EU: Series Spa preview

Series heads towards the finishing straight.

Munich. When the drivers arrive in Spa-Francorchamps next week after the summer break they will be preparing for the final rounds of the series, with just two left after those at the iconic circuit in the Ardennes region of Belgium. With the maximum any one driver can score being 124 points, there are now four drivers with a mathematical chance of taking the coveted title.

The two drivers who have the best chance are Jack Harvey (GB/Fortec Motorsports) and Robin Frijns (NL/Josef Kaufmann Racing), as third placed Carlos Sainz (ES/Eurointernational) and fourth placed Timmy Hansen (SE/Mucke Motorsport) would need the top two to have total disasters and to have perfect scores themselves to upset the apple cart.

Spa-Francorchamps is one of the four tracks where there is no local driver competing, however, Frijns could count it as his second `home' event as, despite being born in Maastricht in The Netherlands, he lives in Warsage in Belgium and says this is his favourite track. He is hoping to have a late birthday celebration he turned 19 on the 7th August by winning there. Other drivers who will be hoping for late or early birthday presents are George Katsinis (GR/Fortec Motorsports), who turned 19 the day after Frijns, Marc Coleselli (AT/Eifelland Racing) who turns 17 on the Friday of the race weekend, and Sainz, whose 16th birthday is on the 1st September.

The Rookies will have a bit of a disadvantage here as, due to problems with the track, the exclusive two day test earlier in the year had to be cancelled and eventually replaced with one day at a general test session. However, this will not bother Katsinis, who raced there last year as a Rookie, and his Swiss team-mate, Christof von Grunigen, who also raced there last year but in Formula Lista, a series that basically uses the same Formula BMW chassis.

The comment from Katsinis was: "I am looking forward to Spa, as I do all the races. Spa is a nice track with a great combination of slow and fast corners. Even though it is a long track no one seems to get a gap, because you are using tows along the straights and there are usually some very intense fights and I love these. I usually like fast corners, but in Spa I like all the corners whether they are fast or slow. It suits my driving style so I hope to do well there. We have made progress with the car, so I hope to have a good qualifying then believe another podium finish is possible."

Meanwhile von Grunigen said: "Last year I raced there in Formula Lista. I had two races that weekend and finished on the podium both times. It is a lovely track with really high speed corners. It is a bit difficult to overtake, but it is a really great circuit. I hope I can have a good qualifying so I get a good grid position. The corner I particularly like is a long one with a double left and you can nearly go flat there, but if you make a mistake you run wide and lose a lot of time."

The timetable is the usual one for Grands Prix with free practice from 08.50 to 09.15 on Friday, and qualifying a short while later from 12.50 to 13.15. Then the first of the two eight lap races on the 7.004 kilometre track, which is the longest track the series visits, will be at 09.45 on Saturday and the second on Sunday at 08.30. All these times are CET.

-source: fbw eu