D: Adrien Tambay Zandvoort race notes

An exciting and action-packed weekend for Tambay, at Zandvoort

French, Formula BMW (FBMW) Rookie driver Adrien Tambay backed up his impressive performance at the Nurburgring, with two strong race results, at his favourite circuit, Zandvoort, Holland.

In changeable weather conditions throughout the weekend, sixteen-year-old Tambay, who enjoys the challenging and twisty layout of the track, was eager to make use of experience gained, during two days of intensive pre-season testing carried out in November last year.

Friday's free practice was carried out in quite cold, overcast conditions, and save for a small mechanical problem, Tambay was only 6/10ths off the fastest time, and confident about his prospects for qualifying. With nice, sunny weather for the qualifying sessions, later that same day, Tambay made the most of his chances, and qualified a th very credible 4 position (and top Rookie) for both FBMW races.

Saturday's early morning race was fought-out through similar conditions to qualifying, and with Tambay maintaining his grid position, was part of the leading group. Battling hard with those immediately in front him, an incident (on lap 4) further back in the field, prompted the safety-car to the circuit for two laps, whilst safety crews attended to those involved. Forming-up behind the safety-car for the re-start, Tambay was ready to make a move rd for 3 , but unfortunately was caught out by the change in grip, made by the combination of cold tyres and the car directly in front of him. Having to compensate by making a wide entry into Turn 5, Tambay lost two places; fighting back immediately, and going on th st to finish the race in 5 place overall, and claiming 1 Rookie position.

Sunday's race, and the FBMW drivers and teams were greeted by very difficult wet weather conditions, which meant Tambay having to start the race on brand new wet weather tyres. Although making a fantastic reaction to the start lights, Tambay's new tyres lacked the grip of a "scrubbed" set, and with too much wheelspin, he was th immediately passed by those behind him, dropping back to 9 by the first corner.

The competitive racing, for which FBMW produces, plus the tricky conditions, caught-out many drivers, and several "yellow flag" caution periods caused the field to be mindful of incidences occurring around the circuit. Careful to observe the caution flags, Tambay wisely chose his moments to move up through the field, eventually crossing the th line, 5 overall.

However, during the pre-race drivers briefing, FBMW series officials had made special reference to the conduct required of drivers in respect of observing caution for the "yellow flags", and by studying the various sector times during the second race, observed that 12 drivers failed to comply, and subsequently, a 30-second time penalty was added to their race times. As result, the positions for the race were affected, including those close to Tambay, who now found himself awarded 2 position overall.

In reference to the races, Tambay commented, "Race 1 was very exciting, and I enjoyed the intense battle at the front of the field. The safety-car interrupted my rhythm, and I was unfortunate during the re-start, but the experience will help me for the future. Race 2 was especially demanding, as I had to cope with brand new wet weather tyres, and also all the incidences that occurred during the race. Even though my rivals were penalised for not observing proper caution, I did not make any mistakes, and therefore don't have to excuse myself for eventually finishing in 2nd position. I was there when I had to be, and it's a great result for me and my championship aspirations." Reflecting on the weekend, Tambay went on to say, "I'm very happy to have gained another position in the overall championship, and also to strengthen my 2nd place in the Rookie standings, especially in front of my sponsor, Mr. Hans Hugenholtz, who I thank very much for personally coming to support me this weekend."

-credit: tambay27.com