- Atlanta native holds his nerve for solid points haul in the Netherlands
- VRD Racing by Arden ace climbs from fifteenth to eighth in Dutch opener
- 28-year-old proves potential with third-fastest lap in weekend’s finale
Rising American open-wheel star Shawn Rashid conquered changeable conditions in the latest GB3 Championship outing at Zandvoort last weekend (13-14 July), showcasing his speed around the legendary Formula 1 circuit on his way to a third top ten finish of the season to-date.
The Dutch Grand Prix venue had been the scene of both Rashid’s zenith and nadir in 2023 – with a failure to start in race one followed by his finest result of the campaign in race three – and there would be further ups-and-downs nine months on.
Having set his car up for a drying track, his VRD Racing by Arden team was caught out by an unexpected heavy downpour as qualifying began, and while Rashid got faster and faster as the session progressed, ultimately, the surface did not dry out quite quickly enough to allow him to fulfil the promise he had shown during free practice. That restricted the 28-year-old to just fifteenth on the grid amongst the 20 high-calibre contenders in the fiercely-disputed single-seater series.
Dark clouds gathered ahead of the curtain-raising contest and, as the heavens suddenly opened, the field embarked upon a journey of discovery on slick tyres. Some drivers elected to pit to change over to wet-weather rubber, but Rashid stuck boldly to his guns and with the rain subsequently abating, he deservedly reaped the rewards. Swiftly climbing into the top ten, the GB3 sophomore latched onto the tail of a three-way fight for fifth in the closing stages, proceeding to take the chequered flag an excellent eighth.
Race two was a completely dry affair, but no less short on drama. The initial start was red-flagged following a multi-car collision away from the line, obliging Rashid to deploy his razor-sharp reactions in avoidance. At the re-start, he wasted no time at all in moving forward, but contact with Arthur Rogeon unfortunately resulted in a ten-second penalty, and to compound matters, an error later on relegated the Purdue University Industrial Engineering graduate to the rear of the order, where he was ultimately classified fourteenth.
In the weekend’s finale, Rashid engaged in an entertaining duel with title protagonist John Bennett before finding himself sideswiped into the wall by another driver midway through, costing him his front wing and necessitating an unscheduled trip to the pits for a new one to be fitted.
That misfortune denied the Atlanta, GA native any hope of a good finish, but the third-quickest lap time demonstrated his potential – and gives Rashid plenty of cause for encouragement ahead of the next GB3 showdown at another famous F1 venue, Silverstone, on 27-28 July.
“Zandvoort is a very unique circuit – it’s physical, undulating and old-school, with a banked section that makes it totally different to anywhere else we go,” opined the Oxford, UK-based racer, who is managed by former British Touring Car Championship Independents’ title-winner, Rory Butcher. “I really enjoy the challenge it presents, but the trickiest element last weekend was the weather, which was just so unpredictable.
“We had good pace in the dry during practice, but qualifying was wet and we didn’t manage to get the balance dialled-in right and were a little bit off on the tyre pressures. Still, we came through well to finish eighth in race one, when it rained on-and-off and at different parts of the track over the first few laps.
“Every corner was a new adventure – you never knew what you were going to find – but fortunately, we had some experience of similar conditions from the final practice session, when I had stayed out on slicks. That really paid off as it meant I had a better understanding of how much grip there was and where it was, which helped me to gain quite a lot of ground.
“Race two was then really bittersweet. We had good pace again and I was up to eighth when I just made a small mistake in Turn One, went in too deep and locked up, which dropped me to the tail-end of the field, but there were so many accidents in general that despite that setback, I actually ended up finishing where I had started.
“In race three, I was really quick through the high-speed stuff, but I struggled more in the lower-speed sections. I went side-by-side with somebody along the banking only to get squeezed right the way up to the wall, which took my front wing off and I had to pit. In clean air, the car was really quick, so that one was definitely a case of ‘what might have been’…
“Still, I’m feeling pretty confident going to Silverstone. It’s a circuit where we’ve done a fair amount of testing, so we should be well-prepared in that respect. We know we have some work to do in the wet, but if it’s dry, there’s no reason at all why we shouldn’t be really competitive and in the mix.”
“Shawn is displaying so much potential right now and it was great to see him rewarded with another top ten finish,” added Butcher. “He showed superb speed in both practice and the races at Zandvoort, especially with the third-fastest lap in the finale.
“Qualifying didn’t go as well as we had hoped and that did make the races more challenging, so we are reflecting on how we as a team could have done better in this area. With further experience at a current F1 circuit gained, it’s been a really valuable learning weekend for Shawn. Now, it’s eyes forward to back-to-back race weekends ahead!”
Photos by Alex Langley.