Australian Joey Mawson secured three finishes inside the top ten at Round Six of the FIA Formula 3 European Championship in Belgium.

Competing at the famous Spa-Francorchamps circuit, the PODIUM-backed driver once again showed his racecraft in each of his three races.

After a challenging two qualifying sessions, Mawson found himself starting outside of the top ten for all three encounters. Mawson fought gallantly to move his way up the order in each race.

Race One was the highlight for the Sydney-sider, having charged forward from his 11th placing on the starting grid, to record a fifth placed result at the chequered flag.

Mawson also moved forward in the remaining two races of the highly-competitive championship around the 7.004km circuit. In Race Two he was engaged in a close battle with Mick Schumacher, before crossing the line 10th. After being pushed wide in the opening laps of the final race and dropping several spots, Mawson fought back to again record a finish inside the championship points in 10th place.

“It has been a solid weekend at Spa, to have three top ten finishes was a real positive,” said Mawson.

“It was amazing to drive at Spa-Francorchamps in these cars, nice to be able to tackle some of the most famous corners in the world of motorsport.

“Race One was the highlight, after qualifying we didn’t expect that we’d be able to move up so much so it was very pleasing.

“Races two and three we struggled with pace and straight line speed, which made overtaking very difficult as I couldn’t take advantage of the slipstream, but I still managed to move forward and collect some points.

“Overall it was a solid weekend with three points scoring finishes and two podiums in the Rookies Championship. We’ll now put our heads down and aim for the continual improvement as we always do and continue to aim for the front.”

British driver Lando Norris, who will next week test with the McLaren Formula One team, won two races with Austrian Ferdinand Habsburg winning the other.

The next round in the Championship will be contested at the Zandvoort circuit in the Netherlands on August 18-20.

Australian Joey Mawson is ready for the next challenge in the FIA Formula 3 European Championship at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit in Belgium.

The PODIUM-backed driver believes previous success of the Van Amersfoort Racing team at the venue should bode well for this week’s event.

“We had a test day at the circuit on Tuesday, which was soaking wet all day so it was very difficult to get a really good gauge.  The team has enjoyed success here in the past so there’s no reason why we can’t have a good round this weekend,” said Mawson.

“The weather conditions for the weekend are expected to be a mixed bag so we’ve really got to be on top of the set-up when it matters most.

“The circuit is just so cool. No matter what you are driving around here you really enjoy it and I can’t wait to get on track on Thursday.”

After a challenging couple of rounds to start his championship campaign, Mawson has shown impressive speed during the recent rounds and is aiming to continue this momentum this weekend.

“Over the past couple of rounds we’ve shown some good speed and we’re right on the verge of some really good results. In the short break everyone in the team has been working very hard on continuing the progress and hopefully I can reward them with a podium this weekend,” said Mawson.

Mawson competed at Spa-Francorchamps during his 2015 German Formula 4 campaign where he finished second behind Lando Norris in the final race.

With this weekend’s racing being contested alongside the 24 hours of Spa GT race, practice will begin on Thursday morning ahead of two qualifying sessions in the afternoon. Races one and two will be contested on Friday before the action for the Formula 3 drivers concludes on Saturday.

WEEKEND SCHEDULE
LOCAL TIME
Thursday July 27
9:00am – 9:40am Free Practice
9:45am – 10:25am Free Practice 2
1:30pm – 1:50pm Qualifying 1
5:10pm – 5:30pm Qualifying 2/3

Friday July 28
12:15pm – 12:50pm Race 1
3:40pm – 4:15pm Race 2

Saturday July 29
12:40pm – 1:15pm Race 3

AUSTRALIAN EASTERN STANDARD TIME
Thursday July 27
5:00pm – 5:40pm Free Practice 1
5:45pm – 6:25pm Free Practice 2
8:30pm – 8:50pm Qualifying 1
1:10am(Fri) – 1:30am Qualifying 2/3

Friday July 28
8:15pm – 8:50pm Race 1
11:40pm – 12:15am Race 2

Saturday July 29
8:40pm – 9:15pm Race 3

Australian Joey Mawson fought gallantly throughout the fifth event in the 2017 FIA European Formula 3 Championship at the Norisring Street Circuit in Germany.

On Friday the PODIUM-backed driver qualified eighth fastest on the challenging 2.3km circuit before making a good start in the opening encounter.

