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mail your news to editorthegrid@yahoo.co.uk Sam Abay British Formula 3 International Series DONINGTON CLOSES THE CURTAIN ON ABAY'S ROOKIE F3 SEASON
Saturday saw the Oxia Carlin pilot qualify 6th for race one and back in an uncharacteristic 9th for race two, after intermittent rain during the second qualifying session produced an unusual grid. Dry but overcast conditions greeted the 24 drivers for race one on Sunday morning. A solid start saw Abay maintain his fifth place off the line, tucking in behind Nick Tandy at turn one. By lap 2 the Australian had past the Englishman for 5th and quickly set about applying pressure to the back of Dean Smith's Fortec entry. The Australian rookie stayed glued to the back of Smith's car for the remaining 27 laps and would greet the chequered flag in 5th, 4/10ths of a second adrift of his rival. An aggressive start from 9th on grid in race two saw Abay move past Steven Guerrero and Jay Bridger and up into 7th by the end of lap one, latching onto the back of Marc us Eric sson. By lap 6 the Australian was past the Swede and having inherited another position when Brendon Hartley was forced to pit, Abay set his sights on passing pole sitter Oliver Oakes for 5th. Two laps later the Oxia Carlin driver was past Oakes and closing on Sergio Perez. A fierce and riveting battle developed between the Australian youngster and the Mexican for the final spot on the podium, until, with 3 laps remaining a braking error into turn one, allowed Dean Smith past. Abay ending the season with his second 5th place of the weekend. "I would have loved that final spot on the podium today, but enjoyed a great battle with Sergio (Perez). I've learnt a huge amount this year, in what has been a very exiting season and I'd like to sincerely thank my backers and team for their tremendous support." said Abay.
QUALIFYING CRASH DAMPENS ABAY'S WEEKEND
With the mercury hitting 37 degrees, more steamy conditions were in store for the drivers of the British Formula 3 Championship for race two of the weekend on the streets of Bucharest . Australian rookie Sam Abay's ambitions to back up his 5th place from race one on Saturday suffered a major set-back when he clouted the wall during qualifying on Sunday morning, leaving the youngster down in 9th on the grid "The poor grid position will make this afternoon really rough, but we just need to put the incident behind us, put our head down and focus on the race." said Abay. A great start saw Abay gain two positions on the first lap from Marc us Eric sson and E steb an Guerrieri and move into 7th position. The gain was short-lived with a mistake by the Australian dropping him back down to 10th on the second lap. With the race settling into a pattern, Abay would move up to 8th by the chequered flag, benefiting from a collision between Max Chilton and Sergio Perez.
LAST LAP CLASH DENIES ABAY MAIDEN PODIUM
Rounds 17 and 18 of the British Formula 3 Championship proved character building for Carlin rookie Sam Abay, seeing him miss out on a maiden Formula 3 podium on the final lap of race two. Racing on the Silverstone circuit for the first time, the Australian struggled in the first qualifying session securing 10th on the grid for race one, before improving in the afternoon session to secure the 6th grid position for race two. A processional first race saw little change in position throughout the 26 strong field, Abay benefiting from a clash between Nick Tandy and Atte Mustonen to move up to 8th by the chequered flag. From the 6th grid position in race two, Abay made a lightening start with a forceful first lap seeing him move into 3rd, passing Brendon Hartley, Sergio Perez and executing a sensational move around the outside of Nick Tandy at Abbey. Settling in behind Oliver Turvey and Marc us Eric sson the Australian youngster looked comfortably set for his maiden podium before contact with 4th placed Nick Tandy which resulted in Abay ending his day in the gravel trap on the final corner of the final lap. "I'm obviously extremely frustrated to lose out on what would have been a solid result from a weekend that didn't start well for us. From the low of qualifying all the way back in 10th for race one, we worked hard to get ourselves up to speed and I would have loved to have rewarded the team with a podium." said the youngster. Team Principal Trevor Carlin added "It's a great shame for Sam who drove an awesome race but was tagged by Tandy on the last lap."
