Penalty costs Queen podium finish at Donington Park

Third at checkered flag, American falls to eighth for exceeding track limits

DERBYSHIRE, England (10 Sept. 2024) –   After crossing the Donington Park finish line in third, it appeared that Colin Queen had checked off another accomplishment in his accelerating open-wheel career with a GB3 Partnered by the BRDC podium result. But unfortunately a post-race time penalty over a disputed track limits violation left him eighth in the final standings after a challenging but promising race weekend.

The event also showed promise off of the track for Queen, as he organized a successful fundraiser in partnership with GB3 and the British Heart Foundation that raised thousands of pounds.

The 19-year-old Floridian backed by ONE Sotheby’s International Realty started fourth for the 17-lap weekend finale, and quickly moved up to third in the No. 62 fielded by Fortec Motorsports. He was able to hold off several challenges throughout the event, and closed in to battle with the second-place finisher in the closing laps. He also managed to set the fastest lap on two occasions, barely missing fast lap of the race.

Sunday’s second 25-minute race was held in clear conditions, in contrast to a weekend which saw on-and-off showers leading to treacherous conditions. While denied his first podium, Queen now has nine top-10 finishes with one weekend of racing remaining in the 2024 season.

“Sure, it was disappointing, but I can take a lot of positives away from it,” Queen said. “I shot myself in the foot. I used up all my free ones two laps into the race and got a black-and-white (warning) flag. I held on most of the race. Then, with one lap remaining, I got a bit unlucky and the car wouldn’t turn and it went straight over the sensors. I knew then it was over, but it didn’t stop me from doing my best performance.

“We really had good pace in that last race. I just got nicked for fast lap of the race by about a tenth (of a second). It was really good, really consistent and the car was fantastic. Then at the end, I was able to apply pressure on second.”

Coming off a one-month break, Queen was third-fastest in Thursday’s testing, and was sixth in Friday’s second practice session.

“The car was there and we had good pace from the first session,” he said. “Friday we were working with different things, so the pace wasn’t ultimately there, but Thursday showed what we could do and it showed in the third race. I wasn’t worried by any means. I knew what we were capable of, and we delivered. Just unfortunate to get that penalty.”

Saturday’s qualifying was held in rainy conditions. Queen timed in ninth fastest, and had a faster lap negated when a red flag waved with two minutes remaining.

“Other people were on good laps as well, but I think ours would have put us on the second row,” he said. “Unfortunate, but sometimes it’s all based on luck. We knew what we were capable of.”

Sunday morning’s second 20-minute race of the weekend started on wet tires. He got out in eighth position, and battled for seventh for much of the event. His rain tires began falling off in the closing laps, although he was able to hang on to finish eighth.

“It was raining a lot for about 15 minutes, and then it stopped,” he said. “The track was drying a bit, but because it was so cold it wasn’t going to be optimal. We held eighth the whole race, but the rear tires were fading off quickly. At the end, everyone was hanging on for dear life.”

The opening race on Saturday afternoon was held following a light rain on a drying track, putting competitors on slick tires despite wet patches off the racing line. Queen moved up a position to eighth at the start but fell to 10th on lap five. He then had several off-course excursions due to hitting the wet sections of the course that sent him through the grass, losing addition positions while regaining control. He finished 19th.

“That was one of those that you just have to throw away and forget about,” Queen said. “That’s all I can say. You hit a wet patch for long enough and the tires cool down quickly, and it took forever to heat back up again. When I came off the grass, it was almost like when I came out of the pits, the tires got that cold.”

Queen is now looking for the season finale, when the GB3 campaign concludes at Brands Hatch on Sept. 28-29.

“We were really fast at Brands Hatch in midseason testing,” he explained. “I think we had the sixth-fastest time overall, and we were consistently in the top-seven in each of the sessions. I love Brands Hatch, and I’m really looking forward to it.”