Harald Schlegelmilch claimed his and Trident Racing's first Formula Master victory today in Brno, Czech Republic, after leading the race from start to finish.

The 20-year-old Latvian started from pole due to the Series' reverse grid regulations, after finishing yesterday's round in eighth place, and kept the lead throughout the 19-lap race despite strong pressure from Cram Competition's Pablo Sanchez Lopez.

Sanchez Lopez enjoyed a good start, making up a place in passing ADM Motorsport's Norbert Siedler, but was unable to pass Schlegelmilch for the lead and finished in second place: his first podium of the season, along with Cram Competition's.

Siedler completed today's podium with his second top-three finish of the year, in third place. Michael Ammermüller climbed to a fourth place finish for Iris Project after starting the race in seventh with JD Motorsport's Chris van der Drift close behind in fifth. The pair made up several places at the start of the race, proceeding to pressurise Siedler for third place to no avail.

Van der Drift's team-mate Sergey Afanasiev claimed sixth place, whilst Kasper Andersen eventually clinched seventh for Trident Racing despite running as high as fourth earlier in the race.

ISR's Tim Sandtler raced to an eighth place finish, making up two positions during the 45-minute race and earning his first Drivers Classification point of the season.

The safety car was deployed early in the race following an incident involving Cram Competition's Alberto Costa and ADM Motorsport team-mates Octavio Freitas and Michele Caliendo on lap one.

Schlegelmilch earned 'best rookie' of the race along with his race victory, which also ensured Trident Racing received the 'best team-mates' honours for Schlegelmilch and Andersen.

Five different teams claimed the top five finishing positions today, highlighting Formula Master's close competition, whilst van der Drift increased his title lead to four points ahead of Ammermüller.

"It was a good race. I'm very pleased with the result. Now you see me smiling and hopefully the next round will also be a smiley race!

"The start was very good, the best in Formula Master this year. After the safety car, I just slowed down a little bit at the restart and tried to get away from the guys as quick as possible. I managed to make a good gap in the first laps but Sanchez Lopez was coming very fast and I was lucky to keep him behind."

"Harald did a good job; I have to congratulate him. I'm very happy for the team; I think we have found good car balance. We were a little bit lost at the start of the season but now I feel happy; it's good for the team and it's good for me. I know the team has a good car and I think we can go through the season and fight for the title."

"The race was not so easy as I had to defend third place but I did it and that is good for the title and for our points. Qualifying was pretty bad; I was 16th so third place from 16th is pretty good. It hasn't been a bad weekend for me!"

1. Harald Schlegelmilch (LAT), Trident Racing (#31)

2. Pablo Sanchez Lopez (MEX), Cram Competition (#2)

3. Norbert Siedler (AUT), ADM Motorsport (#17)

4. Michael Ammermüller (GER), Iris Project (#27)

5. Chris van der Drift (NED), JD Motorsport (#6)

6. Sergey Afanasiev (RUS), JD Motorsport (#5)

7. Kasper Andersen (DEN), Trident Racing (#32)

8. Tim Sandtler (GER), ISR (#19)

9. Vladimir Arabadzhiev (BUL), JD Motorsport (#4)

10. Michael Meadows (GBR), Euronova Racing (#15)

11. Marcello Puglisi (ITA), Pro Motorsport (#9)

12. Josef Kral (CZH), Team JVA (#29)

13. Fabio Leimer (SUI), Jenzer Motorsport (#23)

14. Frankie Provenzano (ITA), ADM Motorsport (#21)

15. Arturo Llobell (ESP), Cram Competition (#1)

16. Matei Mihaescu (ROM), Jenzer Motorsport (#24)

17. Alejandro Núñez (ESP), Trident Racing (#33)

18. Yuhi Sekiguchi (JAP), Euronova Racing (#45)

19. Luca Persiani (ITA), Scuderia Famà (#25)

20. Tor Graves (GBR), Team JVA (#30)

Filip Salaquarda (CZH), ISR (#18)

Fabrizio Crestani (ITA), Euronova Racing (#14)

Alberto Costa (ITA), Cram Competition (#3)

Michele Caliendo (ITA), ADM Motorsport (#22)

Octavio Freitas (BRA), ADM Motorsport (#16)

1. Chris van der Drift (NED), JD Motorsport (#6), 34 points

. Michael Ammermüller (GER), Iris Project (#27), 30 points

3. Harald Schlegelmilch (LAT), Trident Racing (#31), 20 points

4. Kasper Andersen (DEN), Trident Racing (#32), 20 points

5. Sergey Afanasiev (RUS), JD Motorsport (#5), 18 points

6. Norbert Siedler (AUT), ADM Motorsport (#17), 17 points

7. Fabio Leimer (SUI), Jenzer Motorsport (#23), 16 points

8. Pablo Sanchez Lopez (MEX), Cram Competition (#2), 14.5 points

1. JD Motorsport, 64 points

2. Trident Racing, 48 points

3. Iris Project, 30 points

4. Cram Competition, 27 points

5. ADM Motorsport, 17 points

6. Jenzer Motorsport, 16 points

7. Pro Motorsport, 6 points

8. ISR, 4 points

1. Michael Ammermüller (GER), Iris Project (#27), 43 points

2. Harald Schlegelmilch (LAT), Trident Racing (#31), 31.5 points

3. Sergey Afanasiev (RUS), JD Motorsport (#5), 28 points

4. Fabio Leimer (SUI), Jenzer Motorsport (#23), 23 points

5. Vladimir Arabadzhiev (BUL), JD Motorsport (#4), 21 points

6. Alejandro Núñez (ESP), Trident Racing (#33), 16 points

7. Tim Sandtler (GER), ISR (#19), 12 points

8. Josef Kral (CZH), Team JVA (#29), 8.5 points

1. Sergey Afanasiev & Chris van der Drift, JD Motorsport, 296 points

2. Vladimir Arabadzhiev & Chris van der Drift, JD Motorsport, 265 points

3. Kasper Andersen & Harald Schlegelmilch, Trident Racing, 258.5 points

4. Sergey Afanasiev & Vladimir Arabadzhiev, JD Motorsport, 243 points

5. Arturo Llobell & Pablo Sanchez Lopez, Cram Competition, 238 points

6. Alejandro Núñez & Harald Schlegelmilch, Trident Racing, 231 points

7. Kasper Andersen & Alejandro Núñez, Trident Racing, 229.5 points

8. Fabio Leimer & Matei Mihaescu, Jenzer Motorsport, 197 points

Lap 1: Sanchez Lopez passes Siedler for 2nd place / Incident between Freitas, Caliendo and Costa / Freitas and Caliendo - out / Costa rejoins / Safety car deployed

Lap 4: Under safety car / Costa in the pits - out

Lap 5: Safety car in this lap

Lap 6: Race resumed / Crestani off-track at Turn 9 - out

Lap 7: Ammermüller passes Andersen for 4th place / van der Drift passes Andersen for 5th place

Lap 8: Kral passes Llobell for 14th place / Sekiguchi passes Salaquarda for 17th place

Lap 9: Sanchez Lopez sets fastest lap time of 1:50.127

Lap 10: Siedler, Ammermüller and van der Drift fighting for 4th place

Lap 12: Schlegelmilch under pressure from Sanchez Lopez / Salaquarda - out

Lap 13: Afanasiev passes Andersen for 6th place

Lap 16: Provenzano spins and rejoins at Turn 13

Chequered flag: 14:46

For more information and today's full results, please visit www.formulamaster.net   

- Aurélie Donzelot -