| Users Online |
 Guests Online: 1
No Members Online
Registered Members: 5
Newest Member: Lutz
|
|
| Welcome |
|
Welcome to internationalformulamaster-online.com
|
| Van der Drift wins season opener |
Formula Master’s first race of the season saw 2007 vice-champion Chris van der Drift start his title bid with a dominant win after leading the race in Valencia, Spain, from start to finish. The J.D. Motorsport driver got away from the start line cleanly, as did the rest of the Formula Master field, and began to build up a lead straight away.
Second-placed Kasper Andersen maintained position throughout the 19-lap race despite early pressure from Michael Ammermüller, and finished second on his Trident Racing team’s Formula Master debut.
Rookie Ammermüller, driving for Iris Project, claimed the last step on the podium with a third place in his first race in the Series. The German now takes an early lead in the rookie classification ahead of Jenzer Motorsport’s Fabio Leimer who finished fourth.
Finishing fifth, Arturo Llobell showed excellent overtaking skills for his Cram Competition team by making up five places throughout the race. The Valencia-based Spaniard overtook both team-mate Pablo Sanchez Lopez and ISR’s Filip Salaquarda half-way through the race to secure his finishing position.
Salaquarda eventually finished sixth after his on-track battle with Mexican Sanchez Lopez earned him a black and white flag, warning the Czech against racing so close to his fellow Formula Master competitor.
Cram Competition’s Sanchez Lopez crossed the chequered flag in seventh whilst Trident Racing’s Harald Schlegelmilch finished in eighth after making up eight places from a P16 start.
The Latvian rookie will start tomorrow’s race on pole position thanks to the Series’ reverse grid regulation.
J.D. Motorsport team-mates Chris van der Drift and Sergey Afanasiev now lead the team-mate classification thanks to van der Drift’s win and Afanasiev’s solid 12th place finish.
Chris van der Drift, J.D. Motorsport
“The start is the most important thing. You have to pull away cleanly and make sure no-one is too close behind you. Kasper wasn’t too near and I was able to build a gap between the two of us throughout the race.
“There were a couple of occasions where it looked as though the safety car might be deployed. I would have had to watch out for Kasper then and keep him behind me, that’s always the plan!
“For tomorrow, I’ll be starting from eighth and we want to get as far up the field as possible. I look forward to seeing what happens. You have to take it as it comes; whether it’s a clear race or with crashes or even a safety car, which we can benefit from.”
Kasper Andersen, Trident Racing
“We are the only rookie team this year so this is a good result: second in our first Formula Master race. The set-up is key and as we are a new team, we could have done with more testing, but this is great and we know there is more to come.
“Apparently Ammermüller was close behind me at the start of the race but to be honest, I didn’t see him! I just had my head down and was going for it!”
Michael Ammermüller, Iris Project
“It’s not bad to start the year with a podium. It’s important to have points; we have a long season ahead. There is still some work we need to do on the car so we’re happy with today’s result and look forward to tomorrow for the next race.”
Lap-by-lap analysis
Lap 1: Good start from Van der Drift from pole / Kral slow away from a sixth place starts and drops to 20th
Lap 3: Andersen sets fastest lap of the race / Sanchez Lopez passes Sekiguchi for sixth place / Persiani re-joins the race from the pits
Lap 4: Van der Drift sets fastest lap of the race / Close fight between Sekiguchi, Costa & Schlegelmilch / Arabadzhiev spins in gravel at Turn 8 - retired
Lap 5: Schlegelmilch up to eighth place
Lap 6: Kral on grass, trying to pass Crestani / Sekiguchi spins at Turn 4 and rejoins
Lap 8: Freitas out at Turn 6 – retired
Lap 11: Sanchez Lopez passes Salaquarda / Salaquarda retakes his place and the two cars touch / Salaquarda keeps his position / Llobell passes both for fifth place
Lap 12: Graves spins into the gravel at Turn 5 – retired / black/white flag for Salaquarda
Lap 15: Contact between Provenzano and Mancinelli / Provenzano spins on race track at Turn 2– retired
Lap 17: Siedler passes Afanasiev for 12th place
Lap 18: Contact between Siedler and Afanasiev
Chequered flag: 12:58
For today’s full results please click here (PDF file). |
| Van der Drift takes first 2008 pole |
J.D. Motorsport’s Chris van der Drift claimed Formula Master’s first pole position of the season today at the Circuito Ricardo Tormo in Valencia, Spain, with a best lap of 1.28.036. Competition was close throughout the Formula Master field with the top 14 drivers all setting times within one second of each other.
