F3 Classic – F. Rouvier: “Want to take on a new challenge”

Two victories in the first two races at Albi, was it possible to do better? 

We can always do better, but it really was an ideal weekend. Everything went well, the result is definitely satisfactory. I was starting out on a new car, because of the coronavirus we were not able to carry out all our test sessions, but ultimately it worked optimally.

Pourquoi avoir remplacé votre Martini MK34 Toyota par une March 783 Toyota ? 

Two reasons for this. First of all, it's been two seasons since I won the French Championship with the Martini; I wanted to take on a new challenge. The March is a car previously driven by one of my teammates. I had the opportunity to drive it a few times on the circuits in 2019. I found it quite efficient.

My classmates, Valerio Leone and Davide Leone, also have the March. Before, with the Ralt, they were sailing around fifth place. As soon as they took the March, they placed themselves at the forefront. I could see she had something. I'm very happy to have chosen it.

When it comes to driving, how does the March differ from the Martini?

It is lighter. The March is close to the regulatory minimum weight, which is not the case for the Martini. I can brake five or six meters later and its front end is better. It has little understeer. It allows you to go into turns harder. It's also thinner, so I go faster in a straight line. As soon as there is “lengthening”, we lose less time. In Albi, it was perfect. 

So you have more ease of driving?

It's true, the previous two years, it was war in the Martini. Now it's more zen. I'm not forced to enter the lost corners to go fast. I drive 7 to 8 km/h faster in a straight line. Since the engine power of a F3 is low (Toyota Novamotor 2 Liters with around 165 horsepower), the gain is very clear. 

How did you experience this reunion after confinement?

I was very surprised to see such extensive trays in this context. We didn't know how this would last. It is certain that the mask takes away a little conviviality, but the participants wanted so much to get together and resume life as before, that this little constraint did not spoil the pleasure of being together. 

What do you think of the F3 Classic and Formula starting grid? Renault Classic?

The two categories always ride together. Besides, usually, we had 12 F3s and 16-18 F. Renaults. This time there were 14 F3s. During the next events, the German peloton should join us because their championship failed to be organized this summer. This should give a good thirty single-seaters to Dijon (August 14-16)!

Why not race in the SportProtosCup in Albi? 

I had to share the wheel of an Alfa-powered Lucchini SP94 with Gianluigi Candiani. We divided the sessions between tests and one race each. Unfortunately, I broke a driveshaft after two laps in Free Practice 1. We missed the second session for this reason. Then, in Race 1, the engine broke! However, we will be back with the prototype in Dijon.