After a disappointing Race 1, with Jazeman Jaafar a blameless victim of an high speed crash, the third day of the Monza F.Renault 3.5 weekend saw ISR earn a deserved points finish at the end of an eventful Race 2. In what turned out to be a very close qualifying session – with 14 drivers in just one second – Jaafar made the most of his car’s potential to secure third spot on the grid, hence lining up on second row alongside Will Buller. The Malaysian talent was ready to fight for a podium finish, but his plans were spoiled by a slow start, that saw him drop to P6 behind Gasly. Way quicker than his rival in the early part of the race, Jaafar fought fiercely with the Frenchman and on lap 4 he managed to overtake him entering the second chicane. Unfortunately, Jazeman ran out of track on corner exit and was forced to cut through the run-off area, having to give the position back as a consequence. What could have been just a hiccup in a very good race proved to be a key moment because after letting Gasly by, Jaafar had to slow his pace due to some bodywork issues and tyre wear, losing precious time and being overtaken by Martsenko with a few laps to go. The Malaysian driver still managed the situation, taking the flag in 7th place and bagging some useful points.
Jazeman Jaafar: Q2 – P3; R2 – P7
“First of all I’m happy that in the morning we managed to really show our potential. P3 in Qualifying was good, especially as I did my lap without any tow, I wasn’t lucky enough to get a good one.
Then in the race I had a good launch, but after the first few meters I had some wheelspin and lost a couple of places. That brought me into a fight with Gasly that ended up being the defining moment of my race: I passed him entering the second chicane, but then I was forced to cut the track. As I was already in front I didn’t believe I needed to give the position back, but I had no other option than doing so when I saw the white/black flag aimed at me. That alone broke my pace, and on top of that I started having some bodywork issues that hampered my top-speed. P7 was the best I could do, but at least we got some points, it’s still much better than yesterday. I’m sure that Motorland Aragon in a couple of weeks will be a different story”.