We had a few problems crossing the Hungarian border and then again at the Romanian border. As soon as we started to drive through Romania, we went from normal roads to dirt tracks and tiny little roads not built for trucks. To make matters worse, the Romanians drive like no other nationality on earth! Again when we stopped that night we were met by some more lovely people. All the cars were moved out of the hotel car park so we could get the trucks in, and they even volunteered to put guards on them for us!
We thought it would only be about 100km from there to the motorway, but we were completely wrong. We just kept on driving for mile upon mile up hill and down dale on the worst roads you can imagine. We saw quite a few near misses and accidents on the way. Then we’d go through a village and people would come out of the houses and wave and take photographs.
It was back to the usual routine once we arrived in Bucharest, we set up the trucks and got everything ready for the team. It was a fantastic weekend too, with some great results and Sam Bird’s first F3 win, so the team left happy. I got back to the Carlin workshop the Friday after the race weekend, nearly two weeks after we left.
Which are your favourite F3 events?
Of all the tracks that the British F3 championship visits, I think Monza would have to be my favourite, the circuit just has so much history. If motorsport is your thing, it’s a great experience to go to the old banked part of the circuit, where Fangio raced. It’s a site just steeped in tradition and heritage and it’s a fantastic place to be. The circuit is in the middle of a park as well, so you have to drive the trucks through a park to get to the paddock, which is cool.
