By: Lance Stroll Racing
July 17 2016
Teenager scores sixth victory of season & two fastest race laps but team’s “human error” costs Canadian valuable points
Lance Stroll was unfortunate to see his FIA European Formula 3 Championship lead reduced after an uncharacteristic “human error” by the Prema Powerteam in the Netherlands this weekend (16-17 July). Lance began Saturday’s opening race with an 86-point lead in the standings but left Zandvoort this evening with a 56-point advantage having crucially been forced to start two of the weekend’s three races from the back of the grid instead of from pole-position.
A new suspension part fitted for the very first time on Friday was deemed by FIA officials in scrutineering late that night not to comply with technical regulations. Consequently, Lance’s two “pole” times from the second qualifying session were deleted. The Prema Powerteam had measured the new component incorrectly and accepted full responsibility for the mistake.
Saturday morning’s race heralded the start of the second half of the Euro F3 season and saw Stroll’s Dallara F312-Mercedes starting third on the grid in breezy, overcast but dry weather conditions. Lance made an absolutely stunning get-away at the green light, sweeping bravely around the outside of the front-row starting Nick Cassidy and Maximilian Günther at the first Tarzan Corner. Stroll totally controlled the race from the front, leading untroubled to an eight-seconds victory – win number six of the season – setting the fastest race lap to underline his dominance, an amazing 0.4secs quicker than the next fastest.
Stroll began the afternoon race with a 99pt lead from 19th on the grid, the characteristics of the 4.307-mile North Sea coastal track making it nigh on impossible for the evenly matched single-seaters to overtake. A frustrated Lance retired with eight laps remaining after running wide at the last corner which damaged the diffuser. The Williams Formula One Development driver again started from 19th place in Sunday afternoon’s race and set the fastest race lap. The seventh event of the Euro F3 season, featuring rounds 19, 20 & 21, is staged at Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium over 29-30 July.
“Scoring my sixth win of the season was good but the weekend could have been very good had I started the other two races from ‘pole’ which I’d achieved in qualifying. It was a frustrating and disappointing situation but these things happen, it’s motorsport, human errors occur – thankfully only occasionally. The important thing is to keep our heads up and keep pushing and stay strong ready for Spa. Switching back to the standard suspension component I’d raced with all year for Race 1, it was immediately evident that my pace was even faster than when I had the new part fitted. In terms of this weekend’s races, I saw a gap at the start of Race 1 and went for it. I braked really late and managed to take the lead and from that point on it was a smooth race to the checker – despite a seagull almost flying into me! Apart from at the start of a race, overtaking at Zandvoort is almost impossible so it was always going to be very tough to make up places from the back. That’s how it turned out and it proved to be really, really frustrating although I did set the fastest lap in Race 3. I’m already counting down the days to Spa where Prema and I will be back to the fore.”