Martí, Lovinfosse and Cáceres will contest the sixth round of the F1 Academy at Paul Ricard with excellent prospects in terms of performance after recent collective testing on French soil
Mercantile Campos Racing will head to Southern France, a famous holiday destination, for another vibrant chapter of F1 Academy, the all-female category. The Paul Ricard circuit is set to host the sixth and penultimate round of the season and the last one before the summer break. The Spanish-based racing team will enter their three-car army for Nerea Martí, Lola Lovinfosse and Maite Cáceres.
The series scheduled a collective testing in Le Castellet last week and the drivers of Mercantile Campos Racing delivered strong results in their Tatuus machinery. Spaniard Martí proved to be one of the fastest as she was in the top-three since the very first testing session. Local favorite Lovinfosse and Uruguayan Cáceres also made good progress and the Frenchwoman also made her way up to top-5 in the timesheets. Cáceres, who had never raced at Paul Ricard, gradually lowered her lap times and she was quite competitive at the end.
Martí currently sits fifth in the drivers’ standings on 115 points. The Spaniard has achieved four podiums in the category so far in Valencia, Zandvoort and Monza. Besides, she granted points in all the previous five rounds. Lovinfosse stepped onto the podium at Red Bull Ring and her goal will be to secure her season’s high results at her home round. Cáceres has undoubtedly made progress throughout the season and the Uruguayan driver finally scored her first points in Zandvoort by finishing tenth. Last but not least, she improved to 8th at Monza’s Temple of Speed.
Paul Ricard features a very flat layout as it is built on a plateau. Another characteristic of the circuit is the runoff surface consisting of a mixture of asphalt and tungsten and usually the drivers have more margin for mistakes in comparison with other tracks. Its varied range of corners is extremely tough for the tires despite tire degradation is rather low due to a smooth asphalt. There are a good number of corners with high lateral forces such as Signes and probably the most well-known part isn’t a bend but the main straight: Mistral. Usual high temperatures in Le Castellet in summer also play a key role during the races, as they become very physically demanding for the drivers.
Both free practice sessions will take place on Saturday morning with both qualifying sessions in the afternoon at 16:00 and 16:25. All the three races will take place on Sunday. Race 1 is set to start at 09:15, with its usual length of 30 minutes. Later, Race 2 consisting of 20 minutes is scheduled at 12:35. Sunday’s Race 3, with its 30-minute format, will get underway at 16.15. All times CET.
Adrián Campos (Campos Racing Team Principal): “The F1 Academy enters its hot phase of the season with the penultimate round just around the corner. Our pace was quite good during recent testing in Le Castellet and we are definitely pushing for more rostrums this weekend. Nerea is one of the strongest drivers in the field and she will be in podium contention in my opinion. Lola will compete in front of her home crowd and it will be an excellent morale booster. Maite has made good steps forward and she will try to show it again in Le Castellet.”
Nerea Martí (Mercantile Campos Racing Driver of F1 Academy): “I’m delighted to race at Paul Ricard, which it’s a track I already know. After several days of testing there, with the team doing a god job, we head into the weekend in competitive form and ready to deliver a strong performance at the penultimate round. We will push to finish on top.”
Lola Lovinfosse (Mercantile Campos Racing Driver of F1 Academy): “I’m super excited to drive at Paul Ricard this weekend, at my home track. We have prepared a lot this race and I feel really confident. I´m sure we can get big points, I will do everything to do the best result in front of my family and sponsors.”
Maite Cáceres (Mercantile Campos Racing Driver of F1 Academy): “Paul Ricard is a very technical, fast circuit and I really love competing there. I feel amazed to race there for the very first time. Our testing went according to our plan and our goal is to maximize it in qualifying. We know our competitive our race pace is.”
