21st June 2021
CryptoTower Racing Team driver Louis Foster delivered a stunning weekend in Belgium, taking three wins out of three, two fastest laps and a pole position in a dominant Euroformula Open Championship display.
British driver Foster, 17, spoke of entering the weekend at the prestigious Spa-Francorchamps circuit with confidence having won there on debut last year, and duly delivered on that during a dominant weekend.
“I thought this weekend would be very hard,” said Foster, who is backed by Copart, a global leader in vehicle remarketing and recycling. “I thought I would have an edge on Cam [Das, team-mate], I believed I could be on pole and win races for sure, but I didn’t think we were going to get the triple. “The races are complicated with slipstreams, crashes, yellow flags and safety cars. It’s quite a slipstream-heavy circuit. I definitely thought we could get some wins, but I wasn’t expecting the three”
Foster - from Odiham in Hampshire - claimed his second pole position of the season in three tries to start at the front of the grid for the first race.
It was a chaotic affair where Foster got a great start and held the lead down the long Kemmel Straight before his two closest rivals collided behind. Two safety car periods bunched up the field, but that didn’t deter Foster from keeping the opposition at arm’s length to seal a first win of the year, remaining cool and calm during the restarts.
Due to the reversed-grid format of the second race, Foster started sixth but took just two laps to reach the front of the field where he did something extremely difficult at Spa, and pulled away to win by nearly five seconds.
The third race of the weekend was more complex for Foster, as he stalled from second off the grid giving his team-mate and championship leader Cameron Das the advantage.
“The stall was just one of those things,” Foster explained. “I just jumped the clutch a little too much and the car stopped. I wanted to make sure I got a good start and I was eager. I don’t stall very often. Obviously we need to go back and analyse it but luckily in this case it didn't cost us points."
Despite falling to the back, Foster had made up three spots by the end of the first lap and continued to pick his way through the field, with a move at the ‘No Name’ corner on Joshua Mason being a particular highlight. A late safety car bunched up the field erasing the gap Das had built ahead, setting up a last lap showdown.
Foster - who had fought past team-mate Nazim Azman shortly before - drew alongside Das at Les Combes following the restart and the drivers went side by side for much of the lap before Foster edged ahead to take the treble victory.
“There wasn’t a real highlight of the weekend, the whole thing was a highlight!” added Foster. “Obviously the last race was significant, coming from the back and winning was obviously really great. You very rarely see it so that would probably be the biggest highlight. “All around, it was hard work in the free practices and then pole, two fastest laps and three wins. Couldn’t really ask for much more so it was all highlights. “I want to thank Motopark and the CryptoTower Race Team, the car was great all weekend, there weren’t any faults to it. “My engineer and I worked very hard to get the best out of the car and that allowed me to extract the performance on the day.
"Copart and all of my sponsors play such a big part in this journey too and I wouldn’t be in this position without each and every single one of those key partners. “I also have to say thank you to my Dad, and Happy Fathers' day!”
Lord Wandsworth College student Foster now has a break to work on his fitness and preparation before the series returns at the Hungaroring track near Budapest in Hungary.
The series will reach its halfway point there on July 10/11. It’s another track Foster hasn’t raced at - like four of the remaining five rounds - but that’s not stopped him delivering impressive performances at the new venues already this year.
“Having a win, or three wins, gives us momentum and confidence going into the next round,” Foster said. “It makes us feel like we belong at the front, definitely gives momentum and hopefully we can pick up where we left off at the next round, which is in Hungary.”