Hugh Barter believes Circuit De Barcelona-Catalunya’s final turn won’t be taken flat in FIA F3 after the tracks alteration.
The track now has 14 turns instead of 16 with the unpopular final chicane being removed in the final sector.
The Australian said insideF2: “no it’s not flat, the second to last corners flat but the last corners definitely not flat. If I did it flat I would walk away from the weekend happy.”
The extra speed and g force on the Spanish circuit provides an extra physical challenge, Barter joked about the physicality of the final couple of turns.
“I’m happy and sad at the same time, I’m happy that the chicanes gone for my arms, it’s not that bad and my neck isn’t happy that there’s another high speed corner thats’s also turning right, two more actually.”
The increased speed will push the Pirelli tyres harder on the 4.657km circuit and dirty air will become a bigger issue in sector three.
The Campos driver said when asked about managing the tyres: “That’s one thing to think about but I think everybody’s in the same boat.
“So I think if I manage it well then it shouldn’t be a problem but it think the more tough thing now is that because the last two corners are high speed it’s going to be a lot harder to follow in those last two corners.
“It’s good that’s gone because I don’t think anyone liked that chicane but it’s also a bit of a pain now because you have one very long straight and before that you have two very high sped corners so we’ll see how it goes.”
The Spanish-based Campos Racing team are vastly experienced in Catalunya with their myriad of teams across the junior series ladder racing at the circuit.
Barter competed at the track last year in Spanish F4 and took two podium finishes. The 17-year-old said that qualifying will be critically important.
“I raced here once last year in Spanish F4, it was an ok weekend. We struggled a little bit but when we came testing here the team was really fast, all three of us had the pace to be in the top 10.
“Like any other event qualifying is very important. But the main focus is qualifying as high up as you can, whatever happens after that is the weekend.”
Image: Auto Action
