Eighteen year old Thai racing driver Sandy Kraokaew Stuvik, who is currently competing for the European Formula 3 Open Championship title, is being keenly watched by the European racing community who have noted the exploits of this newcomer from Thailand. Not only has Sandy performed well above expectations this year, but he is leading the championship with just 3 race weekends left of the season.
Sandy has one race win and 6 podium finishes so far this campaign and is bringing a sense of pride back to Thai motorsport, with the national anthem being heard at European racetracks for the first time in decades.
Stuvik is currently racing in the European Formula 3 Open championship for the RP Motorsport team.
Having learnt to drive go-karts in Thailand since the age of 4, Sandy steadily progressed until he won the Asian Karting Championship, aged just 12. He then turned his attention towards Formula racing and at 14 he spent an entire year on improving his physical conditioning and practicing on circuits in Thailand, Malaysia and China in Formula BMW and Formula Renault cars.
When he was 15 years old, he took part in the Asian Formula Renault Championship and won the first race, even though he was the youngest racer in the field and he would later go on to win the championship with podium finishes in every race, the first Thai driver to ever win this championship.
After this achievement, Sandy shifted focus towards the highest levels of racing – Europe. He signed up for the international Formula Renault Eurocup series, an event that brought together the 36 best young drivers from all over the world.
Thailand’s rising race star – Sandy Sturvik.
Racing at the European level, as the youngest driver in the field, he had to learn the full gamut of racing skills; from driving in freezing cold weather, studying all the circuits, tire management, cars, engines and race teams etc. The learning curve was enormous and considering he was racing against rivals with several years experience in the series, he did well to finish 28th in his first year and 14th in his second year.
In 2013, after being spotted by the championship winning Italian race team RP Motorsport, Sandy was invited to compete in the European Formula 3 Open championship. A championship that runs over 30 cars and uses the latest evolution of Dallara’s high down force F312 formula cars.
With 2 years of European racing experience under his belt and extensive training at the Shape Driver Center in Italy, plus coaching by Neel Jani, a former Red Bull F1 test-driver, Sandy responded by taking a 4th and a 1st place in his first Formula 3 race weekend at the Paul Ricard circuit in France. He immediately took the European F3 Open championship lead and after races at Portimao, Nürburgring and Silverstone he has continued to hold on to this lead.
However, even though he is the current leader of the championship, Sandy is keeping himself firmly grounded and well prepared.
“So far my season has been very good, I’m very happy with where I am at the moment but I also understand that it is now time to improve my results to constant podiums if I want to finish the championship in first place,” he stated. “I am glad to not have been involved in any incidents so far, and I think the consistency of the team and myself throughout the season has helped us stay where we want to stay.”
Sandy has already been approached by both GP2 teams and Formula 1 teams with the intention to bring him in as a potential Formula 1 driver in the future. At the moment he is in negotiations for participation in the GP2 series, the main feeder series for Formula 1.
Sandy himself has a single goal, which is to become a F1 racer within 3 years. Even though motorsports still does not attract wide attention from the Thai public, the Kingdom now has a unique formula racer whose eye-catching performances are proving that he could soon become the first Formula 1 racer from Thailand in modern times.
The 6th round of the European Formula 3 Open championship will be held on 7th and 8th September 2013, at Spa-Francorchamps Circuit in Belgium. You can follow Sandy’s progress via live streaming broadcast on the official website: www.live.f3open.net.
