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 Last
Friday, on the circuit of Sharik, the last appointment of the Formula
3 season took place, before Christmas holidays. The best drivers
of the category were present in Bahrain for this event, two weeks
after the FIA Formula 3 International Cup of Macao. The format was
similar, with two races, one qualifying and the final on Friday
(Sunday, according to the Arab calendar).
Prema competed with French driver Franck Perera and young Japanese
Kohei Hirate. This was a new track for all the competitors and it
was important to become accustomed, as quickly as possible, to the
characteristics of the circuit in order to be competitive in the
two sessions valid for the starting grid of the qualifying race.
Bad weather conditions affected the event. On Wednesday, the programme
included three sessions of free tests, necessary to get used to
the new circuit and to improve the set up, but heavy rain on the
desert affected the development of the tests. Franck Perera showed
his competitiveness from the very beginning and finished in the
fourth overall position, preceded by Richard Antinucci, Lucas Di
Grassi e Ronnie Quintarelli. The results were positive, even if
the real potentialities were not fully developed. Kohei Hirate is
still in a training phase. This was his third race in the category
and his international debut. He finished the first day in the twenty-first
position. The first qualifying session was also conditioned by bad
weather. Some drivers took a risk by using slick tyres in the last
minutes, when the track was getting dry, and they marked the best
times. Perera was thirteenth and Hirate twenty-first. They decided
to keep slick tyres to have a better performance in the afternoon
session, as they expected to race on a completely dry track. It
was the right decision. Franck Perera had the absolute Pole position,
a perfect lap at the end of the session that allowed the winner
of the title of best rookie in the Formula 3 Euro Series 2004 Championship
to start first. This result really made up for the excellent work
of our team during this weekend and all through the year. Kohei
Hirate finished the session in the twenty-first position. It was
important for him to learn as much as possible, in view of next
year's appointments.
On Friday morning, in a fraction of seconds Perera's - and the whole
team's- dream vanished. The victory of the Formula 3 Bahrain Super
Prix became unfeasible. At the start, the engine failed and after
being overtaken by all the competitors he was at the back of the
group. Also Hirate made the same mistake. They finished the race
in the twenty-second and twenty-third position. Anyway, Franck managed
to mark the third fastest lap. In the final race the French driver
had a good start and was resolute to fight. Some rivals went out
of track and some others were overtaken. Finally, Franck recovered
several positions and finished fourth. During the last lap he had
a contact with a rival and went out of track. This did not allow
him to get a good result. Good performance for Hirate who was constantly
improving and finished in the twelfth place. The final race was
won by the English driver Lewis Hamilton.
Now the team will take a short holiday for Christmas and then it
will start to get ready for the coming season. There will be some
interesting innovations, such as new drivers and the new Dallara
F305.
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