Having already featured at the top of the timesheets in the first half of the session, Van der Drift set today’s top time on his second outing and only seconds before rain and a spin by ADM Motorsport driver Michele Caliendo halted the 30-minute session.
Also posting his fastest qualifying lap within seconds of the downpour was Trident Racing’s Kasper Andersen. The Dane set a best time of 1:28.070 for his team’s first Formula Master qualifying session.
German Michael Ammermüller will start tomorrow’s race in third place after posting a best lap of 1:28.128, driving for Iris Project. Jenzer Motorsport’s Fabio Leimer, who consistently topped the timesheets during pre-season testing, qualified in fourth place despite leading the session for most of the time.
ISR’s Filip Salaquarda showed excellent pace with his best time earning him a fifth place start, whilst Josef Kral equalled his free practice pace, posting the sixth fastest time of the session for Team JVA.
Pablo Sanchez Lopez, driving for Cram Competition, will start tomorrow’s race in seventh place with Euronova Racing’s Yuhi Sekiguchi alongside him in eighth position.
Eurosport’s coverage for Formula Master’s first race weekend of the season will begin Saturday 17 May with race one shown live at 12:15 (CET) on Eurosport International and Asia Pacific.
Chris van der Drift, J.D. Motorsport
“I knew we were fast, especially after going out on my first set of tyre. We timed the second lap perfectly; I was behind Leimer so I knew he wasn’t going to hold me up as he’s pretty fast. Then just as I crossed the finish lap, the session was stopped due to a spin so we couldn’t have timed things better!”
Kasper Andersen, Trident Racing
“I set my best time on my last lap, just before it started raining. I could see the car going faster and faster with each lap I completed… It was good considering this is the team’s first race weekend in Formula Master.”
Michael Ammermüller, Iris Project
“The wind changed at the start of the session which made it quite difficult but our second try was better. You need a bit of luck to find a gap as there’s so many cars but third fastest is good! Now we’ll have to see who has a good race set-up and does well over long distance tomorrow.” |
| Ammermüller fastest ahead of first race |
Formula Master’s official test concluded today in Valencia ahead of this weekend’s first races of the season with Iris Project’s Michael Ammermüller posting the day’s fastest time of 1:27.465. With 30 drivers taking to the track, the Formula Master field completed 3,646 laps (over 14,602 km) over the past two days. Timings were close however, with today’s top 17 drivers posting laps within one second of each other.
Choosing to focus on qualifying set-ups, Ammermüller set the morning’s fastest time with Euronova’s Yuhi Sekiguchi and J.D. Motosport’s Chris van der Drift just 0.010 and 0.027 seconds behind respectively.
“Although this morning was mostly about qualifying, we did some race practice too,” said former F1 test driver Ammermüller. “We put more fuel in the car and worked on race starts... We have some good ideas for this weekend’s race now.
“It’s good to end the test with a strong time like this, especially just before the first race weekend! It’s very encouraging.”
Despite heavy showers earlier in the afternoon session, new Formula Master team Trident Racing were fastest with driver Kasper Andersen. The Dane set a best time of 1:27.777 on his second-to-last lap once the track had dried and temperatures had risen.
“We seem to have a really good car in hot temperatures,” said Andersen. “We need a little more work for when the track is cooler but we saw this yesterday also. I posted my best time at a similar time of the day.
“Trident is new to Formula Master so we’re still learning the car together and we keep improving each time we test. And there still more to come!”
The afternoon’s second fastest time was set by Ammermüller with a lap of 1:28.165 with Cram Competition’s Pablo Sanchez Lopez setting a third fastest lap of 1:28.167.
