Interview
Billard identifies targets after promising start to the season in Shanghai
It was a promising opening weekend in Shanghai for Lisa Billard, as she became one of just two rookies to score in both Round 1 races.
The 16-year-old made her debut as a full-time driver following strong performances in both the Rookie Test and last season’s round in Singapore, where she raced as the Wild Card entry and qualified an impressive fifth.
While bad luck prevented her from showing her maximum potential at the Marina Bay, the weekend was an early indication of how well Billard could perform, and she followed it up this time with P8 in Race 1 and P7 in Race 2 in Shanghai.
“I think it’s a very good start to the season because I showed my skills,” the Gatorade-backed driver said. “The pace was there, the speed was here at the track.
“Now I just need to improve my start massively for the next round, and maybe my race craft a bit. I’m very happy with the results. I finished both races in the points so that’s a really good start.”
Qualifying in the top six, Billard suffered a slow getaway in the reverse grid race and tumbled from third to eighth, where she took the final point of Race 1 after defending the spot from Ava Dobson.
She then lost out to McLaren driver Ella Lloyd and Racing Bulls’ Rafaela Ferreira in the final race of the round, crossing the line in seventh place to join Payton Westcott as the only first-year competitors to score in both races.
Billard identified her race starts as the main area to work on ahead of Montreal, which will be another new track for her. She said: “I've really learned a lot, especially on what I need to improve. That was the goal so I’m super happy.
“I think I’m going to do a lot of racing on the simulator. I don’t know how to practice my start but we’ll find a solution. I’m trying to do the best I can without testing. I’ve liked street circuits since Singapore so I’m really looking forward to this round.”
Asked whether she can fight for more points there, Billard added: “Yeah, and maybe for a top five or maybe the podium, I don’t know. We never know what can happen.”