DOOHAN TAKES MAIDEN F3 ASIAN CHAMPIONSHIP VICTORY

PRESS RELEASE/Jack Doohan – Photo: supplied

Jack Doohan has finished with a Race Win and two additional second-place finishes on his debut in the F3 Asian Championship Certified by FIA with team Hitech GP in Sepang, Malaysia over the weekend.

Doohan qualified P3 in the 17-strong field for the opening race of the Championship.

Doohan made a great start off of the line, passing the pole-sitter and setting off in pursuit of Hitech GP team-mate Ukyo Sasahara for the lead.

The Australian was unable to catch the leader, crossing the line in P2 and was preparing to analyse his team-mates race data to work on on the car’s pace and balance before Race 2.

“[From pole in Race 3] I think if I can get away good and manage the tyres, we should have pretty good pace. In Race 1 there, I didn’t think I was completely happy with how the overall pace was, but luckily I’ve got Ukyo on my team so we’ll be able to analyze where I was losing and try and build on that in Race 2 and 3.”

Doohan began Race 2 from his finishing position in the Race prior and shot off the line to hold onto P2 as the frenzy behind him unravelled.

Brandon Lieitch, the driver behind Doohan tried a move, briefly taking P2 before running too deep and Doohan pouncing back on his position.

A Safety Car on Lap 9 bought the field together and on the restart, Doohan was able to maintain P2, where he crossed the line 6 minutes later.

“I just don’t think we really had the pace for the race. The other guys coming from behind were definitely a lot quicker, and Ukyo as well. I was struggling to keep [Leitch] behind me and make the least amount of mistakes I could. I knew he was going to be there the whole time, so I just wanted to try and maintain my position to the end and luckily it held up.”

In searing heat and with a track temperature of 64 degrees celsius, Doohan made a near-perfect getaway from pole and immediately pulled clear of the battling pack.

Out in front, Doohan maintained his two-second margin from Hitech GP team-mate Sasahara, the pair evenly matched on pace and each mindful of tire wear under the sweltering Malaysian sun.

The sixteen-year-old Hitech GP talent took the flawless pole-to-flag win crossing the line just shy of a second ahead of his teammate and having set the fastest lap of the race for good measure.

Doohan finished 2nd overall for the weekend and as a result, is 2nd in the standings on 61 points, just 7 points from the leader.

“Nice victory today to end the weekend! I got a bit of wheel spin off the line but held the lead, pushed the gap out on the first two laps and then managed the tyres until the end and tried not to make any mistakes.”

The F3 Asian Championship Certified by FIA continues with another triple-header from May 11-12 at Thailand’s Buriram International Circuit.

CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS

• 1 – Ukyo SASAHARA (JPN) Hitech GP, 68 points
• 2 – Jack DOOHAN (AUS) Hitech GP, 61 points
• 3 – Brendon LEITCH (NZL) BlackArts Racing, 39 points
• 4 – Daniel CAO (CHN) Absolute Racing, 33 points
• 5 – Eshan PIERIS (LKA) Absolute Racing, 28 points

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