Formula Master’s first race weekend of the season will begin on Friday with qualifying, followed by race one on Saturday and race two on Sunday. Both races will be shown live on Eurosport as well as via live streaming on www.formulamaster.net, www.fiawtcc.com and www.eurosport.com.
Today’s full results (morning + afternoon combined) can be found here (PDF file). |
| Rookies Top 3 in Spanish testing |
Formula Master rookies set the top three fastest times today out of 30 drivers taking part for day one of the official two-day test in Valencia, Spain, with Jenzer Motorsport’s Fabio Leimer claiming the best time of the day. Setting his best lap of 1:27.536 during the morning session, the young Swiss made the most of the sunny and dry conditions. J.D. Motorsport’s Sergey Afanasiev also capitalised on the warm weather and was close behind with a fastest time of 1:27.648.
“We were focusing on different race set-ups today and even carried out a mini-race,” said Russian Afanasiev who was ahead of third-placed Iris Project driver Michael Ammermüller. “It was a lot of fun, especially when you think that the first race of the season is so close now.
“The track changes all the time so it’s good to work on various set-ups throughout the day to see how they work with the circuit. There was a significant difference between early morning and just before lunchtime for example. We also worked on qualifying set-ups a little bit but there’ll be more of that tomorrow.”
A hotter track surface in the afternoon session meant that the day’s top times could not be improved on. Local driver Arturo Llobell set the fastest lap with a time of 1:28.121 and said:
“We worked a lot with old and new tyres and both went really well but we still want to polish a few things tomorrow before the race weekend starts. We’re happy though, at the moment we are able to be fast over one lap but also consistent over several… For me, it’s just nice to be here, Valencia is my home track and I can’t wait to race.”
ADM Motorsport’s Norbert Siedler was second in the afternoon session with a best time of 1:28.137 whilst Kasper Andersen, driving for Trident Racing, was third with his fastest lap of 1:28.173.
Formula Master's official test in Valencia concludes tomorrow before the Series’ first race weekend gets underway with qualifying on Friday (16 May 2008).
For today's full results (morning + afternoon combined), please click here (PDF file). |
| Grid is confirmed as 2008 racing debut looms |
As the 2008 Formula Master racing season is set to get underway at Valencia on 17-18 May, the grid has now been confirmed with 30 cars and 16 nations represented by the Series’ drivers. With little over a week to go, new drivers have also been confirmed. Returning from 2007, vice-champion Chris van der Drift will drive for J.D. Motorsport once more.
The New Zealand-born Dutchman, fresh from A1GP success at Brands Hatch last weekend where he topped the Rookie timesheets, has already shown his speed throughout the official testing sessions.
“It’s great to be back racing with J.D. Motorsport,” said the 22-year-old. “Although I drove in the Series last year, by the time we race in Valencia, most rookies will have caught up so the real advantage is how well you know your team. Luckily I know them very well and we are aiming for the title together. That’s the only goal this year.”
Also confirmed as returning drivers are Austria’s Norbert Siedler, joining ADM Motorsport, as well as Italy’s Alberto Costa and Giuseppe Terranova, driving for Cram Competition and Pro Motorsport respectively.
England’s Tor Graves also returns for the 2008 season and will once again drive with Team JVA whilst Dominik Schraml will race for Scuderia Famà and rookie Daniel Mancinelli for Euronova Racing.
Fellow rookie Octavio Freitas, from Brazil, joins ADM Motorsport and, at just
16-year-old, is set to become Formula Master’s youngest driver when he takes to the track in a week’s time.
With only next week’s official test in Valencia left to get accustomed to the car before the Series’ first race of the year, Freitas can expect a challenge from Formula Master’s high-quality field of 2008 drivers.
