Rio Haryanto grabs victory in Round 6. 31.05.2009: Rio Haryanto (INA/16/Questnet Team Qi-Meritus) grabbed victory in Round 6 of Formula BMW Pacific today, capping off a successful four-race weekend for the series. Finishing second was pole-sitter Fahmi Ilyas (MAS/17/E

Formula BMW Pacific  Round 6 Sepang Malaysia

Rio Haryanto (INA/16/Questnet Team Qi-Meritus) grabbed victory in Round 6 of Formula BMW Pacific today, capping off a successful four-race weekend for the series.  Finishing second was pole-sitter Fahmi Ilyas (MAS/17/E-Rain Racing), also taking the Rookie Cup win, while rounding out the podium was Axcil Jefferies (ZIM/15/Eurasia Motorsport).

Gary Thompson (IRL/16/E-Rain Racing) was classified fourth, although he had actually passed Jefferies heading into final lap.  The chequered flag was brought out a lap early in the 10-lap race, and regulations state that in such circumstances, the final positions are taken from the end of previous lap.

Akhil Khushlani (IND/19/E-Rain Racing) rounded out the top five.

With five podium finishes in six races, Thompson leads both the Rookie Cup and Drivers Classification with 83 points.  Jefferies is second with 72 points and eight points behind him is Haryanto. 

Formula BMW Junior Chris Wootton (AUS/20/Eurasia Motorsport) ended a disappointing weekend on a high note, finishing sixth in the race after starting near the back of the grid.

For Haryanto, who recorded his second series win today, it was a successful weekend:  “The weekend has gone pretty well,” he said. “On Friday and Saturday I was suffering, but finally I was able to find the pace.  All weekend I’ve been trying hard to increase my pace.”

Ilyas described his weekend as up and down: “The beginning of the weekend was very good,” said the Malaysian, who qualified fifth and fourth for Rounds 3 and 4.  “But since qualifying my pace came down and the other guys were faster than me.  I crashed in Round 3 and so I wasn’t able to start Round 5 from a strong position.  I’m happy with Rounds 4 and 6, though.”

From the start, Ilyas felt the pressure from the other drivers. He later said a small error cost him about half a second, allowing the others to gain further ground.

In the early laps of the race, Haryanto, who started third on the grid, overtook Thompson and moved into second position. On Lap 7, Haryanto successfully made his move on Ilyas.  With Haryanto in the lead, Ilyas was then forced to contend with Jefferies who had, by this point, passed Thompson to move from fourth into third.

On the first lap, Wootton gained two positions from his 10th place starting position, and then moved up to 7th before battling with Dustin Sofyan for sixth (INA/Meritus), getting by on lap 7.

Having raced the first six rounds at Malaysia’s Sepang International Circuit, the series now travels to Indonesia for Rounds 7 – 10 at the Sentul International Circuit.  Haryanto and Sofyan said they were both looking towards racing in their home country: “I am really looking forward to Sentul because it’s a home race for me,” Sofyan said. “I feel that because all the other teams have been testing at Sepang, we’ll have an advantage because we have been testing at Sentul.”


Round 6 Results.
 
1 88 Rio HARYANTO (INA) Questnet Team Qi-Meritus 17:49.760
 
2 17 Fahmi ILYAS• (MAS) E-Rain Racing +0.734
 
3 22 Axcil JEFFERIES•* (ZIM) Eurasia Motorsport +0.765
 
4 7 Gary THOMPSON• (IRL) E-Rain Racing +1.122
 
5 49 Akhil KHUSHLANI (IND) E-Rain Racing +1.799
 
6 11 Chris WOOTTON* (AUS) Eurasia Motorsport +11.067
 
7 38 Dustin SOFYAN • (INA) Questnet Team Qi-Meritus +13.108
 
8 10 Antonio MARTINEZ# (ESP) Eurasia Motorsport +14.731
 
9 3 Calvin WONG• (MAS) Team Holzer PFX +15.589
 
10 2 Dominic ANG (MAS) Team Holzer PFX +16.815
 
11 16 CAO Hong Wei (CHN) Ao’s Racing Team +18.111
 
12 27 Fahad ALGOSAIBI (KSA)• E-Rain Racing +18.853
 
13 4 Muhamad Alif JAFRI• (MAS) Team Holzer PFX +22.793
 
14 8 Steel GUILIANA*• (AUS) Atlantic Racing Team +23.607
 
Pole Position: Fahmi Ilyas 2:11.662
Fastest Lap: Gary Thompson 2:11.834 /151.363 kph/Lap 5

*Scholarship driver
•Rookie Cup
#Non-Series Registered

Provisional Championship Points Tables after Round 6.


Drivers
1.Gary Thompson (IRL/E-Rain Racing) 83 points; 2. Axcil Jefferies (ZIM/Eurasia Motorsport) 72 points; 3. Rio Haryanto (INA/Questnet Team Qi-Meritus) 64 points; 4. Fahmi Ilyas (MAS/E-Rain Racing) 43 points; 5. Dustin Sofyan (INA/Questnet Team Qi-Meritus) 38 points; 6. Akhil Khushlani (IND/E-Rain Racing) 35 points; 7. Chris Wootton (AUS/Eurasia Motorsport) 30.5 points; 8. Calvin Wong (MAS/Team Holzer PFX) 26 points; 9. Dominic Ang (MAS/Team Holzer PFX) 20 points;10. Fahad Algosaibi (KSA/E-Rain Racing) 12.5 points; 11. Cao Hong Wei (CHN/Ao’s Racing Team) 8 points; 12. Steel Guiliana (AUS/Atlantic Racing Team) 6 points; 13. Aditya Patel (IND/Atlantic Racing Team) 5 points; 14. Muhamad Alif Jafri (MAS/17/Team Holzer PFX) 3 points; Zhu Huan (CHN/Questnet Team Qi-Meritus) ½ point.
                

Rookie Cup
1. Thompson, 83 points; 2.Jefferies, 72 points; 3. Ilyas, 43 points; 4. Sofyan, 38 points, 5. Wong, 23 points; 6. Algosaibi 12.5 points; 7. Guiliana, 6 points; 8. Jafri, 3 points.


 Teams
1. Questnet Team Qi-Meritus, 119.5 points; 2. Eurasia Motorsport, 116.25 points; 3. E-Rain Racing, 112.13 points; 4. Team Holzer PFX, 67.5 points; 5. Atlantic Racing Team, 55.5 points; 6. Ao’s Racing Team, 42 points; 7. Motaworld Racing, 6 points.

 

Statistics:
Winners 2009: Thompson (1); Haryanto (2); Jefferies (2); Ilyas (1)
Pole Positions: Thompson (2), Wootton (2); Jefferies (1); Ilyas (1)
Podiums: Thompson (5); Haryanto (4); Jefferies (3); Wootton (2); Khushlani (2); Ilyas (2)
Rookie Cup Wins: Thompson (2); Jefferies (2); Ilyas (2)

 

Background:

Formula BMW is the world’s leading entry-level series in formula racing. In 2009 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. Formula BMW will be regularly held in the support programme of Formula One. 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 five Formula BMW graduates: Nico Rosberg, Adrian Sutil, Sebastian Vettel, Sebastién Buemi and Timo Glock.


- Nikki Kemp HongKong - auch Photo