Esteban Gutierrez

Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium - Despite his best effort, the lack of experience on Cooper tires, together with a number of incidents, had Mexican driver Esteban Manuel Gutierrez Gutierrez finished 18th in the British F3 International series qualifying session that took place this Thursday.

A heavy rain that fell all morning affected the practice session, yet Esteban was able to handle the situation and ended the session with the fifth best time.

Esteban’s objective of qualifying in the top ten was not met; when there were two laps left in the session, he tried to make his best lap time but traffic and a red flag frustrated his chances.

“There was a little bit of everything today. We had the chance to practice under rain conditions and then it was dry for the qualifying session. It was a big challenge because we went straight to qualifying without much experience with the tires they use in this series.

For this reason we had a wrong tire pressure and that left us with only two laps with good drip, but unfortunately I was not able to make the best out of those laps. The qualifying session for race two will be tomorrow, and the good thing is that now we know where we can improve. We have to continue believing that things will turn out fine", commented Esteban after the session.

This Friday’s event will consist of a qualifying session to determine the grid of race 2, with race 1 taking place in the afternoon.

Both races have been set to 13 laps or 30 minutes, and the drivers will race with the same car they use in the F3 Euroseries, only with a different kind of tires and a few small adjustments to make the cars comply with the rules of the British series.

Circuit´s Website: www.spa-francorchamps.be
Track Length: 7.003 km
Lap Record British Formula 3 International: 2:15.140 min / Jonathan Kennard GB / Dallara F307 Mercedes
Races: Fri: 13 laps o 30 min / Sat: 13 laps o 30 min

For more information about Esteban Gutierrez, the ART Grand Prix team, the Formula 3 Euroseries, or his sponsors Multigama, DeAcero, Telmex, Alpinestars and Bell, please visit their official websites at: www.estebangtz.com, www.art-grandprix.com, www.f3euroseries.com, www.deacero.com, www.telmex.com, www.alpinestars.com, www.bellsports.com.