Following a decision by the FIA, the Anderstorp race weekend in Sweden will now be held at the renovated Enzo e Dino Ferrari circuit in Imola, Italy, on the same dates (20-21 September), subject to re-homologation by the FIA. As with all other events this year, Formula Master will partner the FIA World Touring Car Championship at the Italian track. |
| Van der Drift fastest in the rain |
Formula Master´s official test in Magny-Cours, France, concluded in the rain today with 31 cars taking to the track and J.D. Motorsport´s Chris van der Drift setting the day´s fastest time with a best lap of 1:32.414. Although regular showers prevented the track from drying throughout the day and the Formula Master field from showing its true pace, drivers were able to complete 3.564 laps, over 15.720 km.
"We improved the car from yesterday and the times show that," said 22-year-old Dutchman Van der Drift. "The car has been going really well at all the tracks we've been to so far so it looks promising for the season. We still have to take it one race weekend at the time, it's a very close championship, but the team's quite confident now."
Jenzer Motorsport's Fabio Leimer followed just 0.134 secs behind with his best time set during the morning session, in which he was fastest. The 19-year-old's lap (1:32.548) earns him best rookie status for the second day.
Tim Sandtler, driving for ISR, showed strong potential by posting the third fastest time of the day with a 1:33.106, whilst team-mates Chris van der Drift and Sergey Afanasiev displayed the best combined performance for J.D. Motorsport. Both drivers produced consistently fast times throughout the day, ending first and fourth overall respectively.
For today's full results (morning + afternoon combined), please click here (PDF file). |
| Swiss fastest on French track |
Formula Master’s official two-day test at Magny-Cours, France, began today with 31 cars taking to the track whilst Jenzer Motorsport’s Fabio Leimer posted the fastest lap of the day. Despite overcast weather conditions, the Formula Master drivers completed 1,963 laps, totalling 8,658km, during the day.
Leimer’s morning time of 1:32.755 could not be bettered by the rest of the Formula Master field although Tim Sandtler’s best time got him the closest, with a 1:32.996 lap.
“At the moment, the car is really good,” said Leimer who also claimed best rookie of the day. “I’m able to go out everytime and set a good lap. We’re not pushing, everything is working well and that’s where the lap times come from.
“We’ve been focusing on distances today, going out for eight, nine, ten laps at a time and seeing how consistent the car is. Every lap was close each time, which is great.”
With intermittent rain during the afternoon, drivers were unable to significantly improve their times and it was Switzerland’s Leimer who set the fastest lap of the session once more with a time of 1:33.083.
ADM Motorsport’s Norbert Siedler followed closely with a 1:33.103 lap whilst Pablo Sanchez Lopez came third in the afternoon session (1:33.176) for Cram Competition.
“We worked more on the development of the cars today,” said Siedler. “We set some solid times this afternoon and can now focus on finding good set-ups tomorrow.”
Team-mates Tim Sandtler and Filip Salaquarda enjoyed the best combined performance for ISR posting strong times throughout the day and claiming second and ninth fastest overall respectively.
Newcomer Harald Schlegelmilch took to the track for the first time for Trident Racing, following his stint in GP2 Asia. Euronova’s Johannes Theobald from Germany and returning Swiss driver Nicolas Maulini also tested for the first time this year as did Hillclimb racer Florian Lachat with Jenzer Racing.
