SUPERB PODIUM FINISH FOR JAZEMAN JAAFAR AT MONACO

(Motorsport News) Sunday, 26th May 2013

Jazeman with his 3rd place Monaco trophies

SUPERB PODIUM FINISH FOR JAZEMAN JAAFAR AT MONACO

 

Jazeman Jaafar raced to a superb third place finish on his debut at the Monaco race track, taking the podium finish in the third round of the Formula Renault 3.5 Series, a support race at the most famous event on the motorsport calendar, the Formula One Grand Prix of Monaco.

 

It was a very strong weekend for the young Malaysian driver, with Jazeman being the pace setter at the start of practice. He ran consistently among the top three during practice, just dropping a few places towards the end of the session due to two yellow flags periods, to finish seventh quickest.

 

Jazeman continued with his impressive form in qualifying. With the field split into two groups the PETRONAS Talent Programme driver was in the first half of drivers to take to the track and quickly settled back into his front-running pace. He used his two sets of new tyres to good effect, topping the time sheets on each run to finish the session at the head of the times for his qualifying group, which secured him a front row slot for today’s race. Setting a time 0.0571 seconds than second fastest driver, Kevin Magnussen, underlined Jazeman’s mastery of the difficult track. The second group of qualifiers, running later in the morning, had warmer temperatures which led to quicker times, so Jazeman lined up in second place for his first race at the Monaco street circuit.

 

After the session he said, “It’s great to have such a good qualifying at a track which is so revered in motor racing. I wasn’t surprised that my time was topped in the second group of runners as the conditions were much warmer by then, but I’m very happy to be lining up at the front.”

 

Jazeman close to the wall at Monaco street circuit

The Monaco skies were blue and clear for the start of the Monaco round of the Formula Renault 3.5 Series with the PETRONAS-liveried Carlin car piloted by Jazeman gleaming on the front row. As the five red lights went out at the start Jazeman made a good start, despite suffering from the low grip of the dirty side of the track, with pole-sitter,Nico Muller, slipping into the lead. However, third placed starter, Marco Sorensen, made a lightning start from the cleaner side of the track to jump Jazeman in the first turn and steal his second place. Jazeman fought back but maturely backed out and settled into third place. He was keen to move back up to second, but the notoriously difficult track for overtaking offered limited opportunities for the Malaysian.  After 32 laps around the streets of Monaco Jazeman crossed the line in third place to take his maiden podium in World Series by Renault, an excellent finish to the weekend for the young driver.

 

“Wow, what a weekend, “said Jazeman. “It has been one of the most mentally and physically challenging races; it is such a tough track, with so little room for mistakes, yet it’s also very fast in sections and you have to have total concentration all the time. It feels good to have had such a strong weekend and really get to grips with getting the best from the car and myself. I’m sure my experience on the street circuits of Pau and Macau has helped, but Monaco is quite unique too.”

Jazeman adds, “Taking my first World Series podium in front of the celebrity-laden crowd of Monaco is very special and it is a day I’ll remember for a long time yet. My congratulations also to Nico and the Mercedes AMG PETRONAS Formula One team for a fantastic result today. It was great to be with the team to share the moment.”

 

Jazeman achieved a credible podium on his first time out at Monaco

Jazeman will have little time to enjoy his success as he prepares to head to Spa for the fourth round of the Formula Renault 3.5 Series which takes place next weekend.