Monza played host this weekend to the first round of the 2013 Blancpain Endurance Series. A packed grid of 60 cars lined up for the season opener and amongst those was Blancpain rookie, Daniel McKenzie, driving for Beechdean Motorsport with team mates Andrew Howard and Jonny Adam.
Monsoon-style rain and a greasy track added to Monza’s famous low-downforce profile to make the racing particularly challenging during F2’s final meeting of the 2012 season.
Formula Two’s first visit to the Hungaroring saw Daniel fight a weekend-long duel with championship leader Luciano Bacheta.
Daniel laid the groundwork for a storming end to the 2012 F2 season by earning his second podium of the year at the unique setting of the Paul Ricard High-Tech Test Track.
Formula Two returned to its Brands Hatch home at the weekend, and thousands of fans braved the downpours to see Daniel and his rivals put on a racing show that banished the wet-weather blues.
Daniel returned home from a tough weekend at Spa with a maiden Formula Two podium as his reward for battling through set-up problems and atrocious weather conditions.
A top-three qualification performance at the Nürburgring showed that Daniel has the speed to challenge for victories in this year’s Formula Two championship – now all he needs is a set-up that lets him unlock his blistering pace in the races themselves.
Hard work and determination were at the forefront for Daniel as he returned to Portugal and the Algarve circuit where he previously earned the British F3 National Championship.
Daniel has welcomed a positive start to the racing season after he competed in the opening rounds of the 2012 Formula 2 championship at Silverstone this weekend.
Racing at Monaco is something that not many people get the chance to do, so going to the circuit in a World Series car for the first time can only make you feel a bit tense! I have dreamt of driving this circuit for many years and finally I got the opportunity to race there.