Formula Master’s official test at Magny-Cours concludes tomorrow. Today's results (morning + afternoon combined) can be found here (PDF file). |
| Estoril test day 2 results (morning + afternoon combined) |
N° DRIVER TEAM LAPS TIME GAP
1 23 Fabio LEIMER (SUI) Jenzer Motorsport 56 1:31.843
2 45 Yuhi SEKIGUCHI (JPN) Euronova Racing 68 1:31.903 0.060
3 27 Michael AMMERMÜLLER (GER) Iris Project 62 1:32.042 0.139
4 6 Chris VAN DER DRIFT (NED) J.D. Motorsport 52 1:32.096 0.054
5 2 Pablo SANCHEZ LOPEZ (MEX) Cram Competition 79 1:32.139 0.043
6 32 Kasper ANDERSEN (DEN) Trident Racing 59 1:32.152 0.013
7 29 Josef KRÁL (CZE) Team JVA 65 1:32.529 0.377
8 25 Luca PERSIANI (ITA) Scuderia Famà 61 1:32.543 0.014
9 10 Carlos IACONELLI (BRA) Pro Motorsport 61 1:32.546 0.003
10 1 Arturo LLOBELL (ESP) Cram Competition 48 1:32.623 0.077
11 19 Tim SANDTLER (GER) ISR 63 1:32.736 0.113
12 15 Michael MEADOWS (GBR) Euronova Racing 77 1:32.798 0.062
13 3 Alberto COSTA (ITA) Cram Competition 77 1:32.868 0.070
14 6 Daniel MANCINELLI (ITA) Alan Racing 59 1:32.891 0.023
15 4 Vladimir ARABADZHIEV (BUL) J.D. Motorsport 92 1:32.963 0.072
16 14 Fabrizio CRESTANI (ITA) Euronova Racing 69 1:33.003 0.040
17 18 Filip SALAQUARDA (CZE) ISR 59 1:33.038 0.035
18 8 Dominik SCHRAML (GER) Alan Racing 84 1:33.099 0.061
19 6 Sergry AFANASIEV (RUS) J.D. Motorsport 51 1:33.121 0.022
20 46 Frederico Rossi (ITA) Euronova Racing 65 1:33.415 0.294
21 21 Frankie PROVENZANO (ITA) ADM Motorsport 77 1:33.738 0.323
22 22 Michele CALIENDO (ITA) ADM Motorsport 52 1:33.842 0.104
23 24 Matei MIHAESCU (ROM) Jenzer Motorsport 34 1:34.787 0.945 |
| Leimer rules Estoril timesheets |
Formula Master’s official two-day test concluded in Estoril today with Fabio Leimer once again claiming the fastest time of the day.
Cooler morning temperatures (16°c) allowed lap times to drop by almost half a second compared to yesterday, enabling the Jenzer Motorsport driver to set the quickest lap with a time of 1:31.843.
Japan’s Yuhi Sekiguchi showed his speed by setting the second fastest time of the morning (1:31.903) although the Euronova Racing driver explained that a quick lap time was not on the team’s agenda for this test.
“We focused on setting the car up for races rather than pure speed,” said Sekiguchi. “It’s nice to set a fast time like this morning but we chose to spend more time working on the car using old tyres which reflected on our lap times yesterday for example. It’s still good to know that we have the pace though.”
Iris Project’s Michael Ammermueller followed in third place with a best time of 1:32.042.
With afternoon weather conditions rising to 30°c, lap times increased although Switzerland’s Leimer still set the fastest time with a lap of 1:32.597. Trident Racing’s Kasper Andersen’s best lap of 1:32.805 earned him second place whilst Daniel Mancinelli took third place for Alan Racing (1:32.891).
Cram Competition team-mates Arturo Llobell and Pablo Sanchez Lopez showed a strong combined performance once more with both drivers posting top-ten times throughout the test.
