The young race driver from Smørumnedre has now set his course forward after a turbulent start in the Spanish championship.

Over the weekend, the third round of this year’s championship was held at the Ricardo Tormo circuit near Valencia, and Sebastian Gravlund was already performing well in the free practice sessions. However, a driving mistake in the first qualifying session cost the teenager dearly:

“I did what you shouldn’t do; I made a driving mistake already on the first lap and ended up in the gravel off the track. It was especially unfortunate because the first qualifying counts for both the first and second races, so suddenly I had two races where I had to start at the back of the field,” explains Sebastian, who turned frustration into motivation and gave it his all in the first heat.

Here, he drove from 27th place to 11th place, just one position away from his first championship point. Even though it was unfortunate to miss the point, Sebastian Gravlund was extremely satisfied:

“It was an absolutely fantastic race! There was attacking from start to finish, and it was a relief to be able to cross the finish line so far up in the field. More is always better, and I would have liked to take that one point home, but I showed that I can drive a race car – also to myself.”

In the second heat, the Danish driver got another good start and quickly shot up six to seven positions in the field, but a close competitor sent Sebastian off the track with a damaged front wing. Thus, the car was no longer competitive, and Sebastian had to limp the car to the finish as one of the last drivers in the field.

There was, however, redemption in the second qualifying session of the weekend. Here, Sebastian secured the 15th starting position for the last heat.

“I found a good rhythm and could drive my laps without other cars in front or behind, so it was definitely an improvement. On my fastest lap, I came out of a turn a bit too aggressively and got two wheels off the asphalt, so I lost 3-4 tenths of a second there. If I hadn’t made that mistake, I would have been in the top 10, but that’s what happens.”

The last heat of the weekend once again proved that Sebastian Gravlund knows how to make good starts. He went from 15th to 12th place and got off to a good start, but another collision with a competitor cost him another front wing and another disappointing result.

“All these unfortunate incidents happen outside the fastest third of the field, and it’s super unfortunate that I lose the front wing two times in a row. It takes two to create such a situation, so I also need to look inward and see how I can avoid it another time.”

“On the other hand, I’m really happy that I’ve shown both speed and the ability to move up in the field. It has in many ways been a good race weekend; that the results haven’t quite reflected it is another discussion,” concludes Sebastian Gravlund.

The next race in Sebastian Gravlund’s calendar is on Danish asphalt when the Danish Formula 4 Championship races at FDM Jyllandsringen in late June.