August 1-3 2008 FIRST LAP CLASH DENIES ABAY ON STRONG WEEKEND
Carlin rookie Sam Abay had reason to be confident going into rounds 15 & 16 of the British Formula 3 Championship on the Spa Francorchamps circuit in Belgium, after qualifying 4th and 3rd on his first visit to the legendary venue. Sunny skies greeted the 27 competitors for race one on Friday afternoon.When the lights went out, Abay got bottled up at the start as the cars jostled for position, ultimately losing out to Marcus Ericsson and Sergio Perez and dropping back to sixth. By the end of lap one Abay had pushed his way back past Perez and was planning his attack on Ericsson. By the end of lap two the Australian youngster had sliced past the Swede and back into 4th place, closing on the back of championship leader Jaime Alguersuari in a battle for 3rd. That hard fought contest would last the remaining 10 laps, but with Abay unable find a way past the Spaniard he would cross the line in Alguesuari wheel tracks to finish 4th. Race two would unfortunately be a shorter affair for the young Australian. From his third place grid slot, Sam Abay just managed to avoid Turvey and found himself immediately in a battle into turn one with Marcus Ericsson. Contact between the two at the first corner resulted in a puncture for Abay, who had a long drive back to the pits. Returning to the track with a new tyre, Abay's race was effectively over, but the young Australian later showed his potential by setting the second quickest lap time of the race. "It was obviously disappointing to have blotted my copybook in race two, but I feel we've taken another important step forward this weekend. We've quite comfortably been towards the front all weekend and had a particularly good chance to deliver a great result in race two." said the disappointed rookie. photo ‘Sam Abay Motorsport’ ABAY ON TOP FORM AT SPA Australian youngster Sam Abay was on top form on his first visit to the majestic Spa Francorchamps circuit in Belgium . Set amongst the picturesque Ardennes forest, Spa's sweeping 7.004 km layout is famed as the ultimate challenge for the modern day racing driver and Abay was immediately quick recording the 4th fastest time in the final practice on Friday as he familarised himself with the circuit. "It's obviously a longer and more challenging layout than the other circuit's we visit and unfortunately, as a first timer you don't get a lot of laps in practice to learn all the nuances of the track, but we're looking strong going into qualifying and the track is just fantastic." said Abay. As qualifying got underway for race one on Thursday afternoon, the Carlin drivers were the last to exit the pit lane, with 10 minutes of the 30 minute session already gone. Abay wasted no time once he hit the track, jumping straight to provisional pole on his first lap. As drivers traded positions in the r em aining 15 minutes, Abay would go on to claim the 4th qualifying position. Qualifying for race two took place Friday morning and once again the Carlin drivers r em ained in the pits for the first 10 minutes of the session. Abay was the first Carlin driver to em erge, the rookie's first flying lap placing him second on the timing screens. Within the space of the next few laps the Carlin drivers traded provisional pole position, with Brendon Hartley taking his turn at the front, followed by Abay and then Oliver Turvey. A yellow flag at the end of the session put a halt to any further improvements, Abay securing 3rd position on the grid behind Oliver Turvey and Fortec's Marc us Eric sson. "The track was quite different from yesterday. The grip level was different and I think the drop in t em perature probably helped. It was a bit unfortunate that there was a yellow flag, as I felt that we could have gone quicker and that a front row start was certainly on the cards." said the Australian. Team principal Trevor Carlin added "Sam deserves particular praise. He's never raced or tested here before, and has come along and qualified in the top four for both races."
QUALIFYING PENALTY LEADS TO TOUGH WEEKEND
Carlin rookie Sam Abay set an impressive 4th fastest time in qualifying for race one on his first visit to the Brands Hatch Grand Prix Circuit, before being one of five drivers penalised for recording their quickest lap whilst a caution flag was being displayed on the circuit. With the penalty sending Abay to the rear of the grid for race one and starting 10th on the grid in race two, what had started as a strong weekend quickly turned to a test of character for the youngster. "This is my first time driving on the full Grand Prix circuit at Brands Hatch and I love the track. Obviously the qualifying penalty has been extremely costly, but that's behind us and we just need to get on with the job and charge from the back." said the Australian. Sunny skies greeted the grid of 27 competitors for race one of the weekend. Abay wasted no time beginning a stunning charge through the field when the lights went out. By the end of lap one the youngster had already passed five cars. By lap two, the Australian had moved ahead of Sebastian Hohenthal, the following lap past Stefan Wilson, Salman Al Khalifa and Viktor Jensen. Three laps into the race the Australian had already moved up to 17th position and set about closing the gap to Steven Guerrero. By lap 6 that task had been completed and he stormed past Columbian as well as Jonathan Legris, and Jay Bridger the following lap. Now 14th Abay gained another position as Max Chilton crashed out and with another successful pass on Ricardo Teixeira, Abay found himself in 12th position having gained an impressive 14 places in 11 laps. However it was there that the Australian's charge was halted, with a yellow flag brought out when Alistair Jackson suffered a heavy accident exiting Surtees bend. The field circulated behind the safety car for several laps before officials decided the situation called for the race to be red flagged, with Abay classified 12th. "Yellow flags haven't been kind to us this weekend, but I thought our luck had changed when the yellow came out during the race. We were already up to 12th and I thought we'd probably be a reasonable chance to get into the top 10 and salvage some points if they got the race restarted quickly. Unfortunately the situation was more serious than we realised and called for the race to be stopped. We all have our fingers crossed that Alistair has escaped serious injury." Team principal Trevor Carlin added, "Sam demonstrated some great overtaking moves. It's disappointing that the race ended under a red flag, but we understand that safety is the priority and hope that Ali is ok." Race two proved a less eventful affair, Abay moving from 10th to 9th off the grid and latching onto the back of Sebastian Hohenthal. With no further passing amongst the top ten, the Australian would gather another two places when Brendon Hartley and Marcus Ericsson retired from the race allowing him to salvage 7th place from a challenging weekend.