While holding down seventh position he was hit in the back by Jehan Daruvala in the chicane. The contact pushed him wide into the wall on the exit ending his race with damage to the car.

After some repair work by his Van Amersfoort Racing crew, Mawson returned to the circuit for the second qualifying session, which decided the grids for Races Two and Three. Unable to extract the maximum speed out of the car, Mawson qualified 16th and 15th. Such is the competitiveness of the category, a mere half a second covered the entire field.

In Race Two Mawson got another good start and during the first few laps moved up to 13th place. He would hold this position until the chequered flag.

With plenty of action around him, Mawson was forced to take evasive action on a number of occasions during the opening few laps of Race Three. Despite this, he continued to fight hard and move up the order before passing Guanyu Zhou on the last lap to finish 11th.

Mawson said “The weekend once again taught me a lot. It was good to finish strongly in Race Three to move up the order.”

“It was disappointing to crash out of Race One when I was well inside the top ten and then we had to continually fight to get on top of everything from there.

“I had some good speed in the final two races but it was very difficult from being so far back on the grid to get a good result.”

Mawson’s next race will be at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit in Belgium on July 27-29.

CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS (After Round 5 of 10)
1. Maximilian Günther – 236
2. Joel Eriksson – 202 points
3. Lando Norris – 198
4. Callum Illott – 166
5. Jehan Daruvala – 106
6. Jake Hughes – 88
7. Guanyu Zhou – 84
8. Ralf Aron – 70
9. Harrison Newey – 67
10. Ferdinand Habsburg – 56
14. Joey Mawson – 36

Australian Joey Mawson will head to the Norisring Street Circuit high in confidence for Round Five of the 2017 FIA European Formula 3 Championship this weekend.

Fresh from a season’s best result at the previous round, the PODIUM-backed driver believes the tight confines of the 2.3km circuit should suit both the characteristics of his driving style and the Van Amersfoort Racing team.

“I really enjoy racing on street circuits and this is another challenge that I’m really looking forward to,” said Mawson.

“The team have shown over the years that they have had some good results on street circuits and hopefully I can continue this trend across the weekend.”

While a relatively simple layout on paper, Mawson believes that the Norisring is a very tricky one.

“The track itself looks like it’s just four corners, two of which are hairpins, but it’s a lot more than that. The long straights make it a very low down force track, probably less than Monza, but that can also affect the way the car handles in the corners,” said Mawson.

“There’s quite a few bumps in the braking areas so making sure that the car is settled into those areas is going to be critical to a good lap time.

“While I haven’t raced there before I’ve done quite a few laps in the simulator to prepare for the weekend and can’t wait to get on track this Friday.”

For the second consecutive round, the FIA European Formula 3 Championship is being contested on the same schedule as the DTM Championship. Mawson will take to the circuit for the first time on Friday morning for practice ahead of qualifying in the afternoon. Race 1 will be contested on Saturday before qualifying for Sunday’s two races will be contested from 4:25pm.

WEEKEND SCHEDULE
LOCAL TIME
Friday June 30
11:55am – 12:35pm Free Practice
12:40pm – 1:20pm Free Practice 2
5:50pm – 6:10pm Qualifying 1

Saturday July 1
11:10am – 11:45am Race 1
4:25pm – 4:45pm Qualifying 2/3

Sunday July 2
9:10am – 9:45am Race 2
2:50pm – 3:25pm Race 3

AUSTRALIAN EASTERN STANDARD TIME
Friday June 30
7:55pm – 8:35pm Free Practice 1
8:40pm – 9:20pm Free Practice 2
1:50am(Sat) – 2:10am Qualifying 1

Saturday July 1
7:10pm – 7:45pm Race 1
12:25am(Sun) – 12:45am Qualifying 2/3

Sunday July 2
5:10pm – 5:45pm Race 2
10:50pm – 11:25am Race 3

Australian Joey Mawson enjoyed a solid weekend of results in Round Four of the FIA European Formula 3 Championship in Hungary.

The PODIUM-backed driver started the weekend by posting the second fastest time in opening qualifying. Unfortunately, a penalty from the previous round dropped him to fifth on the grid but Mawson fought gallantly during the race to record a career-best fourth place finish.

“Qualifying second for race one was a real boost for everyone,” said Mawson.

