Perfect weekend for Felipe Nasr in Singapore 27.09.2009: Formula BMW Pacific Round 12 Results Marina Bay, Singapore – Felipe Nasr (BRA/17/Eurointernational) made it a perfect weekend in Singapore, as the newly crowned Formula BMW Europe champion took

Formula BMW Pacific Round 12 Results

Marina Bay, Singapore – Felipe Nasr (BRA/17/Eurointernational) made it a perfect weekend in Singapore, as the newly crowned Formula BMW Europe champion took a flawless lights-to-flag victory to notch two pole positions and two Formula BMW Pacific races in support of the 2009 Formula 1 SingTel Singapore Grand Prix on the 5.067 km Marina Bay street circuit.

Guest driver Nasr and his teammates Michael Lewis (USA/18) and James Kovacic (AUS/16) swept the podium for Eurointernational, who celebrated their 400th race start in Round 12. Jack Harvey (GBR/16/Eurasia Motorsport) finished fourth in the race, while Drivers Classification leader Rio Haryanto (INA/16/Questnet Team Qi-Meritus) rounded out the top five.



With guest drivers unable to score points, Haryanto earned maximum championship points for the seventh consecutive race and continues to lead the chase for the 2009 Formula BMW Pacific title. Rookie Cup leader Gary Thompson (IRL/17/E-Rain Racing) sits in second place, 35 points adrift of the leader. Third is Formula BMW Pacific Junior Axcil Jefferies, who finished sixth in Round 12.

The race action began early, with Fahmi Ilyas (MAS/17/E-Rain Racing) being penalized five grid positions to start from eighth, following a racing incident in Round 11 with Dominic Ang (MAS/20/Team Holzer PFX). Formula BMW Junior Steel Guiliana (AUS/17/Atlantic Racing Team) faced last minute difficulties with his starter motor and was forced to start the race from pit lane. Guiliana would finish 12th in Round 12, while fellow Junior Chris Wootton (AUS/20/Eurasia Motorsport) finished eighth after starting from 11th.

Nasr came away cleanly at the start and immediately began out-pacing the rest of the field. By the second lap, he was already 3.1 seconds ahead of Lewis, who started on the first row alongside Nasr.

Haryanto, who started third, kept ahead of Kovacic and Cao Hongwei (CHN/16/Ao’s Racing Team), who rounded out the top five. However, mid-way through the race, both Harvey and Jefferies were able to overtake Cao, dropping the Chinese driver down to seventh.

On Lap 7, as Nasr had opened up a lead of 7.2 seconds from Lewis, the Safety Car was deployed after an incident on the previous lap between Muhamad Alif Jafri (MAS/17/Team Holzer PFX) and Dustin Sofyan (INA/15/Questnet Team Qi-Meritus), ending Jafri’s race.

That closed up the field, making the restart on Lap 9 crucial, but Nasr handled it perfectly with Lewis following behind him.

Kovacic, running in fourth, made a fantastic overtaking manoeuvre at the restart, going to the inside of Haryanto to steal the position and hold onto third for the remainder of the race. At the same time, Jefferies was also able to get by Haryanto, before the Indonesian re-took the position.

Lap 9 proved to be trouble for Thompson, who was the victim of an overtaking attempt by Cao. Thompson fell four places back on the grid and finished 11th.

With three races remaining on the 2009 Formula BMW Pacific calendar, Rounds 13 and 14 will take place October 30 through November 1 in Okayama, Japan in support of the FIA World Touring Car Championship.

Round 12 Drivers’ Quotes:

1st Felipe Nasr: “I’m really grateful to be here this weekend. It has been a great week for the team and me and to have three Eurointernational cars here on the podium is very good. I think my start was better than yesterday and I was doing some very good laps and creating a large gap, up until the Safety Car came out. But the car was fantastic and the team did a good job.”

2nd Michael Lewis: “I’m really glad to be up on the podium. We had a good car for both of the races and it’s been a great weekend. I tried to put the pressure on Felipe at the start and then again during the Safety Car period, but I wasn’t able to get past him. When the Safety Car came in, I put my head down, didn’t look at my mirrors and just focused on the one driver ahead of me.”

3rd James Kovacic: “At the restart, I was pretty certain I wanted to pass Rio [Haryanto]. I had a very good restart and actually all season long, I’ve been good at restarts. So I got inside Rio as quickly as possible and I think there were maybe four cars adrift, but I just held onto the track and just saved the position. I held in there and just got the place. This weekend has been great and I just needed to make sure I was physically fit for the event as it has been so hot.”

