The 2016 season finally went underway for AVF by Adrian Valles at the Motorland Aragon today, in the first out of the nine Formula V8 3.5 on the schedule. The Spanish squad went straight to the spotlight in Alcaniz with Frenchman Tom Dillman, who scored the second fastest lap of the day at the end of the two free practice session. In the AM segment, Dillman quickly joined the frontrunners, confirming the great job done throughout the preseason and taking the best out of the laps completed in qualifying trim. In the afternoon, he rounded out the top-10 after complAVF, Dillmann take Race 1 podium finish at Alcaniz
The 2016 season couldn’t be off to a better start for the AVF by Adrián Vallés team at Motorland Aragón, in the opening round of the Formula V8 3.5 championship. Running at the venue near Alcaniz, the Spanish squad provided a strong performance both in qualifying and race 1. Tom Dillmann scored third place overall in qualifying 1 while Alfonso Celis ended up in eight.
The Frenchman was off to a slow start though, and found himself in tenth, while the Mexican quickly jumped to fourth before moving to third place in lap 1. The tire degradation led Celis to a late mistake which dropped him down to sixth. On the other hand, Dillman recovered well and cruised back to third place handing the team a valuable podium finish.
Alfonso Celis (#15) Q1 – 8° – Race 1 – 6°
“In qualifying I could be a couple of tenths quicker, but in the last sector I made a small mistake that forced me to settle for eight. On the other hand, the chemistry with the car was much better compared to last week’s collective testing. I started well, and that alone is a great satisfaction because it was my main concern in 2015. I was third and got close to Vaxiviere, but with all the pushing, the tires wore out and that led to a difficult closing stint. I lost third place and wounded up sixth, but that’s ok for being the first race of the season. There’s always something to learn”.
Tom Dillmann (#16) Q1 – 3° – Race 1 – 3°
“We have been running here since the winter, and it’s difficult for the drivers to make the difference, so we are all close to each other and the level is really high. Third place is good, even if starting from the same position the aim was to win. I didn’t feel comfortable with my clutch and the anti-stall came in twice so I was tenth at the first corner, but we were quick enough to come back and these are good points”.