Interview
Zane Maloney was pleased with his opening 30 minutes of running at the Hungaroring that saw him top the timesheets in this morning’s Free Practice session.
The Rodin Motorsport driver was a regular at the front of the leaderboard throughout Practice before his final lap of 1:32.688 put him over a tenth clear of nearest rival Jak Crawford.
Speaking immediately after his post-session debrief with the team, Maloney was satisfied with his efforts, even if it did come at a cost to his teeth.
PRACTICE: Maloney sets the pace for Rodin in Budapest opener
“It was a good session for us,” said Maloney. “Of course, it is the Hard tyre as the Prime tyre this year whereas it was the Medium last year, so it was a bit different.
“First lap, first corner I had a massive lock up, flat spotted the tyre, so for the rest of the session, my teeth were vibrating quite a lot, it was hurting, so I need to go to the dentist but other than that I adapted well to the track, and to the conditions.
“It's just Practice so we just need to make sure we have a good balance in Qualifying but overall, it was a good session.”
Maloney improved on his fastest effort several times during the session, as did plenty of his rivals with the track conditions improving throughout the day.
With heavy rain having hit the track on Wednesday, Maloney revealed that the Hungaroring circuit is still quite green, and that there is plenty of dust and grass on and off the racing line.
However, he expects the Formula 1 Practice session and the Formula 3 Qualifying to help rubber in the track ahead of F2 Qualifying.
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The Bajan driver’s focus now is making sure his car is in the right window ahead of the Pole Position shootout later today having not qualified in the top 10 in three of the last four rounds – the exception being at Silverstone where he ended up in P9.
“I don't even want to think about it,” said Maloney when looking at his continuous improvement during Practice. “That’s what F2 is all about, sometimes you jump in the car and feel good and sometimes maybe not.
“Sometimes you are at the top, sometimes you are a bit further down and in the end, we were at the front of every lap in the session, even though I felt there was still a lot of time from myself.
“But I’m just going to take the positives from that session, see what we can improve and going into Qualifying, it's a new page, anything can happen, so just trying to do the best in Quali.”
Maloney continued to reiterate that being fastest in Practice does little for his confidence this year. He admits to riding a wave of emotions during his rookie campaign with his belief in himself fluctuating depending on his results.
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But having driven well so far this season he says his confidence in himself has not wavered once this year no matter the result. So, while happy with Practice, his attentions are on Qualifying where he expects a stressful afternoon.
“There are a lot of slow speed corners, so there are lots of different techniques that you need,” said Maloney. “The tyres never stick to the ground like other tracks, it's always on a knife edge, always moving around in the car, so causes a bit more stress for the drivers.
“Then it's 35 degrees, 60 degrees track temp, very physical, also very hot, so the tyres don't last for the full lap, so there is always a lot going on and there will be a lot going on in Quali.”