For Cameron Das this weekend marks a return to the familiar Spa-Francorchamps as the talented 18-year-old racer gears up for the third round of the 2018 Euroformula Open Championship. Already a podium scorer this season, Das looks to add to his tally this weekend over the course of the two races on offer.
With four races of the Euroformula Open Championship already complete following rounds in Estoril and Paul Ricard, the Baltimore native will now return to a track he has raced at in a previous season: Spa-Francorchamps, the infamous Formula One circuit. The tricky circuit in Belgium is a driver and spectator favorite with the challenges often compounded by changeable weather conditions. All in all, this unpredictability makes any weekend racing in the Ardennes forest a thrilling spectacle.
As the longest track on the 2018 calendar at 7.004km, Spa features iconic corners such as Raidillon, Eau Rouge and Pouhon to name a few. Hosting incredibly tense battles over the years this weekend will no doubt provide more fantastic racing with slip streaming and overtaking in abundance as Das looks to take advantage of everything on offer at a track he enjoys driving.
“Spa has to be my favorite track in the world,” Das said of the upcoming round. “It was also my favorite track in the simulator before racing there for real last year in British Formula Three. The combination of long straights, technical and flowing switchbacks and low downforce make it a challenging place. For all the challenge though, there is a tremendous reward for doing well!”
Reflecting on the intricacies of the circuit he added, “One of my favorite parts of Spa is sector two – after Pouhon (which is barely a lift in sixth gear) there is the fast and flowing switchbacks of the Campus corners. On a normal downforce setting, these corners would be straightforward, but to maximize the massive straights in sector one and three, we have to make the car somewhat lively which is incredibly exciting.”
As ever, Das will have testing on Friday before a qualifying and race on both Saturday and Sunday to look forward to.
Event timetable (local time):
Friday:
09:00 – 09:30 Free Practice 1
12:46 – 13:16 Free Practice 2
15:50 – 16:20 Free Practice 3
Saturday:
09:35 – 10:05 Qualifying 1
14:15 (13 laps) Race 1
Sunday:
09:00 – 09:30 Qualifying 2
13:25 (13 laps) Race 2