America’s Sabre Cook finished 11th Overall in 2019 WSeries capping off remarkable year for the 25 year old, whose drive and determination to succeed in Europe’s competitive F3 racing environement is true inspiration to all.
Finishing WSeries Final Race at Brands Hatch P9 on August 11th, Sabre proved her versatility to adapt and race in top 10 at track venue, pushing for advantage in changeable wet-dry conditions that proved testing for a couple of pointy end WSeries drivers.
And there was plenty of pressure come racing as top 12 WSeries drivers would automatically go through to WSeries 2020. Not only did Sabre embrace and enjoy the whole intensity levels which sky-rocketed to all-time-high, but Cook gleamed 12th Qualifying to finish P9 giving her Overall 11th standings out of 18.
As Sabre explains: ‘There was obviously a good amount of pressure going into the weekend to finish in the points in order to make it into those top 12 championship guaranteed spots for 2020’.
‘I knew if I just kept my head down and focused on my performance and doing the best I could, the rest would take care of itself. FP1 was in the wet and learning a new track in the wet is always challenging, especially Brands Hatch’.
‘I felt I made good progress over the session though and actually really enjoyed the thrill of the track in the wet conditions. FP2 was the first dry session so I focused on experimenting and finding the limits quickly because qualifying would be the next time on the track. I definitely found the limit toward the end of the session as I spun off in the gravel on the exit of the last corner. Thankfully no damage to the car and I was feeling like I had a good foundation to improve upon for the next day’.
‘Qualifying came and I felt it took me too long to get up to pace but I still secured a top 12 qualifying, which is better than my average qualifying. Qualifying is something I’m working on as my race pace is always more competitive’.
‘So starting 12th I knew I could finish in the points if I just put my head down and drove a clean race. Sure enough it worked out and I was able to finish P9. I was going for a pass to claim P7 after the safety car restart and made a mistake that bumped me to P9. But I feel confident for next season knowing I have the pace to finish higher’.
With WSeries providing the only single-seater F3 Championship for Women, Sabre has embraced opportunity to race without constraints of never-ending-search-for financial backing. And this is massive, allowing drivers to soley focus on their performance on and off the track.
Which harks back to the founding principles of WSeries: to provide essential elements to enable development of racing drivers, all beit Women. Who were not only selected on their ability to race at pace against competitive peers, but also sustain the pressure that racing places on producing top results when it counts.
For Sabre: ‘I just tried to focus on what I could control and not stress over the details that I couldn’t. I tried to treat the weekend as any other race weekend and purely focus on giving my best performance whether that was good enough to get me into the points or not. It also helped that I had some family and friends there to support me and remind me to just enjoy the experience’.
With definite boost in confidence after finishing 3rd on podium at Assen Race 5 reverse grid, Sabre honed ability to make passes stick working her Tatuus F3 T-318 from P12 to P8 during Final Race at UK circuit of Brands Hatch.
Sabre on race-craft: ‘To some degree race craft is race craft no matter what you’re in. The little nuances that I did have to pay attention to that are specific to the W Series car is setting up your momentum a few corners before as the cars are quite heavy and very even in straight line speed’.
‘You also have to be cautious when going for a deep, late, hard braking pass because the brakes can lock quite easily at times. So you have to refine your brake bleed and peak pressure to adjust for that’.
Having secured almighty place in WSeries 2020, Sabre looks forward to completing job at Renault F1 having won placement within Infiniti Engineering Academy for 2019.
#37: ‘The next few months I’ll be more focused on my job at Renault F1 to maximize my learning and contributions there. Of course I will still keep up my physical and mental training to be stronger for next year as well. My contract for the Infiniti Engineering Academy finishes at the end of this year, as you can only be in the academy for one year. As for my work with Infiniti and Renault F1, that could continue into 2020 if they offer me a full time placement and I accept’.
With celebrations in order, Sabre has achieved top finish of P7 at WSeries Race 4 at Norisring, 3rd podium in reverse grid race at Assen and 11th Overall in Championship 2019 to gain place in 2020 WSeries.
#37: ‘Stand out moments of my racing season would probably be the initial W Series evaluation in Melk, my P7 and 3rd fastest lap at Norisring, my reverse grid podium and fastest lap in Assen, having my family and friends at Brands Hatch, and of course ultimately securing my spot for the 2020 season’.
‘Going into 2020 I’m looking to fight for top 5 finishes in W Series. I’m looking into finding the funding to run another series full time in 2020 as well, but cannot confirm anything yet. I’m not totally sure what 2020 will hold for me but no matter what it is, it’s all going to be a great experience!’
Words: Sharon Cox
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