Colin Queen Enjoys Best GB3 Weekend To Date With Dazzling Dutch Display
American motorsport star Colin Queen put together his best GB3 Championship weekend to date, narrowly missing out on a first podium finish at Zandvoort in the Netherlands last weekend (13/14 July).
The rapid US teenager had shown superb race craft during the first four meetings of his debut GB3 campaign, fighting through the field in recent overseas visits to Spa-Francorchamps and Hungaroring.
Backed by ONE Sotheby's International Realty on the #62 Fortec car, the 19-year-old travelled to another Formula 1 circuit, Zandvoort, for Round 5, concluding a three-part leg of European rounds. The Netherlands-based venue greeted Queen with mixed weather conditions from day one, dealing with a smattering of dry and wet outings during testing.
Queen’s wet weather pace across Friday was particularly eye-catching, keeping up a trend all season as the Floridian excelled in damp conditions at Oulton Park and then again at Spa. That pace was vindicated on Saturday, when rain affected both the morning’s Qualifying session and the first of the weekend’s three races.
The crucial Qualifying run ended with Queen improving his efforts to put his Fortec Motorsport car in the mid-pack, comfortably quicker than his team-mate and 14th on the grid for the first race later that afternoon. His second-best time was good enough for 12th, which is where he would be put on the grid for race two.
The first 11-lap Sprint of three kicked off with tricky conditions underfoot. Slick tyres were the choice despite rain making one half of the circuit more treacherous than the other - something that did not deter Queen in what was a phenomenal recovery drive. Threading the needle between three rivals on a hectic first lap, Queen ended the first tour in ninth position, five spots better off instantly.
He continued the climb the field, setting the quickest first sector time on his charge where he caught a train of cars battling over second place. A pass on Noah Ping and two drivers falling off the road ahead boosted him to as high as sixth, as Queen battled seven places higher than his grid slot to take his best ever GB3 finish in seventh by the chequered flag.
Starting 12th for race two on Sunday morning, the American put in another sublime performance. He was able to dodge a four-car wreck right in front of him at the start which brought the race to a halt, but on the restart he circulated in ninth place. What followed was a fighting charge through the field, picking off Arthur Rogeon under braking into Tarzan hairpin and slipstreaming by Nikita Johnson with a rapid restart from a safety car interruption.
That soon became fourth after problems for two rivals colliding ahead, Queen pulling off a brave move around the outside on the banked final corner to pass Patrick Heuzenroeder and chase down McKenzy Cresswell - narrowly missing out on a podium but securing his best GB3 finish to date in a fantastic fourth.
Queen began the third and final Sprint from 13th on the grid, with eyes on matching his earlier heroics once again. Despite a frenzied fight breaking out around him and contact from Josh Irfan at Tarzan, Queen took advantage of dramas in the final sector to pull off an astonishing move around the outside of four drivers at the banked corner that ended the lap, almost shaving the concrete wall as he went by to claim ninth at the chequered flag.
Frustratingly, his race three result was stripped from him after a team-related parc ferme infraction post-race, out of his own hands. It did not deter from Queen’s best weekend of the season however, climbing the championship table after gaining 19 places across the weekend’s three races.
Colin Queen: “I’m very happy with how we performed at Zandvoort. It was definitely our best showing of the season, and the team gave me a really quick car on Sunday.
“There was a lot going on out there over the three races, but we found a good feeling with the car in the races especially, and that showed as we were able to get a good run through the fast corners which allowed us to fight and go for overtakes. It’s a shame that we didn’t quite get a podium which we thought we had after some decisions from race two, but to come from 12th to fourth and get our best result of the season shows we’re making great progress. We’re looking forward to Silverstone now.”
The American heads back to the UK for the next event of the GB3 calendar, returning to Silverstone over the weekend of 27/28 July.
Photos: Jakob Ebrey Photography