Drivex takes top-5 finish after frantic race in Spielberg 14.09.2020: Van Berlo scored his best result of the 2020 Euroformula F3 Open season with a fifth place finish at the Red Bull Ring on Sunday. Besides, the Dutchman also secured two podium finishes in the Rookies’ class. Omani Al Habsi also continues making solid, con

Van Berlo scored his best result of the 2020 Euroformula F3 Open season with a fifth place finish at the Red Bull Ring on Sunday. Besides, the Dutchman also secured two podium finishes in the Rookies’ class. Omani Al Habsi also continues making solid, consistent progress in the Pan-European feeder series

 

Drivex and its young duo of drivers Shihab al Habsi and Glenn van Berlo have achieved strong results during the third round of the 2020 Euroformula F3 Open season and they both continued gaining plenty of experience in their Dallara 320 machinery. Despite the Red Bull Ring was a step into the unknown for them, the Dutchman and the Omani showed competitive pace in Austria from the very first free practice session.




Al Habsi, the youngest driver in the field at the age of 16, clocked a lap time of 1m24.880s on Friday after completing 24 laps throughout the day and van Berlo’s best effort was a lap time of 1m25.027s after putting 47 laps under his belt.




Both Drivex drivers were able to translate the positive start to the weekend in a good qualifying result on Saturday morning. Van Berlo took the tenth spot on the starting grid with his lap time of 1m23.642s with Al Habsi right behind after posting a lap time of 1m23.893s.



Van Berlo made a sensational start and moved up to seventh after just one lap on Saturday. Al Habsi, right behind on van Berlo’s gearbox, also gained several places and was running in eighth in the opening stages of the race. Van Berlo kept German driver Niklas Krütten at bay for the remaining 20 laps and crossed the finish line in seventh place.



Besides, the Dutchman was second among the rookies’ class drivers. Further adrift, Omani Al Habsi finished tenth after having an eye-catching battle with Rui Andrade and Alexandre Bardinon.



On Sunday, van Berlo and Al Habsi improved their qualifying results for Q2. Van Berlo and Al Habsi made an all-Drivex fifth row with the Dutchman setting a lap time of 1m23.541s and the Omani clocking a lap time of 1m23.698s in his HWA-powered Dallara 320. Just like the previous day, van Berlo moved up to sixth thanks to a sensational getaway.



He still gained another place after passing Ido Cohen in lap 8. Van Berlo made an outstanding work fending off the charges of Cohen and Ayrton Simmons and took the checkered flag in fifth place. Al Habsi climbed into eighth place in lap 4 and made it to the finish in the points-paying finish.



Drivex and its drivers have made another clear step forward in Spielberg. Van Berlo claimed his first top-5 finish and his race pace proved to be strong enough to keep much more experienced drivers at bay. The weekend brought encouraging results for the whole team and the goal is to keep the momentum at Monza’s Temple of Speed on 26-27 September.



Glenn van Berlo (Driver): “We are going up! We finished fifth overall in race 2 after a very solid performance. Our progression is positive and both race starts were good. We still have a gap to close in order to get in contention for the podium however. Everybody at Drivex is making the maximum effort! We are getting there.”




Miguel Ángel de Castro (Team Principal): “We are extremely happy with our performance in Spielberg. It was an all- new track for Glenn and Shihab but they completed a very strong weekend keeping in close contention with much more experienced Formula 3 drivers.



It is important underling that the Austrian venue is just their third race meeting in the Pan-European racing series. Our target is to continue on the same positive path at Monza’s ultra-fast layout. I am sure our drivers will managed to make further progress in Italy and everybody at Drivex will work the next two weeks in order to prepare properly both Italian races.”
 





Drivex S.L.photo www.euroformulaopen.net / FotoSpeedy