Sri Lankan driver Eshan Pieris, who is competing in his debut F3 season, notched up his and Sri Lanka’s maiden win in F3 racing at the inaugural Asian Winter Series (AWS) held last weekend at the Sepang International Circuit Malaysia.
This was the final race of the Asian Winter Series and was a very competitive affair with all the drivers fighting to finish the season on a high. Driving for Absolute Racing, Eshan got off to a great start in the qualification, qualifying second for the first race. He kept up this great run by posting the fifth best time in the second qualifying session. In the opening race, unfortunately Eshan was taken out of the race after an aggressive overtaking attempt by an opponent while running in sixth. Later in the day Race 8 saw him starting from sixth on the grid, he went on to avoid all kinds of hazards to finish fifth overall, equaling his best result in the series and being the best-placed Asian based driver in this race.
The last race of the event saw Eshan make a good start from fifth on the grid to move up to second but lost this position to team mate Ye Yifei in the second lap. Ye Yifei and Australian Jack Doohan then battled for supremacy when in lap 11 the two cars collided and Ye was forced to retire. Following the leaders closely all the way, Eshan capitalized on their collision to take his maiden win in the series. He crossed the line more than two seconds clear of second place.
It’s the first time a Sri Lankan driver has finished a race in pole position in F3 and is a historic achievement for the Island nation. Sharing his thoughts on the momentous victory Eshan added “it feels amazing to win on a grid with such competitive drivers. I couldn’t be happier with this result as well as all the progress made during the weekend including my best qualifying performance ever in this series. The car was amazing all thanks to Absolute Racing – a team I am proud and privileged to be a part of! Many thanks also to my manager Aaron Lim as well as my parents for always supporting me. This win also goes out to all my supporters, particularly those back home in Sri Lanka who have been backing me all the way.”
Team Director of Absolute Racing – Fabien Fior was all praise of Eshan’s milestone and reaffirmed his potential as a driver “Eshan’s improvement over the AWS season has been hugely impressive and today’s win shows all his potential”
The new season of the F3 Asian Championship Certified by FIA kicks off on April 6/7 at Sepang, Malaysia. In its second season, the five-event Asian championship will also visit FIA Grade 1 race tracks in Thailand, Japan and China, with three races at each round between April and September next year.
