Isaac Barashi is feeling satisfied after achieving GRS’ first points of the Eurocup-3 season at Spielberg, saying the team showed its “true pace” over the weekend.

By Juan Arroyo

Barashi finished 11th and eighth respectively in the two races held at the Red Bull Ring. On a weekend where track limits violations were the cause of many penalties, the UK-licenced driver stayed out of trouble and accrued none during the races, earning him an extra position at the end of race two.

The performance comes after a rain-disrupted season-opener, which led to grids being set by practice times and a race cancelled. The GRS driver says Spielberg was the first time the team was able to demonstrate its speed.

“I’ve taken a big step in my driving this year,” Barashi said. “I was super happy to get a good result for me and the team, and this is really the first opportunity we’ve got to show our speed and what we’ve been working on during pre-season testing just because Spa was a bit of a difficult round.”

“It was tough with Spa because they took the qualifying results from a test session where you could really do whatever you wanted. I didn’t think that was very fair, but we’ve really shown our true pace now and I think the whole field has managed to have a proper show to see where everyone is,” he added.

These points will prove valuable as GRS embarks on a season-long midfield battle. With Barashi’s eighth-place finish, the team jumped ahead of Drivex in the standings – who are now= sixth and last of all teams. But maintaining that position and fighting the likes of Palou and Saintéloc could prove a challenge for GRS given Barashi is their only full-time driver.

“It’s super important for me and the team to show what we’ve been working on and to get good results from that,” Barashi said. “The team has offered me a great car this weekend and I’m just happy I managed to perform for them.”

It was the GRS driver’s first time at the Red Bull Ring – a circuit notorious for being easy to exceed track limits at. Barashi fared well, however, as he was one of the 16 drivers of the field to go both races without receiving any time penalties.

“The last two corners are always difficult in every championship,” he said, referring to the Turn 9-Turn 10 sequence of high-speed, down-hill right-handers that lead on to the main straight. 

“But there are rules in place and you’ve got to stay by the rules. It’s just down to the driver to dial themselves back a little bit and just stay legal, especially during a race where you’ve got to work on consistency and make sure you don’t get any penalties. I jumped a couple of positions just by not getting any penalties or black flags, so that was a big thing,” he continued.

Barashi is 14th in the main standings and third in the rookies’ – having claimed two podiums in said class – after the weekend.

Header photo credit: Dutch Photo Agency