HWA RACELAB celebrates maiden FIA Formula 3 Championship race win

A historic moment for HWA RACELAB in Spielberg: during the third round of the FIA Formula 3 Championship, Jake Hughes (Great Britain) claimed victory in the second race of the weekend on Sunday and thus secured its team the maiden race win in the new series. The Brit was second across the finish line, but was promoted to the top spot in the final classification following a penalty for the erstwhile first-placed.

  • 7th and 1st place for Jake Hughes, 13th place and DNF for Bent Viscaal, 27th and 13th place for Keyvan Andres
  • Jake Hughes claims maiden victory for HWA RACELAB
  • Bent Viscaal: “I am certain that I will be back.”
  • Jake Hughes: “The trophy is a nice reward for the hard work by everyone involved.”
  • Keyvan Andres: “Now, I still need to improve my qualifying performance and then it will work out with scoring points.”
  • Thomas Strick: “Victory shows what can be achieved in such little time with teamwork and a huge effort.”
  • Ulrich Fritz: “Thanks to the entire team for this achievement!”

Spielberg, 30 June 2019 – In summer conditions with high temperatures, Jake Hughes made a perfect start into the Sunday race at the Red Bull Ring. With a fast reaction, he charged into the lead of the field, but had to let go of this position while still on the opening lap. However, Jake continued his battle for first place. On lap 4, Lirim Zendeli (Sauber Junior Team by Charouz) left a gap at the inside of the corner in his attempt to keep a charging Robert Shwartzman (PREMA Racing) at bay and Jake immediately used it to take back the lead. One lap later, Shwartzman finally went past Jake, who also had to let Marcus Armstrong (PREMA Racing) past on lap 7. The two PREMA drivers and Jake then pulled clear from the rest of the field.

Jake now focussed on driving consistent laps to secure the podium position and wait for the leading duo to make a mistake. This strategy paid off. On the final lap, the two teammates ahead of him battled for victory and made contact. Armstrong slid off the track and Shwartzman’s front wing got damaged in the process, allowing Jake to close up on the final metres. Shwartzman was first across the finish line, just ahead of him. Race control immediately investigated the duel of the PREMA teammates and imposed a five-second time penalty on Shwartzman. As a result, Jake moved up to first place in the classification and the maiden race win for HWA RACELAB in the FIA Formula 3 Championship was in the books. 

With a strong recovery drive, Keyvan Andres (Iran) also secured himself a success. From 27th on the grid, he soon moved up into 20th place with a good start. Thanks to a good pace, he continued to make up one position after another and eventually finished in 13th place.

For Bent Viscaal (Netherlands), the Sunday race was a rather unfortunate affair. At the start, he lost four positions and dropped back from 13th to 17th place. He then tried to work his way up again, but halfway through the race, there was contact with another car. Bent incurred a puncture in the process and had to retire.

For HWA RACELAB, the Austrian GP of the FIA Formula 3 Championship at Spielberg had started off with a difficult qualifying on Friday. Two incidents led to yellow and red flag situations, leaving only little time for the drivers to complete fast laps in the 30-minute session. Jake Hughes still used one of the time slots to post the sixth-fastest time. Bent Viscaal ended up in 13th place, Keyvan Andres in 28th place.

Several penalties mixed up the grid order the next morning. Jake and Bent now started from fifth and tenth place respectively, Keyvan from 27th position. Jake had a good start and quickly put the drivers in front of him under pressure, but at the Red Bull Ring with its characteristic long uphill section, he didn’t find a gap to overtake and eventually dropped out of the DRS window. Halfway through the race, Jake and Bent were still in fifth and tenth place. Bent fought to stay within the point-scoring positions, but had to let an opponent past on lap 14. In the course of the final laps, he dropped back to 13th place.

Jake staged a spirited fight for fifth position that he only lost on the final lap. Nevertheless, the Brit scored another six points for HWA RACELAB by finishing seventh and also secured second place on the grid for the race on Sunday. A grid position that eventually paid off.

With degrading tyres towards the end of the Saturday race, Keyvan was unable to make up ground and finished 27th.

