A top 10 finish and a Rookie podium to round off 2023

Dario Cabanelas has had an experience that is as rewarding as it is promising, after deciding to take part in the second half of the season in Eurocup3. This high-level Championship, created at the start of 2023 to provide a link between Formula 4 and the higher single-seater disciplines, came to a close on 11th and 12th November in Barcelona. After an excellent private testing session that saw him climb to the top of the hierarchy, the young Swiss hopeful didn’t find the same success during the meeting, but fought right to the end to claim 10th place in Race 2 and climb onto the third step of the podium. The aim of preparing for 2024 in the best possible conditions has been achieved for Dario.

A lot of fine-tuning work

The final meeting of the season got off to a positive start for Dario Cabanelas. “Finding myself in 2nd position on one of the ranking sheets during the pre-event tests was extremely satisfying. I was able to demonstrate my competitiveness in this difficult Championship,” commented Dario. “This kind of performance is important for building confidence and proves that it’s essential to be able to exploit the car’s full potential. Unfortunately, I had a few problems finding the same sensations over the following days.”

“With the Saintéloc team, we did a lot of work sweeping up numerous solutions to improve my feeling and gain in efficiency. The team and I only discovered Eurocup 3 in September at the fifth round of the season. Both of us are here to learn and gather as much information as possible. Of course, I start every practice session and every race trying to get the best possible result, but the main objective is to aim for the front runners in 2024.”

A difficult balance to strike

P14 in the first Qualifying session and P13 in Race 1, Dario was disappointed with his day on Saturday. It has to be said that the Swiss driver was discovering the Barcelona circuit in real competitive conditions against rivals who had raced several times on this difficult track. “You have to find the balance between fast corners and slower ones, which requires a perfectly tuned car. If I increased the efficiency of the front end, I gained time in the low-speed corners, but the car developed oversteer in the fast sections and vice versa. For Sunday, we continued to analyse the data and arrived at a much more efficient set-up on Sunday.”

Efforts rewarded

At the same time, Dario worked hard on his start phases and first-lap management in order to be more effective in the pack. 12th on the grid for Race 2, he quickly gained positions, managing to fight with drivers who have been in the top five since the first of the season’s eight meetings, although the Swiss has only contested four of them. In the end, Dario crossed the chequered flag in 10th place and climbed to 3rd place on the Rookies podium.

“Since I was runner-up in the F4 Junior Championship in 2021, I’m sure I’ve made huge progress, both in terms of my driving and my physique. I intend to make the most of the coming off-season to accelerate my preparation even further. The Eurocup3 season in 2024 will be important for the rest of my career. I’d also like to thank the Saintéloc team, my partners and all my supporters for this promising start to my career in this category, in which I’m aiming to win a lot of races.”

Dario Cabanelas – Press release / Photo © Fotocar13

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