ROFGO Junior Oliver Goethe completed a near perfect weekend at the 79th Grand Prix de Pau taking a superb win, two pole positions and setting the fastest laps in both races last weekend.
Oliver Goethe arrived in Pau on the heels of his dominant display in the opening round of the Euroformula Open championship and the Danish youngster picked up where he left off in Estoril.
It requires a lot of concentration and skill to tackle the iconic street circuit with its narrow corners and extreme elevation changes and Oliver mastered it, becoming the pace-setter from the get-go. He topped the time sheets in both practice sessions on Friday and stormed into pole position for Saturday’s race.
Race 1 was like a walk in the park for the 17-year-old Dane who was in control from lights to flag, while also setting the fastest lap of the race, completing the first ever Grand Chelem of his career (i.e: pole position, fastest lap in the race and race win while leading every lap.)
He continued his clean sweep through Sunday’s second qualifying session where he grabbed the pole in a tight battle, securing himself the best place on the grid for the 79th Pau Grand Prix.
Unfortunately, his start didn’t go smoothly and a street circuit like Pau punishes the driver for even the smallest mistake. He dropped down to P5 after running wide in turn 1 and got stuck behind a train of cars with very little room to overtake. But that didn’t seem to bother Oliver who carried out the move of the weekend on Ugran in the entry of the Virage du Buisson hairpin and grabbed the final podium position, bagging important points for the championship.
Oliver Goethe:
"Obviously, I am a bit disappointed not to win the Grand Prix, but on a track like this, the starts are crucial and a small mistake cost me the lead. I am glad I could still get on the podium and collect some valuable points. All in all, it was a great weekend. The car was perfect and the track was so much fun to drive on."
Ollie now sits in the lead of the championship with a comfortable 19-point margin, ahead of the next round which will take place next weekend (20-22 May) at the Paul Ricard circuit.