Ricardo Baptista praised his clean and combative driving after matching his best GB3 Championship result twice during the opening two races at the Red Bull Ring.
The Xcel Motorsport driver recovered from 17th in Race 1 and 15th in Race 2 to finish 10th in both contests. Those results doubled his number of top-10 finishes for the season and continued an encouraging Austrian weekend despite a difficult Qualifying session.
Baptista gained 12 positions across the two races while several rivals lost ground through track-limits penalties. He will now attempt another recovery from 17th in the reverse-grid finale.
Challenging Qualifying leaves Baptista with work to do
Baptista entered Qualifying with confidence after showing competitive pace throughout the pre-event testing sessions.
However, the Brazilian struggled to combine his strongest sectors when the grid-setting sessions began. He consequently qualified 17th for Race 1 and 15th for Race 2, leaving him near the rear of a closely matched field.
Baptista acknowledged that Xcel had shown greater potential before Qualifying.
“We had good practice sessions but unfortunately, in qualifying, we couldn’t put a good lap together,” he explained.
The Red Bull Ring’s short lap magnified every small mistake. Less than two seconds covered most of the field during Qualifying, so a minor error or cautious approach could cost several positions.
Nevertheless, Baptista responded positively once racing began. Rather than allowing his grid positions to define the weekend, he concentrated on avoiding incidents and capitalising on the opportunities ahead.
Clean execution delivers consecutive top-10 finishes
Baptista gained seven positions during the opening race to climb from 17th to 10th.
Several incidents and two Safety Car periods disrupted the contest, while officials also applied post-race penalties for restart weaving and track-limits infringements. Baptista avoided those problems and steadily progressed through the order.
He followed that result with another 10th-place finish in Race 2 after starting 15th. Once again, repeated track-limits violations affected several drivers, but Baptista kept his car within the permitted boundaries.
The Brazilian combined that discipline with several overtakes to gain another five positions and equal his best GB3 finish for the second time in one weekend.
“We’ve had two good races,” he said. “I kept myself within the track limits and managed to make some good moves, so I’m satisfied with the top 10s for now and it’s been a positive weekend overall.”
Before the Red Bull Ring round, Baptista had reached the top 10 twice during the season. He achieved his first at Silverstone in the second race of the campaign before adding another during the Budapest reverse-grid contest.
His two Austrian results therefore gave him four top-10 finishes and demonstrated his ability to recover when Qualifying leaves him outside the leading group.
Red Bull Ring layout encourages constant battles
The Red Bull Ring gave Baptista several opportunities to move forward because its long straights and heavy braking zones encourage close racing.
Drivers can gain a substantial slipstream on the runs towards Turns 1, 3 and 4. Furthermore, GB3’s Drag Reduction System allows a pursuing car to reduce its aerodynamic resistance and increase its straight-line speed.
As a result, drivers often struggle to escape when another competitor enters DRS range. Baptista enjoyed that dynamic as he fought through the field during both races.
“It’s very hard for one car to open a gap when there is a car close behind so there ends up being many battles,” he said. “If you have DRS and the guy in front doesn’t, it’s almost a certainty that you will battle.
“It’s very characteristic from this track and, so far, there have been some very nice battles and it’s very fun to race.”
However, the same characteristics also create risks. Drivers must defend aggressively into the braking zones without exceeding the circuit limits or making contact.
Baptista managed those challenges effectively across the opening two races. While others attracted penalties, he remained disciplined and placed himself in position to benefit.
Baptista targets another reverse-grid recovery
Baptista will start the final race from 17th, matching his Race 1 starting position.
The partially reversed grid will place several drivers who qualified outside the leading group near the front. However, Baptista still expects the format to produce more action as the championship’s fastest competitors attempt to move through the order.
His opening two races have already demonstrated that he possesses the pace to gain positions. Therefore, he plans to apply the same controlled but aggressive approach in the finale.
“I will try to repeat race two and chase the battles as much as possible,” he said. “We have chances to overtake the cars in front and, because it is a reverse grid, there is usually more action. So, I’ll just give my best and hope for the best result I can get.”
Another top-10 finish would give Baptista his strongest complete weekend of the season. However, he must once again combine overtaking with careful management of the Red Bull Ring’s track limits.
Race 3 begins at 14:15 local time on Sunday.
