Jenzer Motorsports Fabio Leimer led todays International Formula Master round three from start to finish, after qualifying on pole earlier this morning.
The young Swiss enjoyed a strong start, maintaining his lead despite JD Motorsports Josef Kral following him closely into the first corner.
An incident involving ADM Motorsport Earl Bamber and Iris Projects Simon Trummer brought out the safety car soon after, giving Kral a chance to fight for the lead once again. Unfortunately the Czech wasnt able to convert his restart pace into a pass and eventually finished in second place.
Fellow JD Motorsport driver Vladimir Arabadzhiev claimed third place despite starting fifth on the grid. The Bulgarian overtook Hitech Racings Kasper Andersen in the earlier stages of the race, before benefiting from team-mate Sergey Afanasievs retirement on lap seven.
Jenzer Motorsports Pål Varhaug claimed fourth place, having started the race in ninth place, ahead of Iris Projects Patrick Reiterer in fifth position. Hitech Juniors Kasper Andersen finished round three in sixth place despite running as high as third earlier on.
Team-mate Alexander Rossi followed in seventh place ahead of Jenzer Motorsports Nicolas Maulini who scored a point on his return to IFM; the Swiss last raced in the Series in 2007.
Leimer maintained his lead in the drivers classification after scoring a point for pole position this morning, a point for fastest lap and the 10 points for his win. Pål Varhaug still leads the rookies classification, claiming the best rookie finish and fastest rookie lap in todays race.
Race one takes place tomorrow, Sunday 31 May, and will be shown live on Eurosport International and Asia Pacific from 08:00 (GMT).
Fabio Leimer, Jenzer Motorsport
I had a good start but Josef was alongside me and he was really close; I thought he could pass me! After I got settled in the race and it was ok. I was pushing hard throughout because I didnt know if we would have tyre problems later as Valencia is very demanding on tyres but everything was ok.
Josef Kral, JD Motorsport
I had a really good start and was side by side with Fabio [Leimer] very quickly but I had to slow down soon after. The same happened at the restart after the safety car.
The car was starting to be difficult to drive; I think the track changed from this morning as the car was fantastic then. Its a good result for the team anyway, as we got lots of points
Vladimir Arabadzhiev, JD Motorsport
I had a good race; Sergey [Afanasiev] overtook Kasper [Andersen] earlier on and I was able to pass him at the same time. Then Sergey had to pit, which gave me third place. It wasnt a straight forward race as the track is quite demanding to the car but Im happy with the results.
Lap-by-lap analysis
Lap 1: Snoeks pits after formation lap / Kral up to second place / Bamber spins and collects Trummer at Turn 2 both OUT / Safety car deployed / Kouzkin pits
Lap 2: Provenzano pits OUT
Lap 3: Safety car in this lap
Lap 4: Kral attempts overtaking move on Leimer for the lead / Maulini passes Rossi for eighth place
Lap 5: Rossi retakes eighth place from Maulini
Lap 7: Andersen under pressure from Varhaug and Reiterer for fourth place / Afanasiev pits OUT / Snoeks rejoins the race
Lap 8: Contact between Rossi and Maulini / Leimer sets the fastest lap of the race: 1:29.059
Lap 9: Black/Orange flag for Maulini
Lap 10: Maulini pits for a new nose
Lap 15: Varhaug overtakes Andersen for fourth position / Reiterer also passes Andersen for fifth place
Lap 25: Final lap / Leimer wins round three
Chequered flag: 13.43
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