Driver Database News

Prema Powerteam is ready to enter the seventh round of the 2011 Italian Formula 3 Championship, the penultimate of the season. The location will be one of the World’s best, at Mugello, where the Italian-based team has done great in the past. Last year, Andrea Caldarelli cruised to two pole and two wins, with Raffaele Marciello and Michael Lewis ready to follow in his footsteps. The Italian, part of the Ferrari Drivers Academy, is two points off the lead in the rookie standings, and 16 points off the overall championship’s top spot. Michael Lewis is 6th, with still chances for the Ferrari F.1 test set at the end of the season. Andrea Roda is currently battling for a spot in the series’ top-10, which is quite possible for him seen the progress done so far.

Angelo Rosin, Team Principal
“We’ve always scored good results at Mugello. Last year, our drivers proved unbeatable both times the Italian series came here. The track is world-famous for its fast corners and hills, with changes of elevation that force drivers to keep pushing as hard as they can. Next year, Formula 1 will also come to Mugello for a test session, and that’s a further proof of the skills needed on this circuit. In collective testing our cars were among the fastest and we hope do it all again on race day.”

Argentinean-born driver Facu Regalia concluded yesterday his 2011 pre-season, when he is doing his debut in Italian Formula 3, one of the most competitive single seaters championships in Europe. Regalia tested on Tuesday at Franciacorta circuit, located near Castrezzato.

Regalia and his team developed a successful work, lapping eighty nine laps. “In the morning we made different set-up changes because it was important to know how the car behaved. In spite of my set-up was far from perfect, I got a good lap time with worn tires, finishing just two-tenths far from the fastest driver”, explained Regalia. During afternoon, team led by Piercarlo Ghinzani installed usual set-up and which such good results offered him in previous tests. However, “afternoon turned windy and it changed our schedule. I lost straight-line speed, and I couldn´t improve my time in the morning. Anyway, we leave Franciacorta very happy”, added Regalia.

His yesterday best lap-time was 1:05.311, signed in morning session, while in the afternoon 1:05.683 was the reference. Italian Formula 3 championship stars in three weeks time at Franciacorta where, according Regalia, “I think that I will be strong enough. I completed a good pre-season, evolving as Formula 3 driver and I hope to have a good car because my aim is to become the best rookie”.

Argentinean driver has got the best time during Italian Formula 3 collective test-day celebrated today at Monza.

Facu Regalia has completed another successful test-day during Italian Formula 3 pre-season, driving his Team Ghinzani´s Dallara-FPT. Nineteen years old driver achieved the fastest time on Thursday, leading by half a second to his teammate.

Regalia, who on Tuesday also tested different evolutions in aerodynamic and set-up areas at Franciacorta, explained at the end of the day: “It was a positive journey for us. There were different reasons, one of them because I finished as the fastest on track but the second reason is that my teammate, Edoardo Liberati, was second. It shows both Team Ghinzani and me are in good shape for the start of the season”.

Developments introduced by Piercarlo Ghinzani´s team in Regalia´s car were effective at Monza, “a track which I was discovering today driving a Formula 3 car, but I was comfortable. It´s a really fast circuit, the type I prefer because they are suitable for my driving-style. My time, 1:46.693, was really good taking into account track conditions and neither team nor I had expected it”.

Pre-season continues next week, on Tuesday, when Regalia is facing first Italian Formula 3 official test-day.

Prema Powerteam ended its weekend at Vallelunga by winning one race and bringing Spaniard Daniel Campos to 2nd place in standings. Campos, moved up one spot in points by overlapping Marco Zipoli with a stunning win on a rainy Race 2. Despite the positive outcome, he lost one point to championship leading Daniel Zampieri, moving from 13 to 14 points off the top. In Qualifying, Campos took 4th place while Francesco Castellacci ended up in 8th. In front of his home crowd, the Italian was conditioned by a bad flu. On Race 1, things didn’t change too much as, while Campos retained 4th place, Castellacci improved to 7th. On Race 2, with rainy conditions and a wet racetrack, Campos immediately caught the tail of Richelmi, before moving on the Monaco driver at lap 9 and starting to build a solid lead. Thanks to a bold driving style, he cruised to an apparently easy win, bringing his 2009 total to two. Undortunately, Castellacci never seen checkered after making contact with Cinti with 3 laps to go.

