Top finishes for JD Motorsport in Brno

Round five for Formula Master saw JD Motorsport clinch first and third place today in Brno, Czech Republic with Chris van der Drift claiming the win and team-mate Vladimir Arabadzhiev securing third place.

New Zealand-born Dutchman van der Drift led the 14-lap race from start to finish, after qualifying on pole yesterday, although Euronova Racing's Yuhi Sekiguchi followed closely for the majority of the race.

The Japanese driver enjoyed a great start, passing Iris Project's Michael Ammermüller and Jenzer Motorsport's Fabio Leimer for second place, before retiring out of the race on lap ten due to a fuel-related issue to his team's desperation.

Having regained his position from Leimer on lap two, Sekiguchi's retirement left Ammermüller free to race to the chequered flag in second place, whilst Arabadzhiev took third from a fifth place starting position.

Leimer eventually finished in fourth with Trident Racing's Kasper Andersen claiming fifth place. Cram Competition's Pablo Sanchez Lopez made the most of a first lap incident involving his team-mate Arturo Llobell and ISR's Filip Salaquarda, and climbed from P12 to seventh place before the safety car was brought out. Sanchez Lopez went on to finish the race in sixth place.

Norbert Siedler, driving for ADM Motorsport, also made up several places on lap one. The Austrian started the race in P15 but was up in tenth place by the time the safety car came out. Siedler eventually finished in seventh place.

Completing today's top eight finishers, Trident Racing's Harald Schlegelmilch starts tomorrow's race on pole thanks to Formula Master's reverse grid regulations.

Whilst JD Motorsport safely secured the best team-mates honours with van der Drift's victory and Arabadzhiev's third place, Ammermüller claimed 'best rookie' of the race.

Eurosport's coverage of Formula Master's race weekend in Brno, Czech Republic, continues tomorrow with Race two broadcast on Eurosport 2 at 18:00 (CET).

"I had some pressure from Sekiguchi, especially after the safety car period but kept the lead and the race was straight forward after that. It's good to get points today, the aim is to keep scoring as many as possible in each round.

"For tomorrow, the start will be the most important part of the race. We'll be fast for sure. I'm starting in eighth place so I'll just have to make sure we overtake everyone else in front!"

"The start was not too good. I came away a bit slow and lost two positions. I managed to get one back from Leimer because he went into the gravel slightly. Vladimir was quite quick at the end, but I am very happy to finish second."

"In the race we were quite unfortunate as I had to start fifth because of my penalty; my qualifying position would have been third. I was some time behind Leimer because it's very difficult to overtake in a fast corner as the car can under-steer and there is not enough grip to overtake. But during the race, the car and the team were very good."

[Note: Arabadzhiev's best qualifying time was cancelled for improving his time under yellow flags during free practice.]

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Filip Salaquarda (CZH), ISR (#18)

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

1. Chris van der Drift (NED), JD Motorsport (#6), 30 points

2. Michael Ammermüller (GER), Iris Project (#27), 25 points

3. Kasper Andersen (DEN), Trident Racing (#32), 18 points

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

5. Sergey Afanasiev (RUS), JD Motorsport (#5), 15 points

6. Vladimir Arabadzhiev (BUL), JD Motorsport (#4), 12 points

7. Norbert Siedler (AUT), ADM Motorsport (#17), 11 points

8. Harald Schlegelmilch (LAT), Trident Racing (#31), 10 points

1. JD Motorsport, 57 points

2. Trident Racing, 36 points

3. Iris Project, 25 points

4. Cram Competition, 19 points

5. Jenzer Motorsport, 16 points

6. ADM Motorsport, 11 points

7. Pro Motorsport, 6 points

8. ISR, 3 points

1. Michael Ammermüller (GER), Iris Project (#27), 35 points

2. Sergey Afanasiev (RUS), JD Motorsport (#5), 22 points

3. Fabio Leimer (SUI), Jenzer Motorsport (#23), 22 points

4. Harald Schlegelmilch (LAT), Trident Racing (#31), 21.5

5. Vladimir Arabadzhiev (BUL), JD Motorsport (#4), 17 points

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

7. Yuhi Sekiguchi (JAP), Euronova Racing (#45), 8 points

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

1. Sergey Afanasiev & Chris van der Drift, JD Motorsport, 242 points

2. Vladimir Arabadzhiev & Chris van der Drift, JD Motorsport, 215 points

3. Sergey Afanasiev & Vladimir Arabadzhiev, JD Motorsport, 195 points

4. Kasper Andersen & Harald Schlegelmilch, Trident Racing, 194.5 points

5. Kasper Andersen & Alejandro Núñez, Trident Racing, 191.5 points

6. Arturo Llobell & Pablo Sanchez Lopez, Cram Competition, 187 points

7. Alejandro Núñez & Harald Schlegelmilch, Trident Racing, 177 points

8. Fabio Leimer & Matei Mihaescu (Jenzer Motorsport), 164 points

Lap 1: Contact between Llobell and Salaquarda / Llobell rejoins / Salaquarda - out / Núñez in gravel Turn 3 - out / Graves and Puglisi in pits / Graves - out / Sanchez Lopez up to 7th place

Lap 2: Safety car in this lap

Lap 4: Provenzano passes Sandtler for 12th place

Lap 5: Arabadzhiev passes Leimer for 4th place

Lap 6: Kral passes Caliendo for 14th place on the pit straight

Lap 7: Meadows passes Freitas for 17th

Lap 8: Llobell out at Turn 5

Lap 9: Puglisi up to 17th place

Lap 10: Llobell black flagged / Sekiguchi retires in Turn 11 / Schlegelmilch passes Afanasiev for 9th place / Kral up to 13th place

Lap 12: Kral up to 12th place

Lap 14: Puglisi up to 13th place

Chequered flag: 12:57

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

- RSM -