“Unfortunately I had the penalty from the previous round but I managed to show some good speed and pass Callum Ilott (who won race two of the weekend) to finish fourth.”

After qualifying eighth for the remaining two races Mawson showed consistent speed to cross the line in seventh and eighth respectively. His result in race two saw him as the highest placed Rookie driver.

“Overall I’m very pleased with the weekend and it has given everyone in the team a real boost after a couple of disappointing rounds,” said Mawson.

“I had some good consistent speed all across the weekend which is very pleasing and it should give us some good momentum going forward.”

The next round in the Championship will be contested in two weeks time on the Norisring Street Circuit in Eastern Germany.

CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS (After Round 4 of 10)
1. Joel Eriksson – 183 points
2. Maximilian Günther – 178
3. Callum Illott – 162
4. Lando Norris – 158
5. Guanyu Zhou – 65
6. Jehan Daruvala – 61
7. Jake Hughes – 60
8. Ferdinand Habsburg – 52
9. Harrison Newey – 51
10. Mick Schumacher – 49
13. Joey Mawson – 36

Australian Joey Mawson is focused on turning his pace into podium results when the 2017 FIA European Formula 3 Championship heads to the Hungaroring this weekend.

After showing some impressive speed aboard his PODIUM-backed Van Amersfoort Racing entry in the previous round, Mawson is confident of once again competing near the front of the field in Hungary.

“During the last round in Pau I felt comfortable in the car and we had some really good speed but I just wasn’t able to transfer that into a result. I’ve spent a lot of time in between rounds studying the data and working with the team to give us the best possible opportunity this weekend,” said Mawson.

“During this time we’ve identified a couple of key areas that we can improve in and hopefully I’ll be able to use this to achieve my first podium finish in the Championship this weekend.”

The challenging 4.381km Hungaroring circuit is one that Mawson believes should produce some more great racing in the Championship.

“The Hungaroring has a little bit of everything in the layout. It’s got a few very fast sections and then a bit of a technical aspect, so we’ve really got to get a balanced car straight out of the box,” said Mawson.

“There are also a number of passing opportunities, which should produce some very exciting racing.”

Round 4 of the FIA European Formula 3 Championship is being contested on the same schedule as the DTM Championship this weekend. Mawson will take to the circuit for the first time on Friday morning for practice ahead of qualifying in the afternoon. Race 1 will be contested on Saturday morning before qualifying for Sunday’s two races will be contested from 4:15pm.

WEEKEND SCHEDULE

LOCAL TIME
Friday June 16
1:30pm – 2:10pm Free Practice
2:20pm – 3:00pm Free Practice 2
6:00pm – 6:20pm Qualifying 1

Saturday June 17
10:40am – 11:15am Race 1
4:15pm – 4:35pm Qualifying 2/3

Sunday June 18
11:05am – 11:40am Race 2
5:00pm – 5:35pm Race 3

AUSTRALIAN EASTERN STANDARD TIME
Friday June 16
9:30pm – 10:10pm Free Practice 1
10:20pm – 11:00pm Free Practice 2
2:00am(Sat) – 2:20am Qualifying 1

Saturday June 17
6:40pm – 7:15pm Race 1
12:15am(Sun) – 12:35am Qualifying 2/3

Sunday June 18
7:05pm – 7:40pm Race 2
1:00am(Mon) – 1:35am Race 3

After a positive start to the weekend, Australian Joey Mawson’s run at Round Three of the FIA Formula 3 European Championship in France has ended in disappointment.

Competing at the famous Pau Grand Prix circuit, Mawson started the weekend by setting the fifth fastest time in practice before converting this into a fifth starting spot for Race One during qualifying.

In Race One Mawson made some early moves aboard his Van Amersfoort Racing entry to slot himself into third place. He would hold this position with consistent lap times until six minutes from the end when there was a short sprinkle of rain, the rear of car the moved sideways during a fast right hand turn and Mawson hit the wall side on causing heavy damage. Behind him Jake Dennis and Jake Hughes also had the same experience and slid off.

Qualifying 12th for Race Two meant that a good result was going to be challenging but Mawson got a solid start and held his position. On the penultimate lap whilst in 11th Mawson clipped a kerb on an unusual angle and damaged his rear suspension, as he could feel there was a problem he pulled into the pits meaning he was classified 16th at the end.

