Oliver Goethe on Spa Weekend: “It’s quite hard to summarize everything that happened”

Oliver Goethe enjoyed his second weekend in the FIA Formula 3 Championship at the legendary Spa-Francorchamps, although the Danish-German driver heads back to his usual EuroFormula Open ride after experiencing both highs and lows in Belgium.

Racing again for Campos Racing in place of the injured Hunter Yeany, Goethe qualified an excellent fourth for Sunday’s Feature Race in Belgium, which put him ninth on the grid for Saturday’s Sprint.

“What a weekend, and what an experience!” expressed Goethe.  “It’s quite hard to summarize everything that happened.

“Qualifying was great fun. Campos gave me an amazing car and somehow, I nailed the last-minute shootout and grabbed P4 for Sunday’s race. Even I was surprised that I finished ahead of all the main title contenders in my second ever Qualy.”

He was inside the top ten when an overtake by Trident’s Zane Maloney went wrong which resulted in the monster of all crashes at Blanchimont, with both drivers hitting the barriers hard.  The damage to the car was so bad that the mechanics had a sleepless night at the track repairing the car before the Feature race.

“It’s a shame that the Sprint race ended early for us because I felt competitive, but it’s part of motor racing, and I am just thankful that both Zane and I could walk away from that crash unharmed,” Goethe added.  

“The guys at Campos did an incredible job to rebuild my car. They didn’t leave the track, working all night to be ready for the Feature Race, and it turned out perfect.”

Goethe rewarded the team with a fourth-place finish on Sunday, with the seventeen-year-old also having the chance to lead the race early on. 

He admitted to being disappointed to lose out on the podium place late in the day to Prema Racing’s Oliver Bearman, but he was thankful for the opportunity in his final race before returning to EuroFormula Open, where he currently leads the championship after eight wins in the opening fourteen races.

“It was an amazing feeling to lead the race at some point and even though the safety car restart caught me off-guard, it’s just part of the learning process,” Goethe said.  “I am a bit disappointed that I missed out on the podium, would have loved to reward the team for their hard work, but I still gave my all.

“Now my focus turns back to the title fight in EuroFormula, but I can’t wait to return to this series, ideally for a full-season campaign.”

Oliver Goethe hopes to be back in FIA Formula 3 full-time in 2023 – Credit: Joan Codina