Bulgarian Vladimir Arabadzhiev clinched his first win in Formula Master's round eight today at the Circuito do Estoril in Portugal.

The JD Motorsport driver passed pole position-man Tim Sandtler in the first corner before going on to lead the 24-lap race.

Cram Competition's Arturo Llobell returned to the Formula Master podium for the first time this year; his last top three finish was a win at Brands Hatch last year. The Spaniard took second place today after also passing Sandtler at the start.

ISR driver Sandtler delivered a tremendous drive to the chequered flag, running most of the race with fourth-place man Chris van der Drift close behind. Sandtler defended his position throughout, despite van der Drift's constant efforts to overtake, to score his and ISR's first podium of the year.

Having started seventh, JD Motorsport's van der Drift climbed to fourth place by lap three, whilst Harald Schlegelmilch kept him under pressure too. The Trident Racing driver was unable to pass van der Drift however, and finished the race in fifth place.

Schlegelmilch's team-mate Kasper Andersen claimed sixth place, having lost his P4 starting position to Schlegelmilch and van der Drift on lap one. Andersen delivered strong defensive moves from then on however, ensuring Jenzer Motorsport's Fabio Leimer stayed behind him.

Having won yesterday's race, Leimer started today's round in eighth place, in accordance with the Formula Master reverse grid regulations. The Swiss took advantage of a better start than Iris Project's Michael Ammermüller and climbed to seventh place on lap one, which he kept for the remainder of the race.

Ammermüller clinched the final point available in today's race, finishing in eighth place.

Arabadzhiev's win awarded him the best rookie accolade for today's race along with 'best team-mates', which he shares with Chris van der Drift for JD Motorsport. The team also becomes the only outfit whose three drivers have won a race this year.

"I am very happy that my third podium is a win. I made a good start and braked late into the first corner to pass Tim and then tried to control the distance between me and Arturo. There were two times that I thought I might not win, because I made two mistakes in braking; I was worried because I wanted to win the race. But I held on and finished first!

"I haven't been to Brands Hatch before so we will see. I don't know how the race will go for me."

"I had a good start in the first few metres, passed Tim and tried to stay side-by-side with Vladimir but I couldn't pass; he was faster in the initial part of the race. It has been a difficult season for me and I have had little problems when I have been doing well so this is a very welcomed result. In this race I thought it was better not to risk chasing Vladimir but to stay in the points and control the distance behind me."

"My start was not good, which meant Arturo and Vladimir could overtake. In the middle of the race, Chris was putting a lot of pressure on me and was trying to pass each lap. But I stayed cool and think I did a good job; I must say he raced fair as well. In any case I'm very pleased with the result!"

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

11. Filip Salaquarda (CZH), ISR (#18)

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

13. Daniel Mancinelli (ITA), Euronova Racing (#46)

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

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

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

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

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

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

20. Tomas Pivoda (CZH), Euronova Racing (#35)

21. Davide Rigon (ITA), ADM Motorsport (#7)

Frankie Provenzano (ITA), Scuderia Famà (#21)

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

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

1. Chris van der Drift (NED), JD Motorsport (#6), 47 points

2. Michael Ammermüller (GER), Iris Project (#27), 37 points

3. Harald Schlegelmilch (LAT), Trident Racing (#31), 29 points

4. Fabio Leimer (SUI), Jenzer Motorsport (#23), 28 points

5. Kasper Andersen (DEN), Trident Racing (#32), 27 points

6. Vladimir Arabadzhiev (BUL), JD Motorsport (#4), 24 points

7. Arturo Llobell (ESP), Cram Competition (#1), 20.5 points

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

1. JD Motorsport, 89 points

2. Trident Racing, 64 points

3. Cram Competition, 38 points

4. Iris Project, 37 points

5. Jenzer Motorsport, 28 points

6. ADM Motorsport, 17 points

7. ISR, 11 points

8. Pro Motorsport, 6 points

1. Michael Ammermüller (GER), Iris Project (#27), 55 points

2. Harald Schlegelmilch (LAT), Trident Racing (#31), 43.5 points

3. Fabio Leimer (SUI), Jenzer Motorsport (#23), 38 points

4. Vladimir Arabadzhiev (BUL), JD Motorsport (#4), 36 points

5. Sergey Afanasiev (RUS), JD Motorsport (#5), 31 points

6. Tim Sandtler (GER), ISR (#19), 24 points

7. Alejandro Núñez (ESP), Trident Racing (#33), 20 points

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

1. Sergey Afanasiev & Chris van der Drift, JD Motorsport, 401 points

2. Vladimir Arabadzhiev & Chris van der Drift, JD Motorsport, 394 points

3. Kasper Andersen & Harald Schlegelmilch, Trident Racing, 370.5 points

4. Sergey Afanasiev & Vladimir Arabadzhiev, JD Motorsport, 347 points

5. Alejandro Núñez & Harald Schlegelmilch, Trident Racing, 330 points

6. Kasper Andersen & Alejandro Núñez, Trident Racing, 324.5 points

7. Arturo Llobell & Pablo Sanchez Lopez, Cram Competition, 319 points

8. Fabio Leimer & Matei Mihaescu, Jenzer Motorsport, 288 points

Lap 1: Arabadzhiev and Llobell pass Sandtler at Turn 1 / Arabadzhiev leads / Provenzano spins and rejoins / Schlegelmilch and van der Drift pass Andersen for 4th and 5th positions / Leimer passes Ammermüller for 7th place

Lap 3: van der Drift passes Schlegelmilch for 4th place/ van der Drift pushing Sandtler for 3rd place / Salaquarda passes Kral for 19th place

Lap 4: Mancinelli passes Caliendo for 14th place / Siedler and Puglisi pass Mihaescu

Lap 5: Afanasiev passes Ammermüller for 8th place / Arabadzhiev sets fastest lap of 1:33.542

Lap 7: Siedler slow at Turn 2 / Puglisi is promoted to 16th place

Lap 8: Siedler in the pits / van der Drift reduced gap to 0.364 seconds from Sandtler

Lap 12: Mancinelli passes Persiani for 13th place

Lap 13: Salaquarda and Kral pass Mihaescu for 17th and 18th positions

Lap 17: Ammermüller passes Afanasiev for 8th place / Salaquarda moves up to 15th place / Caliendo slips down to 17th place

Lap 18: Sanchez Lopez in the pits / Rigon passes Afanasiev for 9th position

Lap 20: Rigon spins at Turn 12 and rejoins

Lap 21: Núñez passes Afanasiev for 9th place / Kral passes Puglisi for 14th

Lap 22: Mancinelli passes Afanasiev for 10th place

Lap 23: Persiani and Salaquarda move up to 10th and 11th / Mancinelli and Afanasiev slip down to 12th and 13th

Lap 24: Afanasiev passes Mancinelli for 12th place

Chequered flag: 16.11

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

- Aurélie Donzelot -