All to race for as season climax approaches.

With just three races remaining of the Formula BMW Pacific 2008 season, the outcome of the two rounds in Shanghai next weekend have a potentially momentous effects on the overall results. After 13 rounds, one driver is in a position to clinch a title, another must perform perfectly if he is to keep his championship chances alive, and a duel in the Rookie Cup continues to excite.

These elements, combined with the five guest drivers wanting to gain experience on circuits in the Asia-Pacific region, make for another stirring entry list as Formula BMW Pacific races Rounds 14 and 15 in support of the 2008 Formula 1 Sinopec Chinese Grand Prix.

Formula BMW Pacific is no stranger to the Shanghai International Circuit and returns once again to the Formula 1 support programme. However, as the series moves closer to crowning a champion, the tension mounts.

Leading the Driver Classification is Ross Jamison (18/HKG/Meritus) who needs to earn just eight points in order to clinch the championship title ahead of Sean McDonagh (19/USA/Team E-Rain).

With 63 points on offer in Shanghai and at the season-closer at the Macau Grand Prix in November, McDonagh, who trails Jamison by 56 points, still has a mathematical chance of winning. Though the young American said he hasn’t given up, he acknowledged that he would have to be perfect and Jamison would have to falter dramatically.

For his part, Jamison has been driving with half a mind on winning the race and the other half focused on the bigger picture – winning the championship. After finishing second in the 2007 Rookie Cup, Jamison is eager to take the Driver Classification in his second season.

During the two Formula BMW Pacific races in Singapore, Jamison, who finished third and second in the races, said he was driving with the championship in mind and did not want to do anything that would ruin his title chances. That said the Hong Kong racer is looking to wrap up the championship in Shanghai so that he can focus on winning the final race on Macau’s daunting Guia Circuit.

Formula BMW Juniors Simon Moss (17/RSA/Mahara) and Chris Wootton (19/AUS/Meritus) continue their season-long pursuit of the Rookie Cup. Moss, currently fourth overall, has a 12-point edge over Wootton and while he will look to strengthen the gap, Wootton will attempt to turn the tables.

While the series’ regulars continue to battle for the Driver and the Rookie Cup titles, they are once again joined by the guest drivers Doru Sechelariu (15/ROM/Meritus), Ollie Millroy (18/GBR/Motaworld), Asad Rahman (17/UAE/Motaworld) and Rio Haryanto (15/IDN/Pacific Racing).

Though ineligible to score championship points, the guest drivers have certainly made an impact on the highly competitive series. Sechelariu, who just completed a season in Formula BMW Europe, won both races from lights to flag in Singapore while Millroy, who also came to the Pacific series after Formula BMW Europe, finished second in Round 12.

A new addition to the Formula BMW Pacific field for Shanghai is Mexican driver Alfonso "Picho" Toledano (19/Atlantic Racing). Toledano was a guest driver in the 2008 Formula BMW Americas season and, in 2006, finished second in a Chinese national open-wheel series.

Series’ driver Ryuichi Nara (20/JPN/Team E-Rain), who comes to Shanghai brimming with confidence after a strong performance in Singapore, has moved up to third overall in the Drivers Classification. Also buoyed by his Singapore success is Gabby Chaves (15/COL/Atlantic Racing) who clinched his second podium of the season in Singapore with an impressive performance.

Round 14 of Formula BMW Pacific will be held over 10 laps of the 5.451km Shanghai International Circuit on Saturday, October 18, with Round 15 to be run on Sunday.

Championship Points Tables after Round 13.

Drivers 1.Ross Jamison (HKG/Meritus) 192 points; 2. Sean McDonagh (KOR/Team E-Rain) 136 points; 3. Ryuichi Nara (JPN/Team E-Rain) 95 points; 4.Simon Moss (RSA/Mahara) 92 points; 5. Melvin Moh (MAS/Team Holzer PFX) 86 points; 6. Gabriel Chaves (COL/Atlantic Racing Team) 85 points; 7. Chris Wootton (AUS/Meritus) 80 points; 8. Marlon Stöckinger (PHI/Eurasia Motorsport) 67 points; 9. Imran Shaharom (MAS/Team Holzer PFX) 54 points; 10. Aditya Patel (IND/Eurasia Motorsport) 50 points; 11. Dominic Ang (MAS/Team Holzer PFX) 48 points; 12. Arvin Roslan (MAS/Meritus) 40 points; 13. Tasmin Pepper (RSA/Meritus) 22 points; 14. Huzair Harun Rasip (MAS/Mahara) 7 points; 15. Omer Younas (PAK/Team E-Rain) 1 point.

Rookie Cup 1.Moss; 2. Wootton; 3. Stöckinger; 4. Patel; 5.Ang; 6.Roslan; 7. Younas.

Teams 1.Meritus, 331 points; 2. Team E-Rain, 225 points; 3. Team Holzer PFX, 187 points; 4. Eurasia Motorsport, 117 points; 5. Mahara, 97 points; 6. Atlantic Racing Team, 85 points

Winners 2008: Jamison (4); Moss (2); Nara (2); McDonagh (2); Moh (1); Sechelariu (2)

Pole Positions: Moss (2); McDonagh (6); Nara (1); Moh (1); Jamison (1); Sechelariu (2)

Podiums: Jamison (10); Moss (4); Patel (1); McDonagh (6); Moh (4); Chaves (2); Nara (3); Manzur (1); Stöckinger (1); Wootton (4); Sechelariu (2); Millroy (1)

Rookie Cup Winners: Moss (5); Stöckinger (3); Roslan (1); Wootton (3); Ang (1)

Background:

Formula BMW is the world’s leading entry-level series in formula racing. In 2008 the three Formula BMW series – Formula BMW Europe, Formula BMW Pacific and Formula BMW Americas – will be held in the key motor sport markets of Europe, pan-Asia and North and South America. The end of the year will see the Formula BMW World Final staged for the fourth time, this time at Mexico City’s "Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez" from the 5th to the 7th December. The winner will be granted the opportunity of a test drive with the BMW Sauber F1 Team.

Formula BMW will be held on the undercard of Formula One on 12 occasions. The series gives young racing talents the chance to enter professional motor sport in a safe racing car – the Formula BMW FB02.

The FB02 has been in use since season 2002. It is powered by a 140 hp BMW engine that takes it to a top speed of up to 230 km/h. It ranks among the safest vehicles in its category and exceeds the FIA safety regulations that govern this class of car. Innovations such as the FORS (Formula Rescue Seat) were developed by BMW Motorsport specifically for Formula BMW. Following Formula One, Formula BMW was the first single-seater series outside the US in which the HANS system was made mandatory.

Formula BMW drivers have the opportunity to take part in an Education and Coaching Programme that runs parallel with the racing season. The programme includes driver coaching at the races by professional race drivers, attending a Formula One test, fitness courses, tuition in driving technique and strategy, as well as seminars on sponsoring and sport management.

Among the 20 team drivers in this season’s Formula One, there are now four Formula BMW graduates: Nico Rosberg, Adrian Sutil, Sebastian Vettel and Timo Glock. The test and reserve drivers add three more to the tally, namely Christian Klien, Sebastien Buemi and Nicolas Hülkenberg.

In the words of BMW Motorsport Director Mario Theissen: "With our worldwide Formula BMW concept, we offer drivers and teams a platform which, in this format, is unprecedented in a junior series and which allows them to benefit from our Formula One involvement. Through Formula BMW the drivers are equipped with the tools they need to assert themselves successfully in the world of professional motor racing."

- Niikki Kemp-