Formula Master's official testing continues later this month at Magny-Cours, France (22-23 April 2008), followed by Valencia, Spain, in May. |
| Estoril test day 1 results (morning + afternoon combined) |
N° DRIVER TEAM LAPS TIME GAP
1 23 Fabio LEIMER (SUI) Jenzer Motorsport 69 1:32.315
2 6 Chris VAN DER DRIFT (NED) JD Motorsport 47 1:32.611 +0.296
3 32 Kasper ANDERSEN (DEN) Trident Racing 75 1:32.836 +0.521
4 1 Arturo LLOBELL (ESP) Cram Competition 50 1:33.055 +0.740
5 27 Michael AMMERMÜLLER (GER) Iris Project 46 1:33.098 +0.783
6 7 Daniel MANCINELLI (ITA) Alan Racing 77 1:33.107 +0.792
7 19 Tim SANDTLER (GER) ISR 46 1:33.123 +0.808
8 25 Luca PERSIANI (ITA) Scuderia Famà 59 1:33.159 +0.844
9 45 Yuhi SEKIGUCHI (JPN) Euronova Racing 50 1:33.242 +0.927
10 2 Pablo SANCHEZ LOPEZ (MEX) Cram Competition 60 1:33.348 +1.033
11 10 Carlos IACONELLI (BRA) Pro Motorsport 42 1:33.371 +1.056
12 3 Alberto COSTA (ITA) Cram Competition 40 1:33.422 +1.107
13 8 Dominik SCHRAML (GER) Alan Racing 47 1:33.509 +1.194
14 18 Filip SALAQUARDA (CZE) ISR 21 1:33.577 +1.262
15 29 Josef KRÁL (CZE) Team JVA 52 1:33.696 +1.381
16 46 Federico ROSSI (ITA) Euronova Racing 51 1:33.703 +1.388
17 15 Michael MEADOWS (GBR) Euronova Racing 44 1:33.713 +1.398
18 14 Fabrizio CRESTANI (ITA) Euronova Racing 48 1:33.861 +1.546
19 4 Vladimir ARABADZHIEV (BUL) JD Motorsport 74 1:33.936 +1.621
20 21 Frankie PROVENZANO (ITA) ADM Motorsport 56 1:34.096 +1.781
21 11 Marcello PUGLISI (ITA) Pro Motorsport 32 1:34.166 +1.851
22 13 Adam KHAN (PAK) Alan Racing 29 1:34.203 +1.888
23 24 Matei MIHAESCU (ROM) Jenzer Motorsport 43 1:34.418 +2.103
24 22 Michele CALIENDO (ITA) ADM Motorsport 57 1:34.607 +2.292
25 5 Sergey AFANASIEV (RUS) JD Motorsport 24 1:34.728 +2.413 |
| Portuguese lesson for Formula Master drivers |
Jenzer Motorsport’s Fabio Leimer topped the timesheets today in Estoril, Portugal, as Formula Master drivers acquainted themselves with the only new track to feature on this year’s racing calendar.
The four-kilometre circuit, which staged the Portuguese Formula 1 Grand Prix from 1984 to 1996, will host Formula Master’s rounds seven and eight on 12-13 July.
Keen to impress on a circuit which saw Formula 1 legend Ayrton Senna claim his first Formula 1 win in 1985, Leimer posted the day’s fastest time, 1:32.315 at the wheel of his Formula Master race car.
“Today was very nice for me,” said Leimer, who set his best time this morning. “The car feels good here, especially in the corners and things look promising for when we come back to race here.
“Estoril is a new track for Formula Master this year but I was there in 2007 with another series. It’s a pretty unique circuit so it’s hard to compare but I’d say it has some similarities to Valencia… Although not too much!”
Also making the most of the morning’s warm weather, Kasper Andersen (Trident Racing) closely followed, just five tenths behind. Third fastest was Chris van der Drift, driving for J.D. Motorsport with a lap-time of 1:33.039.
Increasing temperatures didn’t stop the same three drivers from battling this afternoon’s fastest time and it was Dutchman Chris van der Drift that claimed the honour with a time of 1:32.611. In second place, Fabio Leimer posted his best lap of the afternoon, 1:32.713, whilst Denmark’s Kasper Andersen claimed third fastest (1:32.836).
“It was my first time here and the track’s great,” said van der Drift. “It’s very hilly and each corner is very different from the other, which makes for quite an intense lap. The last half hour was the best for me, I went out on new tyres and set my fastest lap.
“The car’s really good this year, the new gearbox control system and engine make a real difference. You have access to a lot more power now and the car is quicker to drive.”
Cram Competition drivers Arturo Llobell and Pablo Sanchez Lopez shone as the only team-mates to post times within the overall top ten. Llobell claimed fourth overall, posting a best lap of 1:33.055, whilst Sanchez Lopez was tenth (1:33.348).
Also present was German driver Dominik Schraml whose return to Formula Master for 2008 was confirmed by his team Alan Racing. Schraml competed in the Series last year with ADM Motorsport.
Testing at the Circuito do Estoril concludes tomorrow. |
|
| Login |
Not a member yet? Click here to register.
Forgotten your password? Request a new one here.
|
|
