Aurelia Nobels enjoyed a positive weekend in the Eurocup-4 Spanish Winter Championship at Portimao as she gained 25 positions across the three races, bouncing back from a damp first qualifying to move through the field from 29th on the grid to finish 14th in race one.
Brazilian racer Aurelia Nobels enjoyed a positive weekend in the Eurocup-4 Spanish Winter Championship at Portimao as she gained 25 positions across the three races.
Overcoming adversity following a damp first qualifying session, Nobels showed great racecraft to move through from 29th on the grid to finish 14th in race one. A second top-20 followed in the sprint race, before Aurelia banked valuable experience in a hard-fought final race.
On her Formula Winter Series debut at Jerez, Nobels impressed as she overcame adversity during the weekend. The ART Grand Prix driver displayed excellent race pace, culminating in a top-15 finish from the back of the grid in race three. Similarly to Jerez, Portimao was a new circuit for Aurelia and therefore she was targeting a weekend of improvement as she got back up to speed with the Tatuus T-421 machine.
On Friday, the Eurocup-4 Spanish Winter Championship drivers participated in two test sessions ahead of the three races over the course of the weekend. In the first session at Portimao, Nobels set the 28th fastest time and was just one second away from the overall top-10. Improving by a quarter of a second in session two, Aurelia ended the day inside the top-25 and was making good progress in a close and competitive field.
For the first qualifying session on Saturday morning, the drivers faced a further challenge with a damp track at Portimao. An early red flag also disrupted the session, however Nobels contended for a top-20 spot during the first half of qualifying.
The ART Grand Prix driver remained on the wet tyres while a number of her rivals fitted the slicks, which proved to be the faster choice in the closing stages of the session. Nobels’ fastest time placed her in 30th position, however her lap was not within the requisite time required to be officially classified.
The track had dried for the first race of the event with Aurelia starting from 29th on the grid. It was a fantastic initial launch from Nobels who immediately gained positions off the line, before the ART Grand Prix driver had to take avoiding action at turn five. At the conclusion of lap one, the Brazilian racer was into 24th position with the safety car deployed shortly after.
Following an incident between Yani Stevenheydens and Stepan Suslov, a lengthy neutralisation period was required to recover both cars. Under the safety car, Santino Panetta pitted for a new front wing and therefore Nobels restarted from 23rd position.
A great restart saw Aurelia quickly gain four further positions, before being shuffled back to 22nd spot. An incident for Niklas Schaufler and Santiago Baztarrica led to the deployment of the safety car with Aurelia now back inside the top-20.
As the race resumed, Nobels overtook Philippe Amand Karras while also capitalising on a spin for Lorenzo Campos to move into 18th position. After Jean Paul Karras and Vivek Kanthan made contact at turn five on lap 12, the safety car was required for a third time.
Nobels had avoided the incidents ahead of her and with the race ending behind the safety car, the ART Grand Prix driver took the checkered flag in 16th after gaining 13 positions in barely three green flag laps. Her final result was improved further following a number of penalties assessed to her rivals meaning Nobels was classified in an excellent 14th.
After her successful recovery drive in race one, Nobels was looking to replicate this in the shorter, sprint race on Saturday afternoon. Once again lining up from 29th on the grid, Aurelia used her experience to make a superb start and gain eight positions on lap one to move into 21st position. The race was quickly neutralised as the car of Sacha Van’t Pad Bosch required recovery with the race resuming two laps later.
Nathan Tye pitted for a new front wing under the safety car and therefore Nobels restarted inside the top-20. Although Aurelia lost initially lost out to a recovering Hudson Schwartz, on lap five she overtook teammate Lia Block, while also moving ahead of Santino Panetta and Filippo Fiorentino, with the latter being spun out from the overall race lead.
On lap six, Nobels used her racecraft to gain four further positions as she overtook Schwartz, Matus Ryba, Wiktor Dobrzanski and Andrej Petrovic to run as high as 14th. Her progress was then interrupted by a second safety car as Kyuho Lee’s car required recovery.
On the restart, Aurelia continued to move forward as she passed Philippe Amand Karras and Gino Trappa. Despite losing out to Polish racer Jan Przyrowski, Nobels was now in 13th position as the sprint race entered its final stages.
Nobels was forced to defend from Nathan Tye and the Rodin Motorsport driver moved ahead on the final lap, while Ean Eyckmans also passed Aurelia through the final corners. Nonetheless, the ART Grand Prix driver still took the checkered flag inside the top-15, before a five second time penalty for track limit infringements dropped her to 19th in the final classification.
Conditions were dry for Sunday morning’s second qualifying session and therefore Nobels was looking to secure a more competitive starting position. It was an uninterrupted session and Aurelia fastest time of a 1:46.187 was the best lap of her entire event. As a result, the ART Grand Prix qualified in 28th position but was less than a second away from the top-5.
Starting the final race at Portimao from 28th position, Nobels made a promising start by gaining two positions on the opening lap while running directly behind teammate Lia Block.
The early stages of the race then became more challenging for the young Brazilian driver as on lap two Noah Monteiro moved his Campos Racing machine ahead, while Nobels lost two more spots by lap five.
However, Aurelia was determined to fight back and overtook Lorenzo Campos on lap seven, before passing Matus Ryba as he pitted two laps later. Emma Felbermayr then required a new front wing which elevated Nobels to 26th, before the ART Grand Prix driver set a series of fast lap times. On lap 10, Nobels was back into the top-25 with the aid of a personal best lap and this brought her close to Polish racer Wiktor Dobrzanski.
While attacking the Tecnicar by Amtog machine ahead, this allowed Campos to close back in. After resisting the challenge from the Monlau Motorsport driver, Campos found a way though on lap 14. Aurelia’s pace in the closing stages was strong and she moved back inside the top-25 spot after Alfio Spina went off-track.
A fantastic last lap pass on Dobrzanski saw Nobels take the checkered flag in 24th position, before a track limits penalty dropped her to 28th in the final classification.
Despite a challenging final race at Portimao, it was a positive weekend for the ART Grand Prix driver as she displayed her fighting qualities in a competitive field of drivers. Although the first two races of the event were heavily interrupted by safety car periods, Nobels used her experience to fight among the top-15 drivers while making considering progress.
Aurelia will now be joining up with her fellow F1 Academy drivers for the first official pre-season test which is held at Jerez in the coming days.
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