Reactions to the race weekend

Bent Viscaal (19, Netherlands, car number 10), 13th place and DNF
“In the first race, we were having problems with the tyres. Today, my start wasn’t particularly good and then I got a puncture when there was contact. Too bad, but that is racing. I am certain that I will be back. I am all the more happy for Jake and for the team. Nice that it worked out with the maiden win in Formula 3.”

 Jake Hughes (25, Great Britain, car number 11), 7th and 1st place
“Winning here at Spielberg is a great feeling! I am delighted for the entire team. It is only our third weekend in Formula 3 and we are on the top step of the podium already. The trophy is a nice reward for the hard work by everyone involved. After a good start, I had to let the two PREMA drivers past. Then, my tactic was to stay within the DRS window behind them and thus extend the gap to fourth place. That worked out very well. My tyres degraded quite significantly at the end, but I expected a duel between the two in front of me, and that is what happened.”

Keyvan Andres (19, Iran, car number 12), 27th and 13th place 
“Driving at the back at this short track wasn’t easy, there was a lot of traffic. But today’s race was fun. I made a very good start, the pace of the car was very good and like that, I worked my way up to 13th place. Now, I still need to improve my qualifying performance and then it will work out with scoring points. Congrats to Jake on his victory, I am happy for him!”

Thomas Strick, team principal HWA RACELAB
“What a success! Scoring our maiden victory in the FIA Formula 3 Championship in the third round already wasn’t something we had expected prior to the season. However, this shows what can be achieved in such little time with teamwork and a huge effort. Congrats to Jake and thanks to the entire team for the great work! This weekend, keeping calm and patiently waiting for our chance has paid off. We eventually got the reward. Jake did it in a great way today. He executed the tactics in an outstanding manner and focussed on his own race at the end. Compliments to Keyvan for the great recovery drive as well. Unfortunately, Bent had some bad luck this weekend, but he, too, has already proven what he is capable of.”

Ulrich Fritz, CEO HWA AG
“Congratulations to Thomas Strick, Jake Hughes and the entire team on this great success! After so little time already scoring the maiden victory in the third Formula 3 round, that is great! Thanks to the entire team for this achievement!”

Result race 1, Saturday 29 June:
1.   Juri Vips              Hitech Grand Prix             32:47.063   
7.   Jake Hughes       HWA RACELAB                   32:55.498    
13. Bent Viscaal       HWA RACELAB                   33:04.013                  
27. Keyvan Andres   HWA RACELAB                   33:58.563

Result race 2, Sunday 30 June:
1.   Jake Hughes       HWA RACELAB                   34:47.494
13. Keyvan Andres    HWA RACELAB                   35:01.809
DNF Bent Viscaal      HWA RACELAB                   DNF

Preview
The next FIA Formula 3 Championship races are taking place on 13 and 14 July at Silverstone.

 

About HWA AG
HWA AG is an independent, 360° engineering specialist in the fields of automobile racing and high-performance cars. Formed in 1998 by Hans Werner Aufrecht, the company is based in Affalterbach (Germany) and employs roughly 300 highly-qualified members of staff. HWA AG offers all its products and services under the motto ENGINEERING SPEED: The company’s objective is to develop the best possible, high-quality solutions, in order to get its partners and customers to their destination quicker. The portfolio of services ranges from designing all vehicle components to assembling complete cars, together with the relevant logistics, after-sales and support services.

About HWA RACELAB
HWA RACELAB is HWA AG’s operations team in motorsport. It brings together experienced specialists in high-quality race engineering and the associated services, in pursuit of success on the motorsport scene. HWA RACELAB will enter Formula E as a new team in the 2018/19 season, adding a future-oriented string to HWA’s wealth of racetrack expertise. Furthermore, HWA RACELAB will race in the new, international FIA Formula 3 championship in 2019. With eleven Drivers’ titles and over 180 race wins as a works team for Mercedes-AMG in the DTM, the company is one of the most successful players in international motorsport. HWA RACELAB also draws on the company’s other core areas of expertise, such as the development, assembly and running of GT cars for customer racing, as well as the assembly of Formula 3 race engines.

Annette Hörsch
Presse

tel:            +49 (0) 7144 8717 – 215
email:       a.hoersch@hwaag.com

Volker Glaser
Investor Relations

tel:         + 49 (0) 7144 8717- 279
fax:        + 49 (0) 7144 8718- 111
email:   presse@hwaag.com 

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