“We’re celebrating our 2nd win of the season – told Team Manager Grazia Rosin – but we’re also preparing for the final round at Monza. We have lost one point, but we’re definitely staying put. Everything can happen and I’m sure that the team and drivers will be pushing harder than ever”

Prema Powerteam is ready to be a championship contending team as the 2009 Italian Formula 3 Championship is approaching the last two rounds of the season. Last weekend, the series approached Imola for its sixth race of the year and Daniel Campos scored some valuable points, that together with a bad day of championship leader Daniel Zampieri allowed the squad to be strongly back into contention.

Campos proved strong since the start, clocking a stunning pole position and leaving Mexican rival Pablo Sanchez 4 tenths of a second behind. Team-mate Francesco Castellacci suffered from a rougher day, as his session was conditioned by set-up problem and an early spin, and took 10th.

On Race 1, Campos had a good start, but Sanchez snatched the lead at Tamburello. The fight for victory ended on the spot, as the Spaniard elected to focus on points ending up in 2nd. Castellacci defended himself in the hard fight started in the midpack, and captured the 13th spot. On Race 2, started with the reversed top-6 grid, Campos ended up in 6th, while Castellacci was blocked by a slower car, losing positions and taking 12th.

“This is an incredibly tough year – told Team Manager Grazia Rosin – it’s really easy to fall off the championship fight. As happened at Varano, Campos scored a podium finish and trimmed his gap from the championship leader to 13 points, scoring a spectacular pole position. It’s a bit of a shame for Castellacci, who had a good potential that couldn’t be expressed due to a concatenation of many small problems. We hope to see him fight for the top at Vallelunga, on the next 20th of September.”

The Italian Formula 3 Championship stopped at Varano last weekend, as the Italian short track hosted the 5th round of the 2009 series. The track near Parma brought Prema Powerteam back to the leading pack in standings thanks to a double points finish scored by Daniel Campos. The Spaniard took off from 2nd thanks to a great qualifying performance. He then kept his position until checkered, trailing championship leader Daniel Zampieri. Francesco Castellacci had a positive race too, ending up in 8th after starting from row number 5. On a crash-filled race 2, Campos came back strong in 4th, while Castellacci ended up in 10th.

“The double race held at Varano – told Team Manager Grazia Rosin – confirmed that there’s always time in racing. Everything seemed lost at Misano, and now we’re back in the fight for title thanks to just one bad day happened to Daniel Zampieri. Campos has been great in managing two really difficult races , and score valuable points that might prove decisive in the near future. Castellacci ran strong, but his overall performance is still conditioned by qualifying. Once he’ll be able to stay constantly in the front two rows, he’ll have a huge chance to keep his nose at the top consistently.”

The weekend of Prema Powerteam in the Italian Formula 3 Championship at Mugello started in a fine way, as Daniel Campos-Hull took his maiden pole in the series and Francesco Castellacci made his way to the third spot. In the two races, held on Saturday and Sunday, the hopes to celebrate in-style ended right after the start. In the first race, Campos suffered from a bad start, and was then caught in a crash, ending his day on the spot. Castellacci proved to have good potential, and kept 2nd place all-race long. After an attack by Zampieri, he successfully ended up in 3rd.

“It has been disappointing not to see Campos fight for victory – explains Team Manager Grazia Rosin – since we’ve been among the leaders all the weekend and Qualifying showed we really had a dominant potential. We have to be patient, and keep working in order to be able to start among the leaders again. Campos lost a bit of ground in standings but I th ink we’ll be able to make up. Castellacci did a good job, though he has not been able to keep the positions he
clinched at the start of the two races. ”

Campos-Hull, thanks to the 2nd place scored at the end of a battling Race 2, held on to 5th place in standings. Castellacci ended up Sunday’s race in 4th.