The Alpine Academy driver made the trip to the Styrian mountains to begin her title challenge in Formula 1’s new all-female category, armed with leading single seater outfit Rodin Carlin, and with several pace-setting appearances in pre-season testing to draw from.
That performance translated to the first two qualifying sessions of the season, with Pulling dominating both to claim a brace of pole positions, each by a tenth of a second.
However, post-session, all three Rodin Carlin cars were found to still have the floor protector attached to the chassis. Although a production part, and legal in other F4 championships worldwide, the carbon shroud is not permitted in F1 Academy. Despite not offering any performance advantage, its inclusion relegated the trio, including Pulling, to the back for all three races.
From there, the opening three rounds of the campaign turned into a damage limitation exercise for the 20-year-old from Spalding, UK, but in typically competitive fashion, Pulling rose to the task with aplomb.
A blisteringly-quick start in the opener promoted Pulling from 13th on the grid to seventh spot after the first lap. A safety car intervention briefly halted the charge, but once unleashed, Pulling continued to steadily climb the order.
Running fourth in the closing minutes, a tenth shy of the final podium spot, Pulling was forced to take evasive action late on. The Brit, team-mate Jessica Edgar, Bustamante and Al Qubaisi went four-wide to dispute third, but a spin for the latter necessitated avoiding action for Abbi, and she resumed in fifth.
To be disappointed after gaining eight positions was a testament to the performance of car and driver, and the partnership’s strength was underlined again in the partially-reversed second race, with Pulling again making up ground to finish eighth.
And she would repeat the heroics again in the third and final contest, this time gaining a stellar ten positions to take the chequered flag in a weekend-best fourth, the highlight of the race a bold pass on the outside of fellow W Series graduate Nerea Marti on the approach to the Wurth Kurve.
Despite a rollercoaster weekend, Pulling leaves the opening three rounds placed fourth overall in the standings. Amongst the Teams, Rodin Carlin sit third as the series heads for Valencia, Spain next weekend (5-7 May).
Abbi Pulling said:
“It’s been a very mixed weekend, but the underlying point for us to take away is that we have fantastic pace, both over one lap and in the races.
After a tough end to yesterday, the important thing today was to reset, focus and try to climb as high as possible in the races to limit the damage."
“The car was absolutely superb, particularly in the last race, when I was able to gain ten positions and set the fastest lap whilst battling my way through.
I’m absolutely certain without the misfortune after qualifying, we’d have been in the mix to win at least two of the three races today, so that’s the main thing to draw from heading to Valencia."
“It’s a very long season ahead, and we can safely say we made the best of the cards we were dealt this weekend. Everyone’s feeling very motivated, and ready to start the fight back in Spain next weekend.”
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