FIA Formula 3: Jenzer junior takes podium 🎥
P3 FOR NANNINI Matteo Nannini, the youngest of the three juniors from the Jenzer Motorsport team, claimed a surprising podium in Barcelona. They had all come away empty-handed on the previous five weekends. The highlights of Race 2 show Matteo Nannini losing the lead right after the start and then fighting for a podium place. With the [...]
The highlights of race 2 show how Matteo Nannini loses the lead right after the start and then fights for a podium position.
With 13th time in qualifying for the first race, Matteo Nannini held his own in the good midfield. When two faster drivers received subsequent penalties, the 16-year-old nephew of former GP driver Alessandro Nannini and rock singer Gianna Nannini moved up to eleventh on the grid. A good starting position to finally score the first points.
The junior narrowly succeeded with 10th place. Even better: Thanks to the regulations with the reverse starting order of the top ten, this meant pole position for Sunday morning's race.
First podium of the season for Jenzer Motorsport
The youngster was at the front of the field for the first time in FIA Formula 3 and didn't get off quite as well as he would have liked. A little wheelspin was enough and the following drivers shot to the front.
Nannini initially managed to successfully defend or regain second place, but ultimately had to settle for third. At least this meant that a first goal of the season had been achieved.
Nannini, his Swiss race engineer Peter Flückiger and the team boss were delighted with the first team podium in 2020 afterwards.
Andreas Jenzer: "The eleven drivers at the top of the standings have all already won races. The level in FIA Formula 3 is enormously high, so it's not easy for us to compete here with three rookies. But Matteo has it in his blood and under control. You can tell that he also understands the right way to handle the Pirelli tires."
A good start is half the battle
Ideally, the Bernese believes, the Italian, who was still racing in Formula 4 last year, could have won.
Andreas Jenzer: "He just had to start a little better and take the lead. If you're first into the first corner, you can build up a small lead afterwards. After that he also has the best air to cool down the tires and get the chasers out of the DRS window of one second. Matteo is such a tire whisperer who could do that..."
The other two Jenzer juniors, Federico Malvestiti and Calan Williams, fell short of their expectations. The 20-year-old Italian and the Australian of the same age have so far not been able to get beyond midfield finishes.
An exhausting time
The team boss at Lyss is also satisfied by the fact that none of his three Dallara race cars has yet fallen victim to a technical defect, as has happened with other teams.
Andreas Jenzer: "We can only take a short breather before the race continues next week in Spa, followed by another three race weekends before the season is already over again. I've never experienced such an exhausting time. Of course we're happy to be able to race. But the amount of travel, the preparation and all the paperwork because of the Covid 19 regulations is enormous. It's not a matter of course that the technology works perfectly."