Starting from sixth for the final race Mawson was once again showing some good speed to be running near the front of the field. Unfortunately damage to his front wing during a restart after a safety car period ended his run.

“If I was to look at the positives I had a lot more speed here than what we did at Monza, but I wasn’t able to convert that into a result,” said Mawson.

“All weekend the car felt strong and despite not finishing the races I was able to show some good potential. I set the second fastest lap time in both race one and three and was right up there all weekend.

“It was a big step forward for the team, now we’ll go back to the workshop and look to step it up again for the next round.”

The next round of the championship is in four weeks time at Hungaroring on June 16-18.

CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS (After Round 3 of 10)
1. Joel Eriksson – 139 points
2. Lando Norris – 139
3. Maximilian Günther – 137
4. Callum Illott – 109
5. Ferdinand Habsburg – 51
6. Ralf Aron – 46
7. Mick Schumacher – 45
8. Harrison Newey – 43
9. Jake Dennis – 41
10. Jehan Daruvala – 40
15. Joey Mawson – 14

Australian Joey Mawson is getting set to do battle in the 76th edition of the famous Grand Prix de Pau in France this weekend.

The PODIUM-backed driver will contest races 7-9 in the 2017 FIA Formula 3 European Championship around the 2.7km street circuit with the Van Amersfoort Racing outfit.

Having competed at the event during his 2014 French Formula 4 campaign, it will be the second time Mawson has lined up on the tight layout.

“I raced in Pau during my year in the French F4 Championship so I’ve got a bit of a feel for the place, but this weekend will be another big learning experience,” said Mawson.

“I’m really excited, it’s the first street circuit of the year. Of the whole calendar it’s probably the one I’ve been looking forward to the most so far.

“The high aero of the Formula 3 cars should make it very exciting to drive around there and putting a good lap in around Pau will be very satisfying.”

Mawson knows that getting valuable track time during practice will be vital to setting the platform for a good weekend.

“Most street circuits are generally difficult to overtake on and Pau is very much like that as it’s very narrow. Qualifying well is going to be absolutely essential to how the weekend goes,” said Mawson.

“It’s important to collect as much data and do as many laps as possible in practice, the track is always evolving across the weekend. You start off with no grip and then it changes so much with every session.

“It’s really important to learn, get the laps in and continually stay on top of the conditions.”

Mawson believes his main focus for the weekend will be to continue to make progress and improving while adding to his championship points tally throughout the event.

Mawson will take to the circuit for the first of two 40-minutes practice sessions on Thursday morning ahead of Qualifying in the afternoon.  Race one will be contested at 11:10am on Saturday ahead qualifying for races two and three later in the day.  Sunday’s action will be highlighted by a pair of races.

WEEKEND SCHEDULE

LOCAL TIME
Friday May 19
10:15am – 10:55am Free Practice 1
11:00am – 11:40am Free Practice 2
3:25pm – 3:45pm Qualifying 1 – Group A
3:50pm – 4:10pm Qualifying 1 – Group B

Saturday May 20
11:10am – 11:45am Race 1
3:35pm – 3:55pm Qualifying 2/3 – Group A
4:00pm – 4:20pm Qualifying 2/3 – Group B

Sunday May 21
10:40am – 11:15am Race 2
4:00pm – 4:35pm Race 3

AUSTRALIAN EASTERN STANDARD TIME
Friday May 19
6:15pm – 6:55pm Free Practice 1
7:00pm – 7:40pm Free Practice 2
11:25pm – 11:45pm Qualifying 1 – Group A
11:50pm – 12:10am Qualifying 1 – Group B

Saturday May 20
7:10pm – 7:45pm Race 1
11:35pm – 11:55pm Qualifying 2/3 – Group A
12:00am (Sun) – 12:20am Qualifying 2/3 – Group B

Sunday May 21
6:40pm – 7:15pm Race 2
12:00am (Mon) – 12:35am Race 3

Australian Joey Mawson experienced a challenging weekend during Round Two of the 2017 FIA Formula 3 European Championship at Monza, Italy.

The PODIUM-backed driver fought gallantly across the weekend but was unable to show his true potential.

After qualifying tenth Mawson was fighting inside the top ten in Race One before he was caught up in an incident involving his Van Amersfoort Racing team-mate Pedro Piquet.  He would eventually be classified 14th.

