Following a weekend at Motorland Aragón just two weeks ago, Monza had the pleasure of hosting the third round of the 2023 Eurocup-3 Championship. The long, fast flowing nature of the track made for some thrilling racing throughout the weekend, a factor which played a heavy part in Gilkes mixed experience in round three.
Qualifying kicked off the main sessions of the weekend, with a P10 in Q1, followed by a P7 in Q2. Here’s what Nick had to say on these sessions: “A solid effort, however I feel that there was more. My biggest regret is not getting a tow. I left too large of a gap to the car in front, and at Monza the tow is very defining. Q2 was a very close session. We were P7, but unfortunately with very little tow again. To keep improving and getting closer every session was awesome – and we’ll take that momentum into Zandvoort.”
Race one took place early on Saturday morning, and lining up P10 was a good place to work from.
“The start wasn’t ideal” says Nick on the start. “I lost a few places off the line, and while reovertaking I went down the escape road and dropped to last. From there, I picked my way forward back to P10. I felt a top 7 was definitely possible if things had played out differently, even with the start – but unfortunately avoiding a collision led to a massive flatspot on the tires for the last 10 minutes of the race.”
P10 was the final finishing position, another valuable point towards the championship.
Starting from P7 in race two, Gilkes gives us the rundown: “Unfortunately in race two the start wasn’t ideal either. It’s a shame, because after losing the tow there’s nothing that can be done around here. The pace itself was really strong – being 0.3 off the best lap when I was completely on my own – but unfortunately we lost any chance of a good result in the first 50 metres.”
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