"I got behind the wheel of a kart at the age of eleven for the first time. I may have been good because I became a national champion in the Comer class. The culmination of my karting career was a Czech international championship title in the ICA 100 class.
I was fifteen and began to seriously hanker after cars. The first step was completing Mr Patera's racing school in the Czech town of Most. I gathered my initial experience behind the wheel of a Ford Puma that had been entered for the Cup, which was ideal sports equipment for a beginner like me. Well, a novice coming from light go-karts must quickly adapt himself to a ten times heavier car and master the skill to brake with his right foot, which is not all fun and games. The next level was the Ceská pojištovna Škoda Octavia Cup where I managed to battle my way to the top three on the first try.
But I saw my future in formula racing. At the age of eighteen I squeezed into the cockpit of an F BMW single-seater in order to go around European circuits for the first time during which time my rivals included Nico Rosberg. One year later, one of my rivals was the young Sebastian Vettel, but despite that, it was an extremely successful season at the end of which I even stepped up to the podium at Hockenheimring.
Then my spell in Formula 3 followed. The «apprenticeship» period of this spell took place in the German Recaro Cup. Of course, my Formula Three Dallara was faster, but it was even more difficult to get accustomed to a higher aerodynamic downforce. I achieved solid results with one fourth-spot finish and two fifth-place finishes, yet I narrowly missed out on a podium result several times.
I switched from the Recaro Cup to the elite F3 Euroseries. Well, my neighbour in the paddock was Sebastian Vettel again, but also Lewis Hamilton, Robert Kubica, Adrian Sutil, and Paul Di Resta… I spent the first two seasons in my father's team, ISR, and the last one, in the German HBR team. The last season was the most successful one. I was especially proud of my fifth-place finishes in Barcelona and at Norisring. I was the first Czech racing driver to experience a hell in the streets of Macau in East Asia during the local F3 Grand Prix. Unfortunately, I had a serious accident after a collision with Bruno Senna in the final race.
I must also mention two more series I was taking part in during that period. I had the honour to be part of the Czech team in the A1 Grand Prix a total of four times. I raced on the Shanghai International Circuit twice, once at Brands Hatch and also in Mexico City on one occasion – on an extremely demanding and dirty track where engine performance dropped rapidly due to a high altitude. Then I achieved two runner-up finishes in the F3000 International Masters in 2006.
"The next change occurred in 2008 when I took part in the International Formula Master series together with my «mother» team, ISR. I was rather confident and was running at the top in most races, but constant bad luck in the form of technical problems and unavoidable collisions robbed me of a top position in the final classification.
I still remember quite vividly my last year's title-winning performances in the World Series by Renault 3.5. I was a member of the Prema Powerteam with one exception. However, car preparation didn't match my ideas at all, so I had fewer points under my belt than I had expected.
That's why I and my father decided to rely on our own strength this year. ISR purchased the renowned Italian organization RC Motorsport, and I am convinced that I have a unique chance to prove what I can really do in the World Series". |
| FILIP SALAQUARDA |
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2013
FIA GT1 World Championship on Ferrari 458 Italia, AF Corse
2012
FIA GT1 World Championship on Ferrari 458 Italia, FC corse team
2011
Superleague, team Atech Reid
2010
World Series by Renault
2009
World Series by Renault
2008
International F Masters
2007
17th place in the F3 Euroseries (two fifth-place finishes), A1 Grand Prix
2006
F3 Euroseries, 12th in the F3000 International Masters (2 races: two runner-up finishes), A1 Grand Prix
2005
F3 Euroseries, F3 Macau Grand Prix
2004
11th in the F3 Recaro Cup (one fourth-place finish, two fifth-place finishes)
2003
13th in the F BMW (one second runner-up spot, two number-four spots)
2002
21st in the F BMW
2001
13th in the Ceská pojištovna Škoda Octavia Cup
2000
3rd in the Ford Puma Cup
1999
1st in the Czech International Karting Championship in the ICA 100 category
1996
1st in the Czech International Karting Championship in the Comer 80 category |
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