Barcelona | Spain
Photo Credits: ©James Gasperotti Photography
2023 FIA F3 | Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, Spain
Barcelona, Spain
Round 4 | Races 07 & 08
June 2-4| 2023
Barcelona Highlights
Qualifying Position: 21st Place
Race 1: 14th Place
Race 2: 17th Place
Championship: 16th Place
Practice | June 2nd: 23rd Place
Following in-season testing at the track back in April, it was a quiet start to running. With only a third of running remaining, representative times began to be set. Waiting and watching on in the pit lane, there was no urgency to hit the track, with teams and drivers already having an abundance of data to hand from testing. However, once the clock hit the 21-minute mark, cars flooded out of the pits for their out laps.
Turn 9’s fast nature proved to be a challenging point for several drivers. Rodin Carlin’s Hunter Yeany managed to keep it together after sliding through the corner and over the curbs. Moments later, Piotr Wisnicki brought out the first Red Flag of the weekend, spinning off into the gravel at the top of the hill. Barcelona Circuit is a high-degradation track, requiring hard tires with a one-lap shot in their top performance window.
Practice resumed with five minutes remaining, but improvements were few and far between as the hard tires fell out of their performance window. Kaylen rolled out on his first flying lap on a green track in 18th, struggling with front tire grip. Lead lap times were in the high 1:28’s with times falling quickly with every go-around. This high degradation surface at Barcelona Circuit left drivers with only one fast lap per set of tires.
Less than a second separated the top 20 and so it all came down to one final shot. Traffic was a struggle with overtakes common on fast laps. Not finding the grip he was accustomed to, Kaylen went wide in the penultimate corner and finished 24th in final classification.
Qualifying | June 2nd
Qualifying 21st Position
As dark clouds loomed worryingly overhead, the field opted to head out at the first opportunity, with Martí heading the queue. With little breathing space around the 4.657km circuit, drivers dueled for track position before they fired up for their first flying laps. Kaylen Frederick put his foot down to bring it around in 12th, however as more rubber was laid down on every lap, lap times were falling rapidly and order shuffled Kaylen back to 18th.
Banker laps in the bag, drivers peeled into pits to change on to a fresh set of hard tires and returned to the track with 8 minutes remaining. ART Grand Prix drivers following suit with Kaylen again struggled with grip and positioned 18th, finally shuffling back to 21st
Less than a second separated the top 20 and so it all came down to one final shot. Beganovic threw down the gauntlet first, breaking into the 1:27s. However, the #23 Campos of Martí was flying, going purple in the first two sectors to snatch provisional pole position and with no further improvements in the closing two minutes, his job was done.
Race 7 | June 3rd | Saturday Sprint Race
Finish Position: 14th Place
In this reverse grid sprint race, pole-sitter O’Sullivan instantly defended the inside line, giving compatriot Browning a slipstream down into Turn 1. Despite that, Browning had to yield to his fellow Williams junior on the exit of Turn 2. Everyone cleanly through, Kaylen Frederick held onto 21st.
Just behind them, Fornaroli’s rapid reactions helped him jump Grégoire Saucy for third. A fast-starting Paul Aron rocketed up from P8 to P5 by the time the Safety Car was deployed at the end of the opening lap after Rodin Carlin’s Ido Cohen found the barriers at Turn 9.
Racing resumed on Lap 5 and O’Sullivan bolted away early through Turn 12, allowing him to pull clear from Browning. After Qualifying down in P18, Gabriele Minì was on the charge. The Alpine Academy junior was brave on the brakes, diving past Christian Mansell through Turn 7 for 12th.
Out front, O’Sullivan couldn’t shake off Browning and on Lap 10, the #16 Hitech Pulse-Eight pounced. The PREMA fended him off twice, as Browning tried a move into Turn 1 on consecutive laps to no avail.
Running in P4, Saucy ran wide out of the final corner, opening the door for Aron to get through. Unable to fight back out of Turn 1, the ART Grand Prix driver was left vulnerable to those behind and lost places to both Sebastián Montoya and Gabriel Bortoleto, dropping to seventh.
On Lap 16, Aron and Montoya were next to go side-by-side through Turn 1. The slightest of contact left the Hitech driver with a puncture, forcing him to pit at the end of Lap 15. Dino Beganovic found himself out of the race as he too sustained a puncture, becoming beached the gravel at Turn 10. Kaylen Frederick moved up to 18th seizing an opportunity for an overtake and picking up spots due to incidents ahead.
Minì and Mansell’s earlier battle reignited on Lap 16, but this time the pair made contact. It sent Mansell spinning off at Turn 2 to bring out a second Safety Car. Minì was later awarded a 10-second time penalty for the collision.
Racing resumed on lap 18 (out of 21) with Kaylen moving up behind teammate Tsolov who started the race in 18th, passing him for 17th momentarily on lap 20, then going wide on the brakes and relinquishing the spot. Last lap overtakes, incidents and penalties placed Kaylen 14th at race end.
Race 8 | June 4th | Sunday Feature Race
Starting Position: 21st Position
Finish Position: 17th Position
After a strong launch at race start, Kaylen overtook ART teammate Tsolov followed by two other overtakes to finish lap 2 in 18th. The feature race unfolded like the sprint race with high degradation in tires and Kaylen struggling with a front end that was increasingly pushing. Eventually falling out of the DRS one-second limit, Kaylen held his position throughout the race maintaining a pace that couldn’t be challenged by those behind, although not allowing Kaylen to return to the hunt. A puncture to teammate Gregoire Saucy ahead in lap 19 advanced Kaylen one position to finish 17th.
Championship Round-up: 16th Position
Finishing the weekend in 16th for the championship, Kaylen will focus energies and preparations toward Races 9 &B 10 at the Red Bull Ring.
Next on the Calendar:
2023 FIA F3 | Round 4 | Races 9 & 10
Spielberg | Austria
Red Bull Ring
June 30th – July 2nd
Circuit Length: 4.318 KM | 2.683 Miles
About Kaylen Frederick
For more information visit:
https://KaylenFrederick.com/
About Pilot ONE Racing
Pilot ONE Racing supports and assists young race drivers in developing professional driving careers, seeking funding, and reaching the highest level of motorsports in both the USA and Europe.
For more information visit ‘Contact Info and Partnerships’ at:
https://PilotONERacing.com
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