A weekend to forget for Richard Verschoor on Spa-Francorchamps
Richard Verschoor was unable to score points during both Formula 3 races on Spa-Francorchamps last weekend. The TeamNL driver was ill during qualification and training and had to fight massive oversteer during both races. In a weekend overshadowed by the fatal accident of Formula 2 driver Anthoine Hubert Verschoor had to settle for 11th and 17th position overall. Next weekend the Formula 3 championship continues at Monza and the MP Motorsport driver hopes he can turn the tide and score some descend points for the championship.
Verschoor started well and set a 5th time overall during free practice. “It all started pretty well. I started on new tyres, was able to set fast times and even felt a better time would be possible in qualification. I had a better pace then my teammate Liam Lawson and really had the feeling we closed the gap.”
Sick
Soon after that the positive vibe changed rapidly. Verschoor felt sick and was brought to a local hospital. “They kept me on an infusion for about 5 hours and I still didn’t feel perfect. I was back on Spa just before qualification started and set a 13th time overall which was ok. I wasn’t able to set a better time and was pretty close to my teammate so I was pretty satisfied. But we still have a gap of about 1 second to the top of Formula 3 which is way to much. We have to work hard to close that gap the upcoming weeks.”
In the first race on saturday Verschoor started well and managed to drive some strong openingslaps after that. He overtook several drivers and was driving in 7th position overall. “That start was awesome but was the only positive thing about that race. I soon noticed I had massive oversteer and the tyres would wore out very fast. It turned out I was right and soon after that I lost several positions.”
Crash
After that race the F2/F3 paddock was startled by the horrific accident of Anthoine Hubert and Juan Manuel Correa in the F2 race. Anthoine Hubert died in that crash. “We all knew him pretty good and so did I. And then you have to race again after such a have crash. The 1 minute silence before the race on Sunday was very emotional and I had the feeling everyone had race for Anthoine on Sunday instead of the F3 championship.”
Again Verschoor started well and won 2 places. In lap 4 the safety car came on track after an accident of Verschoors teammate Simo Laaksonen. Laaksonen went of track hard in Blanchimont (the same spot where Daniel de Jong went of a few years ago) and the rescue crews responded fast. “I constantly was in contact with the team about the wellbeing of Simo and right before the restart of the race they could tell me Simo was alright because of the Halo on the car.”
Verschoor restarted great and won several places. He ended up in 11th position overall. Next weekend the F3 championship continues at Monza. Last year Verschoor was very strong at the fast track in Italy. “We certainly need a good slipstream during qualification but we do have a change. I do hope we can fight for podiumpositions soon again but there isn’t much time left this season. We have to find out why do we have that much oversteer and tire wear. I won’t forget this weekend but I do have to give it a positive twist. Anthoine would have wanted us to keep on racing and that is what we do!”