In Race Two, Mawson made an impressive start to move up the order from his 13th starting position to be in a points-scoring position in the opening few laps.  After running as high as eighth, contact from a car behind him caused a puncture to his left-rear tyre.  As a result he was forced to pit and replaced the tyre ending his run towards the front.

Due to having his second fastest lap in Qualifying Two removed due to exceeding track limits, Mawson started the final race from 18th.  Determined to make the most of his opportunities Mawson was the big mover in the opening lap to charge his way inside the top ten.  He was then battling with Mick Schumacher and Pedro Piquet for ninth before dropping a few places.  His run ended after Marino Sato locked his brakes while making an attempt to pass Mawson.  The contact damaged Mawson’s right rear suspension and left him stranded.

“It was one of those weekends when nothing went right.  No matter what we tried with the car we just couldn’t extract the most amount of speed out of it which left me vulnerable in the races,” said Mawson.

“Every race I made some great starts and moved up the order in the early laps but I just couldn’t maintain the speed of the front runners.

“We continually improved across the weekend and gained with every session but we’ve still got to get a lot more out of the car to be fighting for podiums at the next round.”

After two rounds of the Championship Joel Eriksson leads the standings on 104 points ahead of Lando Norris on 103.  Mawson is 11th on 14 points.

The next round will be contested on the Pau street circuit in France on May 19-21.

CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS (After Round 2 of 10)
1. Joel Eriksson – 104 points
2. Lando Norris – 103
3. Callum Illott – 76
4. Maximilian Günther – 72
5. Mick Schumacher – 43
6. Jake Dennis – 38
7. Jehan Daruvala – 37
8. Ferdinand Habsburg – 35
9. Guanyu Zhou – 31
10. Jake Hughes – 16
11. Joey Mawson – 14

Australian Joey Mawson will head to the iconic Monza circuit in Italy for Round Two of the FIA Formula 3 European Championship this weekend.

After posting some impressive times during his initial Formula 3 test at the venue last year, the PODIUM-backed driver is excited about heading back to the world’s third oldest racing circuit.

“Racing at Monza is going to be very special. It’s one of those circuits that you always dream of racing on,” said Mawson.

“No matter what category it is the racing is always close and exciting. Due to the nature of the circuit it’s very hard to pull a gap.  As a result there is a lot of ‘chess games’ going on as drivers decide when to pass and when to defend, which makes it very exciting.”

While he may have recorded a pair of top ten finishes in his Formula 3 debut two weeks ago at Silverstone, Mawson has got his sights set on a significant speed improvement aboard his Van Amersfoort Racing entry in Italy.

“In between rounds myself and the team have been working hard to come out with an improved package at Monza. The test day on Wednesday should give us a really good guide for the weekend ahead,” said Mawson.

“My goal for the weekend is to continue scoring points and move up in the Championship standings. Qualifying well is important, which is something we didn’t get on top of at the opening round.”

Mawson will take to the 5.793km circuit for a test day on Wednesday ahead of practice beginning for the round on Friday. Qualifying 1 will follow this in the afternoon. Race One will then be held on Saturday morning ahead of Qualifying for Races Two and Three in the afternoon. A further pair of races that are 33 minutes plus one lap in duration will highlight Sunday.

After one round in the 10-event Championship Mawson is seventh in the standings on 14 points.

WEEKEND SCHEDULE
LOCAL TIME
Friday April 28
12:00pm – 12:40pm Free Practice 1
12:45pm – 1:25pm Free Practice 2
5:00pm – 5:20pm Qualifying 1

Saturday April 29
11:05am – 11:45am Race 1
4:45pm – 5:05pm Qualifying 2

Sunday April 30
11:00am – 11:40am Race 2
3:15pm – 3:55pm Race 3

AUSTRALIAN EASTERN STANDARD TIME
Friday April 28
8:00pm – 8:40pm Free Practice 1
8:45pm – 9:25pm Free Practice 2
1:00am – 1:20am (Sat) Qualifying 1

Saturday April 29
7:05pm – 7:45pm Race 1
12:45am – 1:05am (Sun) Qualifying 2

Sunday April 30
7:00pm – 7:40pm Race 2
11:15pm – 11:55pm Race 3