Ed Jones enjoyed a strong double points finish in his comeback weekend of the FIA Formula Three European Championship.
Coming off the back of a dominant race weekend in the British Formula Three Championship, the UAE-based racer was confident of being able to get back up to speed in his regular racing series.
Jones, 19, claimed three top 10 starts in Austria and finished the second and third races of the weekend in a solid sixth position overall.
For Jones this weekend at the Red Bull Ring marked his comeback to the championship having missed the previous three rounds due to fractured vertebrae sustained during the Grand Prix de Pau in France.
Jones said: “The first race was really good for us because we were able to make so many places up however we were fast in certain places on track and others were quicker elsewhere so it was tough to overtake. But getting sixth was great and then to get sixth position in the second race was also a really strong result for me.”
Jones’ one bit of bad luck occurred during the first race on Saturday when, while running within the top 10, his car became temporarily stuck in gear; he made it back to the pit lane where the team worked hard on fixing the problem but he was unable to place.
Thankfully for Jones he had another qualifying session in which to set his grid positions for the final two races of the weekend.
He was on the pace from the very start of the session and as the flag fell to mark the conclusion of the 20 minutes of on track action he had set the 10th fastest time overall.
Despite fears that Sunday would throw up some interesting weather conditions, there were glorious blue skies as the first race of the weekend got underway.
Fighting from 10th on the grid Jones ensured that he placed his car exactly where it needed to be in the opening laps.
Enjoying a fantastic battle with Dennis Van de Laar, Jones once again proved his pace and was soon running in seventh overall.
In the dying laps Antonio Giovinazzi was handed a drive-through penalty which meant that Jones claimed sixth position.
His brilliant weekend would continue for the third and final race where, despite losing a couple of positions on the opening lap, the Carlin driver pressurised those ahead which saw him right behind team-mate Jordan King.
Jones gave it a final push in the last laps and made his way past King and soon found himself further up the order as drive-through penalties were applied, securing a second sixth place.
He added: “I’m so happy with the progress we made and now feel as though I have picked up in the Championship from where I left off before the injury.
“I’m now looking forward to the next round in Germany where I’ll be fighting to continue this progress.”
