High-speed fiesta at home: Rafael Villagómez's ideal F3 race weekend

1 May 2023

With a bit of Mexican flair and a lot of high-speed risk-taking, Rafael Villagómez has his dream race weekend planned out in full.

The Van Amersfoort Racing driver would combine sections of the fastest street circuit in the world with elements from two of the oldest circuits on the Formula 1 calendar. Combine them all and put them under floodlights and stage a festival in Mexico and you have a great event, as he details.

WHERE WOULD THE RACE BE HELD?

“Mexico for sure. Mexico City is not too bad but it’s too crowded, so probably nearer the coast, that would make it a bit nicer.

WHEN WOULD YOU HOLD THE RACE?

“I’d say in September or October, when the weather is still really nice but it’s not too warm.”

DAY RACE OR NIGHT RACE?

“Night race., definitely. It’s much cooler. The cars just look better on the television and there’s something special about a night race. I guess when you have more of them, they become less special, but I think this race would be a cool one to have as a night race.”

PERMANENT CIRCUIT OR STREET TRACK?

“Street track. I’m a big fan of street races. I’ve never done one, but I really like Jeddah, Monaco, Baku, Singapore. Monaco is coming up so I’m really excited for that one, so I think I’d pick a street track for sure.”

WHAT WOULD THE TRACK LOOK LIKE?

“I can tell you that it would be a mix between the banking at Zandvoort, Silverstone’s high-speed corners and Jeddah’s close walls. Super high-speed corners and no room to make an error.”

WHAT TYRE COMPOUNDS WOULD YOU USE?

“The softest Pirelli can make! More grip and more deg, better races.”

WHICH CELEBRITIES WOULD YOU INVITE AS YOUR GUESTS?

“Probably Cristiano Ronaldo, I’m a big fan of him. In sports, I’d invite a few more football players and then obviously I’d have my family there and then a few artists because they bring a better ambiance and atmosphere the whole weekend.”

WHO WOULD PLAY ACROSS THE WEEKEND?

“That’s a tough one! Bad Bunny would be headliner. In Mexico and South America, he’s really big so with the race being in Mexico, it makes sense to bring him in to do the post-race show.”

WHAT WOULD THE TROPHY LOOK LIKE?

“Probably something unique from Mexico like a design done by a local artist or something. That gives it a bit more of a personal touch. I’d like to have a completely different style trophy to the ones you see on TV at the moment, I think that would be really cool.”

ANYTHING ELSE YOU’D LIKE TO ADD?

“Just cool things around the track. That would make it better for the people watching. Having more things to do around the track, I think that would be fun. Fan zones would be a good idea. Simulators so fans can drive the track, places they can sit down and eat, music so there’s activities and they can stay around for longer.

“I’d do all the sessions at night, even if F3 is there, we’d make it as late as possible so the whole weekend has the on-track sessions at night. That would be awesome.”