The second race weekend of the Euroformula Open on the Circuit Paul Ricard did not really go according to plan for Andreas and Sebastian Estner from Wall.
Le Castellet / Wall - The brothers Andreas and Sebastian Estner, who drive for the Dutch team Van Amersfoort, return from the second race weekend at the Circuit Paul Ricard in France with mixed feelings. On the racetrack on the Côte d'Azur near Le Castellet, the younger Sebastian (18) in particular struggled, while Andreas (20) achieved his third podium of the season.
While the two Wallers could still have legitimate hopes for the next top weekend after the first two free practice sessions, they gave up a bit in the third. "Because we saved our tires for qualifying in the free practice sessions," explains Sebastian Estner. The problem: The touring car race taking place at the same time changed the route. “Our setup was no longer right, that of the others apparently already.” While Andreas Estner was still in fourth position, Sebastian only reached eleventh place on what was only his second Euroformula weekend.
Sebastian Estner's race over to turn one
Things didn't go any better in the race. At the start, Sebastian Estner was pushed off the track and then overtaken hard so that he had to drive around the outside and let the field pass. Things went better for his older brother. Andreas Estner conceded Ido Cohen at the start, did not give up third place until the end and took third place on the podium in the third race of the season. However, he could not keep up with the winner Lukas Dunner from Austria and the World Cup leader Yifei Ye (China). “We were further away than we should be,” summarizes Sebastian Estner.
With a setup change, the brothers from Wall hoped to be faster again in the second race. "It's always difficult to change that for qualifying because you don't know what to expect," says Sebastian Estner, who, after starting 13th on the grid, fought his way to eleventh place. Nevertheless, it was a weekend to forget, even though the Paul Ricard Circuit was new to the 18-year-old. Andreas Estner defended his fourth place on the grid in the second race. As in the first race, Cohen sat on his neck. Yifei Ye took his third win in the fourth race of the season, Saturday winner Dunner followed ahead of Zane Maloney (Barbados).
Andreas Estner remains second in the World Championship ranking
In the World Cup standings, Andreas Estner, who scored 27 points in France, defended his second place behind Ye. Even though the Chinese are already threatening to escape. Sebastian Estner came away empty-handed. The younger Estner brother still has every chance in the rookie classification. There he is behind Maloney and Niklas Krütten (Germany), only two points behind in third place. "Everything is still there," says Sebastian Estner confidently.
There is a chance of reparation in just under three weeks in Spielberg. The next podium finishes - or at least points - should follow on the home track of the Formula 1 Red Bull team. “We have to see that it works next time,” says Sebastian Estner. He has at least one advantage over the weekend in France: He knows the track from previous races.