SEASON HIGH FOR AUSTRALIAN ROOKIE
Rounds 11 & 12 of the 2008 British Formula 3 Championship saw Australian rookie Sam Abay claim a season high 4th place, at the ultra fast Thruxton circuit. The Oxia Carlin driver qualified a solid 7th for race one before a disappointing second qualifying session would leave him down in 11th place on the grid for race 2. "The first qualifying session was reasonable, but I'm extr em ely annoyed having been held up by a few other drivers on my quick laps in the second session, who were either doing it deliberately, or at best weren't paying much attention to what was going on around th em ." added Abay. The field of 26 cars took the start in race one under cloudy skies. From 7th on the grid Abay made a strong getaway to pass Mexican Sergio Perez on lap 1 moving to 6th position then set his sights on closing the gap to battle between Raikkonen Robertson driver John Martin and team mate Jaime Alguesuari. Abay was soon swarming over the back of his compatriot’s car, with a mistake by Martin allowing the youngster through into 5th, he continued his charge after championship leader Jaime Alguesuari, passing the Spaniard one lap later for 4th. By half race distance with Abay was now closing on Carlin team mate Oliver Turvey, a maiden Formula 3 podium looking a distinct possibility. However despite reducing the gap to the Brit from 3.1 to 1.6 seconds in the last 5 laps, the Australian would have to be content with a season high 4th place. "It's good to have secured my best result for the season. We've been up the pointy end a few times this year, but haven't converted this to results. I've learnt a lot in the first half of the season, we now need to take the next step forward." said the Australian rookie. Team Principal Trevor Carlin added, "Sam did a fantastic job today. We always see lots of overtaking at Thruxton, it's a circuit which allows the real racers to shine through and Sam did a great job to move up to fourth. I think his first podium position in British F3 is just around the corner." Starting back in 11th, race two would be less eventful for the youngster who managed to gain 2 positions and would eventually take home 2 more valuable championship points finishing 9th.
NO SATISFACTION AT SNETTERTON
"In these conditions and with so many cars on such a small circuit, qualifying was an absolute lottery today. But it's the same for everyone and put simply, I just didn't get myself a clear run in traffic when it counted, It puts us very much on the back foot this weekend" said the youngster. Sunny conditions greeted the 27 drivers for race one on Sunday morning. A great start from 11th on the grid saw Abay gain two positions on the first lap, forcing his way past Atte Mustonen and Jay Bridger, to move up to 9th place and onto the tail of Marc us Eric sson. As Ericsson moved past Nick Tandy, a battle emerged between Tandy, Mustonen, Abay and Grubmuller for 7th place. On lap 15, Grubmuller found a way past the Australian, dropping him to 10th. With Tandy now holding up the pursuing pack, Mustonen, Grubmuller and Abay formed a closely packed queue behind the Englishman. The group extended their lead over the following pack, led by 11th placed Jay Bridger, as they continued to climb all over the back of Tandy, but try as they might, no one was able to find a way past the Mygale driver. With positions remaining unchanged until the chequered flag, Abay would claim another points finish crossing the line in 10th position, but was left far from satisfied with the result. "We all got bottled up behind Tandy, and credit to him he did a great job holding us off, but it was just frustrating we weren't able to find a way past, because all three of us had a lot more pace." Another good start saw Abay move from 10th to 9th at the start of race 2, but his race ended almost before it began, clashing with Nick Tandy at the second turn on lap 1, before having to pit for a puncture. Rejoining the field a lap down, Abay's race would turn into an extended test session. "We endured our most challenging weekend so far, all stemming from our poor qualifying. If you don't qualify well, you pay the price. This weekend we paid the price" said a candid Abay.
