Tough Silverstone weekend for Queen

Floridian ninth in Saturday’s opening race

SILVERSTONE, England (29 July 2024) – Colin Queen scored his fourth-consecutive top-10 finish in the GB3 Championship Partnered by the BRDC in Saturday’s opening race of the weekend at the Silverstone Circuit.

It was a tough round for the ONE Sotheby’s International Realty-backed driver, set up by a 15th-place in qualifying on the historic 3.6-mile circuit. While he rebounded to finish ninth on Saturday, he placed 23rd and 13th in the two Sunday races.

“This weekend was one we will just have to learn from, and then wipe from my memory,” Queen said. “There’s no sugar coating for what happened. I just messed up qualifying, and that was the story. There were a few fun moments in the races – and I capitalized on them – but I need to be higher up [in qualifying].”

Queen’s No. 62 fielded by Fortec Motorsports was gridded 15th for Saturday’s 20-minute race, and gained three positions on the opening lap before a safety car on Lap 2 proved to be a momentum killer.

The caution resulted in the event being a 20-minute timed race instead of the scheduled 10 laps. Queen moved up to 10th with 4:23 remaining, and took ninth with two minutes on the clock. This continued a run that began in Zandvoort, where he finished seventh, fourth and ninth.

A tough qualifying session set the tone for the challenging weekend for Queen, a 19-year-old Floridian who resides in Silverstone during the racing season.

“We were sixth or seventh when we bolted on our first set of tires in qualifying,” Queen said. “We were pretty quick in all the practice session, so we were aiming to qualify in the top five. But when we put on the second set of tires, I didn’t piece it together, and that’s where the struggles of the weekend started happening. We didn’t maximize our advantages, and that set us up for poor races.”

In Saturday’s opening race, Queen was up three positions to 12th before a safety car slowed the field on the second of a scheduled 10 laps. He made an outside pass to take 10th following the restart with 6:45, and then took ninth with two minutes on the clock.

“I managed to salvage that race pretty well, but that’s about all I could have done,” he said. “I got a good start; managed my tires well; and had pretty good pace. I made some pretty good passes and overtakes.”

Queen also advanced two positions in Sunday morning’s race two, but fell back to 15th on the second lap. From there, he made a few bids for position, but light contact dropped him back early and a second incident sent him off to the back of the back and out of contention.

“I got tagged in Stowe and put to last, and at that point I wasn’t making much progress,” he said. “It was a bad race for us.”

Queen went three-wide to gain two positions to 13th following a restart in Sunday afternoon’s 15-lap final race that reversed the top-12 qualifiers. He pressured 12th position in the closing laps, but could only manage 13th.

“I made up two positions and had great pace again, but once again, qualifying set us back,” Queen explained. “We have the car, and I know I have the ability to compete with the front runners.”

Only two weekends remain on the GB3 schedule at a pair of British circuits – Donington Park on Sept. 7-8 and Brands Hatch on Sept. 28-29.

“Donington and Brands are both awesome circuits for me,” Queen said. “I hold the lap record in two cars around Donington, so that should be awesome. And I absolutely love Brands Hatch so am looking forward to the Finale!”