovic (Abu Dhabi by Prema), + 8″509
…
14th- Lorenzo Fluxá (BlackArts Racing Team), + 31”142
… until 21 classified

Race 2 (27’)
1st- Guanyu Zhou (Abu Dhabi by Prema), 16 laps, 28’15”686
2nd- Dino Beganovic (Abu Dhabi by Prema), +  2″108
3rd- Isack Hadjar (Evans GP), + 2″695
4th- Pierre-Louis Chovet (Pinnacle Motorsport), +  4″879
5th- Ayumu Iwasa (Hitech Grand Prix), + 10″341
…
14th – Lorenzo Fluxá (BlackArts Racing Team), + 22”076
… until 20 classified

Race 3 (30’)
1st- Pierre-Louis Chovet (Pinnacle Motorsport), 19 laps, 30’54”616.
2nd- Dino Beganovic (Abu Dhabi by Prema ), + 1″832
3rd- Roy Nissany (Hitech Grand Prix), + 5″423
4th- Isack Hadjar (Evans GP), + 7″846
5th- Ayumu Iwasa (Hitech Grand Prix), + 9″945
…
10th – Lorenzo Fluxá (BlackArts Racing Team), +  28″662
… until 20 classified

F3 ASIA CALENDAR

– Dubai, January 29-30
– Yas Marina, February 5-6
– Dubai, February 11-12
– Dubai, February 13-14
– Yas Marina, February 19-20