ABAY SHOWS PACE AT ROCKINGHAM
The rain that was experienced the previous day in qualifying gave way to dry conditions on Monday morning, for the start of the first race. A slow getaway from 4th on the grid saw Abay drop to 5th as the field raced off the line. It wasn't long before the Australian tagged onto the back of Walter Grubmuller and, by lap 2, Abay had regained 4th place. In doing so he had been joined in the battle by Swede, Marcus Ericsson. The Fortec driver found a way past the Australian youngster on lap 4, as the race settled into a holding pattern at the front. Unchallenged, Abay appeared to have a comfortable 5th place under control, but by lap 17 the long expected rain started to fall and drivers struggled for grip on slick tyres. The deteriorating conditions caught Abay out and a mistake on the penultimate lap allowed Oliver Turvey, championship leader Sergio Perez and Sebastian Hohenthal past, dropping the Australian to 8th place. "It's good to have scored more points, but I'm obviously disappointed to have ended the race with a mistake, as we comfortably had a hold on 5th. But we're here to gain experience and little mistakes like that are all part of the learning game." A wet race 2 presented a very different challenge, with Abay having to start towards the rear of the field in 23rd position. An aggressive opening lap by the Australian saw him pass an incredible 8 cars, moving from 23rd to 15th by the end of lap 1. A caution period to retrieve the stranded car of Henry Arundel further aided Abay's cause as the field closed up behind the safety car. As racing resumed, Abay picked up where he'd left off, passing Ricardo Teixeira on lap 4, Alistair Jackson on lap 6 and Sergio Perez on lap 7, establishing himself in 10th position before continuing his charge towards Marcus Ericsson and Brendon Hartley ahead. By lap 14, the flying youngster had caught Ericsson and Hartley. One lap later he'd forced his way past Ericsson and had his sights firmly set on the 8th place, held by his Carlin team mate. An error on the final lap whilst looking for a way past the New Zealander, allowed both Ericsson and Turvey past, leaving Abay to greet the chequered flag in 11th position. "I don't like having to start any race at the back of the grid, but without a doubt that was probably as much fun as I've had in a racing car. The first half of the race was just fantastic, we were passing people left and right, it was just like being back in my living room on the Playstation!" Team Principal Trevor Carlin added, “Sam had an unlucky weekend, but came back with a great drive through the field in race two."
ABAY UP FRONT IN THRILLING MONZA BATTLE
Racing at Monza for the first time, Abay made a scintillating start on a damp but drying track, pushing his way through middle of front row starters Matteo Chinosi and Max Chilton, to take the lead into the first chicane. The young Australian led the first 5 laps with team mate Jaime Alguersuari and championship leader Sergio Perez close behind. On lap 6 Alguersuari slipstreamed past Abay down the front straight, only to have Perez pass both the Carlin drivers and take the lead. In the battle that followed, Abay regained 2nd position from Alguersuari, but then both Carlin drivers were relegated to 3rd and 4th as E steb an Guerrieri found a way past both. By lap 10, with Abay now 4th, the classic Monza slipstreaming battle continued, Oliver Turvey finding a way past his Australian team mate, only for Abay to counter attack. With his passing attempt unsuccessful, Abay found himself under pressure from Brendon Hartley and Marcus Ericsson, before making a mistake in lap 12 and missing the first chicane. The Australian was forced to take to the escape road and rejoin the race in 9th. A determined Abay would charge back up to 6th place where he would greet the chequered flag in a thrilling race that saw the top 8 cars separated by 7.4 seconds at the line. "It was good to have led a race so early in the season. I’ve learned a great deal about using the slip streams to my advantage from the race and I will take that forward to Sunday’s race 2." said the youngster.
DRAMATIC END TO THE WEEKEND FOR ABAY
DRAMATIC END TO THE WEEKEND FOR ABAY The second
round of the 2008 British Formula 3 Championship proved dramatic for
Oxia Carlin driver Sam Abay. sson made
contact, sending the Swede into a spin. Abay took to the grass in
avoidance, but with his slick tyres soaked from the excursion, spun back
across the track into the path of Henry Arundel who couldn’t avoid the
Aussie’s car, t-boning him at 200kph. Further mayhem ensued behind,
with Esteban Guerrieri, Oliver Oakes and Niall Quinn all colliding at
high speed, bringing out the red flag. All drivers involved escaped
injury, but a marshal was treated trackside for a broken leg before
being transported to the trackside medical centre.
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Expectations
were high after a strong showing by Sam Abay in Thursday's practice
sessions, ahead of the final round of the Lloyds TSB 2008 British
Formula 3 Championship at Donington 
A
disappointing performance in two qualifying sessions marred by
torrential rain and red flags, left Formula 3 rookie Sam Abay with a
challenging task in Sunday's British Formula 3 races at Snetterton, from
which he would have to start from 11th for race one and 10th for race
two. 
Oxia
Carlin rookie, Sam Abay started the two British Formula 3 races at
Rockingham from opposite ends of the grid. The youngster secured
another impressive second row starting position for race 1, replicating
his efforts from Monza the previous week, but then speared off the
circuit at the start of Sunday's afternoon qualifying session to
determine the grid for Monday's second race from which he would start
23rd. 
In
just his third Formula 3 event, Australian rookie, Sam Abay consolidated
his reputation for being fast in the wet, leading the Carlin squad in a
rain affected qualifying session, to secure 3rd place on the grid for
the first of two races at the historic Monza circuit in Italy in this
weekend. 
The
second round of the 2008 British Formula 3 Championship proved dramatic
for Oxia Carlin driver Sam Abay.