Théo Pourchaire: “I hope I can win next time!”

Young Théo Pourchaire has been racing in the F2 Virtual Racing since Round 1 at the wheel of the ART Grand Prix car. If he ended round 1 point-less, he has improved with each passing events and managed to score a maiden podium in Sunday’s feature race on the challenging Circuit de Monaco. The Frenchman debriefs Round 3 with us.

FIA F3: Théo, congratulations on your first virtual F2 podium. You finished 3rd in the feature race in on the Circuit de Monaco. How was it from the sim?

Théo Pourchaire: Thanks! This first podium – on top of that in Monaco – feels very special because it’s such a difficult track. I had a good qualifying session and took P5 even if I made some mistakes. After that, I managed to do a good feature race with some nice on-track battles with Arthur Leclerc (PREMA) and Jack Aitken (Campos Racing). It was really good. That first podium, in Monaco, even if it’s only virtual, it’s a great result for me.

FIA F3: You scored more points in the sprint race with 6th place. How tricky was it?

Théo: I finished to a strong 6th place. Maybe I could have made a podium again, but it was a very tricky race, with a lot of battles on track. It was a bit messy at the start but it’s always really good to fight hard on track with the other drivers and I’m very happy that I could score points again after a podium in the feature race.

FIA F3: You have been involved in the F2 virtual racing since Round 1. Why do you think this is a nice challenge?

Théo: I think F2 virtual racing is a very good challenge. As you know we cannot drive or test at the moment because of Covid-19, so it’s very nice that we can still drive from home against the other drivers from F2 and F3. We can fight each other on the sim and this is really good. I did all three rounds so far, and I am improving each time which is goo. I hope I can win next time!

FIA F3: Do you practice a lot ahead of the each event?

Théo: Yes I practice quite a lot like everyone else I think. The level is really high. It’s a good thing: everyone wants to fight for the victory. I would like to thank ART Grand Prix for giving the chance to drive and fight in these virtual events. It’s great because that’s the only way we can drive for the moment. To be able to do that against the F2 and F3 drivers is very good thing. I’d also like to thank the people from F2 for organising these events.