Sen Roodenburg from Krommenie drove a good race on the Red Bull Ring in Austria last Ascension weekend. Yet something happened that he was not waiting for. In turn one he was hit by an opponent and Sen ended up in last place. “I’d rather win than be third. It’s a very good performance from last to third so I’m happy with it.”
This was an exciting weekend for him. It was not only the first time that Sen and Gianni were allowed to drive on this track, but also the first time for the Bas Koeten team. That’s why they had an extra day to practice. “We started on Friday with two training sessions that we were allowed to participate in the Supercar Challenge. Only it was very busy on the track. So we were not able to test very much.” Still, Sen liked to drive some laps. So he already knew what the circuit looked and felt like.
360 degrees around
“I had to start race one. My start was really nice,” said Sen. But after the first corner he got a push from fifth place. As a result, he made a 360-degree round and lost his third place. “After the start I was right on the bumper with Senna and actually we were just first and second out of the corner.”
See below in the video how Sen almost crashes.
Senna van Soelen, another racer at Bas Koeten, won this race. Still, Sen is happy for him. Sen fought hard for his third place after the crash. “I drove from last to fourth before the pit stop. Fortunately, it went well. Gianni overtook third.” That’s how they won a prize in this race. “Podition at the Red Bull Ring can also be added to my resume,” says the 18-year-old teenager enthusiastically.
Racing 2
Sen is still fed up with his second race. This time his teammate Gianni van de Craats started. The car wasn’t quite right anymore because of the first race and it wasn’t really good this time either. “Gianni was hit a few times, so we had to change the tire at the pit stop because it was broken. That cost us an extra 30 seconds.” Sen completed this race and finished in seventh place. “I might be able to go back to the start if the car was still good, but it didn’t feel right and it already had too much damage.”
Still, Sen is proud of this weekend. “The gap was 10 seconds when I was fifth. From fifth to fourth and third place was still a bit. But every lap I lost another second.” Sen thinks he could have done better during the races. His father is certainly very proud of him for finishing third.
Next race
Sen gave everything this weekend and can now rest a bit. The next race is July 7-9 at the Zolder circuit in Belgium. Here Sen has driven the Fiesta before so there is a little less tension. Sen is particularly looking forward to the race at Spa. That is his favorite circuit. He has to wait a while for this. That race isn’t until October.