In his first ever trip to Azerbaijan and the Baku City Circuit, American driver Juan Manuel Correa will have to drive forward in tomorrow’s first wheel-to-wheel competition.
After claiming the ninth quickest lap in the one and only practice session for the FIA Formula 2 drivers, the Sauber Junior Team by Charouz competitor qualified in the 17th position and will start race one tomorrow from inside row nine.
In a day that saw track temperatures over 37.8C, learning the 6.003 kilometre barrier lined circuit was priority for Correa. With the goal to gain experience in the opening practice session and not put a wheel wrong, Correa completed 16 laps with his quickest time of the session being clocked at 1:58.273 for an average of 182.719 km/h.
Qualifying saw a great improvement in time for the Formula One hopeful as he decreased his overall lap time by more than one second, but his lap of 1:56.936 was only good enough for P17 on the grid.
Following the session, the Sauber Junior Team by Charouz immediately went to work on the car and found a problem that hurt Correa’s pace in qualifying and would not allow the overall speed needed to be further up the grid.
With the issue now fixed, and a new day on the horizon, the speed to run in the points should now be available as Juan Manuel will work hard to move his way forward.
Race one on the weekend will take place on Saturday, April 27th at 12:00 (GMT+4) or 4:00am (GMT-4) in the United States and will consist of 29 laps for a total of 174.087 kilometres.
21 laps totaling a race distance of 126.063 kilometres will go green on Sunday at 13:10 (GMT+4) or 5:10am (GMT-4) in the United States.
JM Correa would like to thank all his marketing partners including Step One Automotive Group, NOE Sushi Bar, Bell Helmets, Revolution 93.5FM and Decimal Capital.
For additional information on JM Correa, please visit and follow him on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram as well as visit his racing website, www.JMCorrea.com.
Media Contact:
Raffaella Fant – Marketing Director – rfant@jmcorrea.com
Mike Maurini – Media Manager – info@RaceTechDevelopment.com
Juan Manuel Correa :
JM Correa (19) is an American-Ecuadorian F2 driver who grew up in Miami, FL and currently lives in Barcelona, Spain. Juan Manuel’s racing season will be completed with the Sauber Junior Team and he has been selected to participate in the Alfa Romeo Racing Formula 1 Team as Development Driver.
