The Spanish driver leaves Zandvoort with a new goal accomplished, after making a step forward in terms of pace in the last race of the weekend.
Martí has gained a lot of experience to reach the climax in Monza, where he hopes to close the season with a well-deserved result.
"It was a good race for me. I had very good pace and it was a shame we had to start so far back... It's good progress, we made progress and I hope that in Monza we can start from where we left off in Zandvoort".
The Zandvoort circuit was the venue for the penultimate round of the official Formula 3 season. The track in the Netherlands was a tricky track, with few overtaking points and unfamiliar to the 17 year old Campos Racing driver.
Friday's qualifying session was again decisive, and as in previous races, it was disrupted by the intervention of yellow and red flags at the wrong time. The youngster was in with a chance of a top ten finish based on the lap times set in the early part of the session, but the neutralisation of the session when he was running his best lap left him in seventeenth place for the grid for both races.
The lack of experience on this complicated circuit has cost us dearly," Martí explained. "We only had 45 minutes of free practice and 5 push laps before stepping into qualifying. The best possible outcome could have been 13th and we are sitting in 17th".
In the first race, the Movento-backed Campos Racing driver made a great start. However, at the first braking, the mythical "Tarzan" corner, another driver in front of him suffered a mishap and Pepe had to brake, losing several positions. Throughout the race he was blocked by a slower driver, but the difficulty of overtaking on this track made forced him to remain in the position he was occupying and finished 19th.
I had a good start and was on the inside - said the driver - "There was an incident in front of me and I had to brake. I lost positions when I avoided it. It was frustrating because I had good pace and I was stuck behind another driver, stuck behind him for the whole race as there was no way to overtake him. We had more pace but it was impossible to pass".
In the second race, Martí performed a great start and was 14th at the end of the first lap. The race was marked by the intervention of the safety car, and after a restart, Pepe lost two positions to avoid a driver who had crashed. He had a good fight with one of the title contenders and made up two positions to reach 14th place.
"It was a good race for me. I felt very fast and it was a shame we had to start down in 17th. I was 14th behind the same driver as in the first race, when the safety car intervened. I lost two places because I had to avoid an accident involving other drivers, but I found my best rhythm and managed to make up two places", Martí argued after the race.
"It's good progress, we have moved forward and I hope that at Monza we can start from where we left off at Zandvoort.
Next weekend, Pepe Martí will conclude his first season in the FIA F3 at the mythical temple of speed, the Monza circuit, where he will put the finishing touch to a season of learning and constant work.
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