Well past the halfway mark on the 2018 GP3 Series calendar, American driver Juan Manuel Correa and his Jenzer Motorsport team travelled to the Spa-Francorchamps Circuit in Belgium this past weekend.
“It was far from an ideal weekend for us in terms of results, however we had very strong pace in both races,” explained Correa. “It was a shame we couldn’t get it right in qualifying because we had potential pace for a podium finish. We will keep our focus on our qualifying setup approach for Monza this coming weekend, and hope to be able to stick the car in front for race one.”
Showing speed in the one and only practice session on the weekend, Correa claimed the seventh quickest lap of the session as focus then shifted to qualifying. Wanting to take advantage of his speed, the setup of his Jenzer Motorsport GP3 car was not ideal for the track conditions and while Correa struggled with the handling of his car, could only muster a time good enough to start race one from inside row seven.
Saturday’s wheel-to-wheel action would be interrupted by rain as weather moved into the area and reeked havoc amongst the paddock. Forced to circulate the challenging Spa-Francorchamps track in tricky wet conditions with slick Pirelli racing tires, Correa became more comfortable with the characteristics of his car. Again, showing the speed to run at the front of the field during the middle part of the race before running out of tires later, Correa ended his Saturday with an eleventh place result.
Back to the track on Sunday and with a starting position inside row six, Correa was confident in the speed of his car and hoping for a better finish. The better result would come, but not until after first corner contact sent the American down the running order to P19 before the close of the first lap. Driving his way back forward and through the field, Correa garnered a tenth place result with one of his best drives of the season.
The next GP3 Series event will take place coming weekend, August 31 to September 2 at the world class Autodromo Nazionale Monza in Monza, Italy.
JM Correa would like to thank all his marketing partners who are on board in 2018. A special thank you to NOE Sushi Bar, Faico-Motriz, US Performance Academy, ACCUS and Bell Helmets.
For additional information on the GP3 Series, please visit www.GP3Series.com.
Photos by: Joan Codina
