Following almost two months on the sidelines, the FIA Formula 3 European Championship returns to the limelight next week as the 2014 campaign reaches an intense climax.
The latest round of the highly-rated championship, which provides one of the world’s strongest platforms for up-and-coming single-seater talents, took place at the Nürburgring on August 15-17 – meaning Felix and his fellow rivals have conducted no or little running over the past seven weeks.
Starting on Tuesday, however, the F3 fraternity can look forward to a much more crammed schedule of racing, as the field heads to the Italian circuit of Imola for two days of official testing (staged on October 7-8). Tuesday’s sessions will hand Felix his first-ever acquaintance with the legendary venue, which is situated on the picturesque outskirts of Bologna and which hosted the Formula 1 San Marino Grand Prix up until 2006.
While Imola (formally known as “Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari”) are treasured grounds for any motor racing enthusiast, its history is also regretfully clouded in tragedy. During the 1994 San Marino GP, it claimed the lives of Roland Ratzenberger and Ayrton Senna on one terrible weekend, the aftershock of which went on to righfully change the shape of the sport for years to come. With safety matters being put at an immediate premium, the international motor racing community swore never to let similar disaster strike again.
Among the measures implemented were substantial alterations to the most critical sections of the Imola circuit, including the construction of a chicane at the previously fearsome Tamburello bend – the scene of Senna’s accident in which the Brazilian hit the wall at more than 200 km/h. To this day, Senna remains the last Formula 1 driver fatality.
Following on from the two test days on Tuesday and Wednesday, the FIA Formula 3 European Championship will remain set at Imola, where the penultimate round of the season will then take place next weekend (10-12 October). Once the chequered flag has fallen in Italy, the field will travel straight to Germany for the traditional Hockenheim finale a week later.
All the news, reports and reaction from the final phase of the 2014 FIA Formula 3 European Championship – including the imminent Imola test – will be brought to you here at www.felixracing.se.