Euroformula Open: Oliver Goethe Wins in Estoril

ROFGO Junior driver Oliver Goethe delivered a dominant performance in the opening round of the 2022 Euroformula Open Championship last weekend in Estoril.

It was the 17-year-old Dane’s first visit to the Portuguese former F1 circuit, but that didn’t seem to bother him. And he went on topping the timing sheets in every session leading up to qualifying, on the very last lap of qualifying he grabbed the first pole position of his career.

His first-ever start from P1 didn’t go entirely smoothly, Oliver slipped all the way down to 8th, but that was just another opportunity for the Danish youngster to show his terrific racecraft. And he battled his way up to P3, claiming his first podium finish in the category while also setting the fastest lap of the race.

The starting grid of the second race was decided by reversing the finishing order of the top 6 drivers of Race 1 which put Ollie on the second row. Even though a poor start dropped him back to P6, he immediately went on a superb charge, resulting in one of the most spectacular battles of the weekend, chasing down Christian Mansell for P4.

Oliver seemed untouchable and rocketed into the lead in his Gulf-liveried car, pulling a 6-second gap when the checkered flag fell, taking his maiden F3 win with another fastest lap.

Due to the reverse grid from qualifying, Oliver had to start the final race of the weekend from P6 and after putting in another strong performance, he crossed the line in fourth, grabbing some valuable points, extending his lead in the championship.

Oliver Goethe:
“What a start to the season! The car was like a rocket all weekend. The team did an amazing job and I am happy with my performance. I definitely have to work on my starts but it was only my first weekend in this car so plenty of opportunities to improve. Big thanks to Stuart, Bullet, my parents, my school, ISM and all my partners for the support. We’ll be back for more in Pau!”

Ollie won’t have to wait for too long to get back behind the wheel, since the second round of the championship will take place this weekend on the streets of Pau. The two-race format includes the legendary Pau GP which will be Goethe’s first-ever GP start.