{"id":5756,"date":"2023-04-02T10:21:06","date_gmt":"2023-04-02T14:21:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sundaymanagement.com\/?p=5756"},"modified":"2023-04-04T10:49:30","modified_gmt":"2023-04-04T14:49:30","slug":"podium-and-points-for-crawford-down-under","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sundaymanagement.com\/index.php\/2023\/04\/02\/podium-and-points-for-crawford-down-under\/","title":{"rendered":"Podium and Points for Crawford Down Under"},"content":{"rendered":"

Experiences racing\u2019s highs and lows in third F2 weekend<\/em><\/p>\n

MELBOURNE, Australia (2 April 2023) \u2013 Running in only his third weekend of FIA Formula 2 Championship competition, American Formula 1 hopeful Jak Crawford had an impressive debut down under, recording his first F2 podium after scoring second in Saturday\u2019s Sprint race at the Albert Park circuit prior to the Australia Grand Prix. The weekend also delivered disappointment, as Crawford\u2019s effort to convert his debut podium into another points-paying result in Sunday\u2019s Feature race was thwarted when he was taken out early in the race.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was really fun, and I\u2019m happy to get my first points and my first podium,\u201d the 17-year-old Red Bull Junior Team driver said of his first-ever weekend in Albert Park. \u201cIt\u2019s been a tough start to the season, but we had good pace this weekend. It was a crazy weekend with mixed conditions.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 17-year-old Red Bull Junior Team driver from Texas ran with the contenders from the time Hitech Pulse-Eight Racing unloaded his car. He was fourth in the opening practice, running near the top throughout the session.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were quick in practice, which was a really good sign for the start of the weekend,\u201d Crawford said. \u201cWe made a lot of changes since our last race at Saudi Arabia, and I\u2019m glad those paid off.\u201d<\/p>\n

That momentum carried into qualifying, where he again ran in the top five for the first half, run in rain and treacherous conditions. He fell to ninth in the second half, before a late red flag negated his final lap that likely would have have moved him up.<\/p>\n

\u201cQualifying was a bit unfortunate, because in the first half I was in the top three, top four every lap I did,\u201d he said. \u201cI then pitted early to put on a new set of tires, but I was never able to get in a lap in during the second half because I had a lot of traffic and was unlucky. But I was still happy with ninth at the end.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, qualifying ninth put him on the outside of the front row for Saturday\u2019s 22-lap Sprint race. He made several moves for the lead on the opening lap before settling into second, and held that position when a spin by a competitor resulted in a lengthy caution. When it began raining under the yellow, Crawford remained on slick tires. Rain let off when racing resumed with a two-lap charge to the finish, with Crawford finishing only 1.120-seconds behind the winner \u2013 earning eight points, his first F2 championship counters.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Sprint race was a crazy one,\u201d he recalled. \u201cIt rained a lot just before the race \u2013 which was unexpected \u2013 before we committed to the dry tire. It was really tricky the first few laps, but as the race went on it got dry. I got a few attempts at the lead, but I wasn\u2019t able to quite get the move done, I stayed with the leader in DRS for quite a few laps, but then I lost it. Then, near the end of the race, there was a safety car and it started to rain.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat made it really interesting and very hectic for the teams and for myself. We had to commit to staying out, and at the end, it started to dry up. At the safety car restart, I was hoping I could get close again, but he had a good restart and I wasn\u2019t able to. I wanted the win pretty bad. I was really close at the beginning. I had a bit more pace over the first couple of laps, but then he got away.\u201d<\/p>\n

Crawford started ninth for the Feature race, held in ideal conditions. He held ninth on the opening lap, coming out on top in a back-and-forth battle. Three laps later, his race was over when a competitor moved to his inside and then came across the track, forcing Crawford into a barrier.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Feature race was a different story, because it was completely dry,\u201d he said. \u201cWe knew a lot of the guys ahead of me were going to start on the soft-compound tires, so we decided to start on the medium compound. I thought that was a good option. I made an overtake, but also was overtaken, but I was still in the top-10 after the first few laps. I was trying to make the tires last a long time. But in the end I got a bit unlucky and was taken out of the race. There wasn\u2019t much I could do at that point. I really would have liked to seen how the race would have played out, because I think we could have gone on for a very good result, but at the end of the day, it is what it is. I\u2019m still happy with the weekend.\u201d<\/p>\n

Next up is the Azerbaijan Grand Prix on April 29-30, to be held at the Baku City Circuit.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re looking good now, so I\u2019m really looking forward to the next weekend,\u201d he said. \u201cHopefully, we can have the same pace. This will be my first time going to Baku. It will be a new track, a new country for me. The track looks really fun, and Hitech as a team has had great success there in the past. I can\u2019t wait to drive there, and I hope we have good speed.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Experiences racing\u2019s highs and lows in third F2 weekend MELBOURNE, Australia (2 April 2023) \u2013 Running in only his third weekend of FIA Formula 2 Championship [\u2026]<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":5757,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,58],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5756","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-jak-crawford-racing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sundaymanagement.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5756","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sundaymanagement.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sundaymanagement.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sundaymanagement.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sundaymanagement.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5756"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sundaymanagement.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5756\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5758,"href":"https:\/\/sundaymanagement.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5756\/revisions\/5758"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sundaymanagement.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5757"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sundaymanagement.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5756"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sundaymanagement.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5756"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sundaymanagement.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5756"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}