Drivers Classification leader Rio Haryanto: “After the Safety Car in, James got in the inside of me and I tried to block him, but then I thought it was just better to let him go because I’m here for the championship. I tried to get the position back, but then I didn’t want to take too many risks here. Going into the next races, I hope I can keep up taking maximum points, but the team and I are going to work very hard for the last three races. I will do my best.”

Formula BMW Junior Axcil Jefferies: “It was a sensible race for me. I drove to get good points for the championship. I had a few opportunities to pass Jack Harvey, but the risk wasn’t worth it after yesterday. This hasn’t been my best weekend of the year, but I’m still in it for the Drivers Championship and will be at my best in Japan.”

Provisional Round 12 Results.

1 21 Felipe NASR# (BRA) Eurointernational 25:04.720
2 42 Michael LEWIS# (USA) Eurointernational +2.069
3 20 James KOVACIC# (USA) Eurointernational +3.886
4 12 Jack HARVEY# (GBR) Eurasia Motorsport +4.874
5 88 Rio HARYANTO (INA) Questnet Team Qi-Meritus +5.903
6 22 Axcil JEFFERIES•* (ZIM) Eurasia Motorsport +6.355
7 16 CAO Hong Wei (CHN) Ao’s Racing Team +9.504
8 11 Chris WOOTTON* (AUS) Eurasia Motorsport +10.663
9 2 Dominic ANG (MAS) Team Holzer PFX +17.281
10 3 Calvin WONG• (MAS) Team Holzer PFX +18.377
11 7 Gary THOMPSON• (IRL) E-Rain Racing +26.570
12 8 Steel GUILIANA*• (AUS) Atlantic Racing Team +26.704
13 38 Dustin SOFYAN • (INA) Questnet Team Qi-Meritus +27.611
14 49 Akhil KHUSHLANI (IND) E-Rain Racing +28.042
15 26 Paul LAU# (HKG) Eurasia Motorsport +60.896
16 27 Fahad ALGOSAIBI• (KSA)  E-Rain Racing 1 Lap
- 4 Muhamad Alif JAFRI• (MAS) Team Holzer PFX DNF
- 17 Fahmi ILYAS• (MAS) E-Rain Racing DNF
- 5 Suriya BALA KERISNAN THEVAR•# (SIN) Asia Racing Team DNF
 
Fastest Lap: F. Nasr/Eurointernational/2:23.522/Lap 6/127.247 kph

*Scholarship driver
•Rookie Cup
#Non-Series Registered


Provisional Championship Points Tables after Round 12.

Drivers
1. Rio Haryanto (INA/Questnet Team Qi-Meritus) 188 points; 2. Gary Thompson (IRL/E-Rain Racing) 153 points; 3. Axcil Jefferies (ZIM/Eurasia Motorsport) 139 points; 4. Fahmi Ilyas (MAS/E-Rain Racing) 80 points; 5. Dustin Sofyan (INA/Questnet Team Qi-Meritus) 73 points; 6. Akhil Khushlani (IND/E-Rain Racing) 68 points; 7. Chris Wootton (AUS/Eurasia Motorsport) 62.5 points; 8. Calvin Wong (MAS/Team Holzer PFX) 46 points; 9. Dominic Ang (MAS/Team Holzer PFX) 42 points; 10. Cao Hong Wei (CHN/Ao’s Racing Team) 30 points; 11. Steel Guiliana (AUS/Atlantic Racing Team) 18 points; 12. Fahad Algosaibi (KSA/E-Rain Racing) 16.5 points; 13. Muhamad Alif Jafri (MAS/17/Team Holzer PFX) 13 points; 14. Aditya Patel (IND/Atlantic Racing Team) 5 points; 15. Zhu Huan (CHN/Questnet Team Qi-Meritus) ½ point; 16. Suriya Bala Kerisnan Thevar (SIN/Asia Racing Team) 0 points.
                     

Rookie Cup
1. Thompson, 153 points; 2.Jefferies, 139 points; 3. Ilyas, 80 points, 4. Sofyan, 73 points; 5. Wong, 46 points; 6. Guiliana, 18; 7. Algosaibi 16.5 points; 8. Jafri, 13 points; 9. Bala kerisnan Thevar, 0 points.

Teams
1. Questnet Team Qi-Meritus, 286 points; 2. E-Rain Racing, 242.38 points; 3. Eurasia Motorsport, 242.25 points; 4. Team Holzer PFX, 141.5 points; 5. Atlantic Racing Team, 121.5 points; 6. Ao’s Racing Team, 99 points; 7. Motaworld Racing, 6 points; Asia Racing Team, 6 points.

 

- Nikki Kemp, HongKong -.  photo BMW