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Vanderpuije ready for challenge to come

10.06.2013 - It's been an interesting season so far in the Formula 2 Africa Series and we've just reached the half way point. There have been five different winners in ten rounds so far and it's been a rollercoaster of trouble for everyone; thus, it's led to a very exciting season so far. The one who manages to tie together strong results consistently from now on will take the title. Newcomer to the series Dante Vanderpuije currently sits atop the standings only sixteen points clear of rival Stanislaw Bum.


Q: The first half of the season has passed, what's going through your mind after the first ten races?

Dante Vanderpuije: Well it's been a very, very tough half of the season so far. We've been fantastic in qualifying, really strong pace at every session so far which is great; we've managed to stick it on pole four out of five attempts so we know we have the raw speed. I'm very confident that the team and I will always do well during qualifying. Our struggles are during the race. We just cannot consistently match our rival's race pace. Bum and Magyar are seriously fast come race time and we need to work on keeping up with them.


Q: How is the step up to Formula 2? Is the competition what you expected?

DV: I expected a challenge when I arrived at the F2 Africa Series for sure. There's obviously Stanislaw who's a double champion here in this series, and there are a lot of other experienced drivers that are very familiar with these cars and these tracks. I love a challenge though and I won the F3 Africa Series last season so I felt prepared enough to put myself up against them.


Q: So despite a rough ride come half time, are you satisfied with your results?

DV: It's been up and down for everyone this season so I can't really complain about my luck so far! [laugh] I managed to put myself out of two easy wins due to my own mistakes and I had some other avoidable incidents that cost me points. But like I said, Bum and Magyar have had their fair or maybe unfair share of problems too! That's racing though.

We've managed to build a small lead at the top of the standings, hopefully we can perform even better in the second half. We'll be taking a different approach to the races this time, hopefully it'll pay off.