Barnard aiming for clean race and big points after best Qualifying of the season for AIX

Taylor Barnard ensured that both AIX Racing cars qualified inside the top six for the Spielberg Feature Race, a huge result for the team and their finest of the season so far.

Following on from a disappointing time in Barcelona in which both cars failed to reach the finish, Spielberg was an immediate chance to fire back, and the German outfit obliged and then some.

With teammate Joshua Duerksen securing P2 and a spot on the front row, Barnard’s P6 result was his strongest Friday of the year also, and he expects the team to fight for plenty of points this weekend.

“It’s a good result for the team in terms of Qualifying position, especially for me since it’s been quite tough,” Barnard assessed afterwards. “Monaco was obviously quite good, but we’ve not had the best of seasons so far, so to have a really strong quali as a team is good. I think we’re now in a very good position to score some good points and the focus is very much on tomorrow.”

Reflecting more on the session, the Briton says that there was very little left in the lap beyond what he was able to achieve. Leaving his best to last, Barnard was one of the drivers to improve late on, recording a 1:15.807, just 0.3s off Pole.

He says that traffic management in particular and his experience from FIA Formula 3 in 2023 around the Red Bull Ring were big factors in how he was able to achieve the result.

“To be honest, with the lap I did today, I’m very, very happy. I put myself in a really good track position and I don’t think there’s much else I could’ve done to improve. I need to wait to see the data but I’m very, very happy with the job I’ve done today and now we can focus on tomorrow where we’ll hopefully score the points.

“Traffic was a little bit interesting here. It wasn’t as chaotic as I expected. Last year in F3 was completely crazy. I think having that bit of experience here last year definitely helped me, but it was ok to manage. Everyone behaved themselves quite well, so it was ok.”

READ MORE: QUALIFYING: Hauger holds off Duerksen to seal Pole Position in Spielberg

Looking ahead to the first of the two races this weekend, Barnard says that the three DRS zones will make things very closely fought throughout the Sprint and Feature Races.

The AIX driver added that tyre management will also be crucial, with recent races showing just how important great tyre life can be in the end result.

“I think that’s going to be a big talking point tonight with the team. It’s going to be a very intense race, everyone’s going to fight each other and it’s going to be one of those races with battling throughout.

“It’s going to be a case of keeping yourself out of trouble, nose clean and not getting any silly damage. You have to be in the race at the end, so it’ll be about playing the long game, saving some of the tyre in order to be there at the end in the fight during the last five laps or so.”

Following on from his maiden F2 race victory in the Monte Carlo Sprint Race, Barnard says that the team’s improvements from in-season testing are shining through more often now.

He added that he hopes to secure the team strong points in Austria as a reward for their efforts in improving the car from where it was earlier in the campaign.

“The test was a massive step forward for us. After Barcelona the team improved the car a lot and, in my case, I didn’t have much time to prepare for this year. So having those race weekends, those highs and lows, we all are working together a lot better now.

“Not having that time in pre-season to prepare hurt me earlier in the year, but now I’m at the stage where everything’s coming together a bit more and the performance boost in the car was nice for the team as well.

“I really hope so. We’ve got the Qualifying position now for both of us, so let’s get some points.”