During Saturday’s qualifying session the Thai teenager waited until the middle of the session before he went out on track and immediately set the fastest time 1:42:624, almost four tenths of a second in front of his teammate Artur Janosz on second place and the fastest time set by an F3 car on the newly reconfigured circuit. With a front row lockout for the Italian RP Motorsport squad looked set for a good day.
In the afternoon’s race, the two RP Motorsport cars immediately pulled away at the start, with the Thai driver being a little bit faster. Then on lap 6 of the 19 lap race, an accident in the middle of the grid saw the Safety Car deployed and immediately Stuvik’s gear box jammed with a broken gear pin in 6th gear. The team had no other option but to call him in to the pit lane to try a fast repair. A frenzy followed with 6 mechanics diving over the car and in just over a minute the car was repaired and Stuvik accelerated back on track trying to catch up with the cars in front. However, there were not enough time to catch them before the Safety Car release and Stuvik passed the line 22 seconds behind the last car. However, a blinding pace by the Thai saw him setting fastest lap of the race and catching the lead group by 4 seconds a lap. 6 laps later he overtook the first car, but was then hit with a drive through penalty for exceeding track limits under Safety car. Stuvik concluded the race in 12th position, last of the surviving cars.
Sunday morning saw a clear blue sky and beautiful weather back at the Portimao Circuit and yet again Stuvik proved to be the fastest in the qualifying, taking his second Pole position for the weekend with a time of 1:43:240.
The second race started at midday Sunday and after a chaotic start, it was again Stuvik and Janosz who took the lead. The two teammates provided an exciting race with constant fighting, but fear racing, both setting fastest lap of the race several times. In the end Thailand’s Sandy Kraokaew Stuvik took the victory, 1.091 seconds ahead of the Polish driver.
Stuvik himself said; ”I was so happy to get this win after yesterday’s mechanical issues and again to hear the Thai National Anthem played here in Europe was very emotional for me. In the race Artur pushed me hard and I had to drive as hard as I could to keep him behind me. We did though give one another space and I really enjoyed the hard racing”.
The next race of the championship comes at Spain’s Jerez Circuit in only two weeks, on the 21-22 June, Stuvik will leave Portugal with 72 points, only 1 point behind his teammate’s 73 point championship lead.
Sandy Kraokaew Stuvik races for the Royal Automobile Association of Thailand and is sponsored by The Pizza Company, Singha Corporation and Dacon Inspection Services.