ROUND 07 BULLETIN – BRANDS HATCH

Jenzer Motorsport’s Fabio Leimer claimed his fourth win of the season today in round seven of the International Formula Master Series at the Brands Hatch circuit in England.

Second place belonged to JD Motorsport’s Josef Kral, his third podium in seven races, with team-mate Sergey Afanasiev securing third place. Leimer also set the race’s fastest lap in 1:18.853.

Fabio Leimer, Jenzer Motorsport
“The important thing was to have pole position because then I could drive my own race. I had a good start and got a four second gap to Josef [Kral] very quickly. After that Kral was getting closer and closer and seemed much faster so I was worried I might not win the race after all.

“I saved my tyres as much as possible during the middle stint of the race and managed to keep him behind me in the last laps, which allowed me to take the win.”

International Formula Master – Brands Hatch
Round 07: provisional top eight results
1. Fabio Leimer (SUI), Jenzer Motorsport (#6)
2. Josef Kral (CZH), JD Motorsport (#3)
3. Sergey Afanasiev (RUS), JD Motorsport (#2)
4. Pål Varhaug (NOR), Jenzer Motorsport (#7)
5. Erik Janis (CZH), ISR (#20)
6. Patrick Reiterer (ITA), Iris Project (#9)
7. Alexander Rossi (USA), ISR (#16)
8. Alessandro Kouzkin (RUS), Cram Competition (#47)

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Hitech Junior’s Kasper Andersen claimed the first win for his team today in the fourth round of International Formula Master in Valencia, Spain.

After passing Jenzer Motorsport’s Nicolas Maulini and fellow Hitech Junior driver Alexander Rossi at the start, Andersen led the race to the chequered flag to claim his first IFM win since Anderstorp in 2007.

Starting fifth, Jenzer Motorsport’s Pål Varhaug fought hard with Rossi on the first lap before catching Maulini and passing him on lap five. The young Norwegian then had to defend his position against JD Motorsport pair Josef Kral and Sergey Afanasiev, before claiming second place, his highest IFM finish of the season to date.

Afanasiev claimed the final podium finish in third place, having started the race in P11. The Russian driver enjoyed a strong start and climbed to sixth place on the first lap before working his way through the field to finish third.

Fellow JD Motorsport drivers Kral and Vladimir Arabadzhiev followed closely, claiming fourth and fifth-place finishes, with Kral setting the race’s fastest lap in 1:28.700 on lap 18.

Yesterday’s round four winner Fabio Leimer claimed the final point-scoring place, ahead of Maulini and Cram Competition’s Harald Schlegelmilch, whilst earlier front-runner Rossi eventually finished in twelfth place following his lap one incident with Varhaug whilst fighting for third. 

IFM’s 2009 season resumes in two weeks’ time at the Automotodrom Brno in Czech Republic for rounds five and six. Both races will be broadcasted live on the pan-European channel Eurosport.

Kasper Andersen, Hitech Junior
“It’s great for the team and me; I’ve always done well here in Valencia and leading the race like this really gave me flashbacks from 2007! This means a lot though; I really had no testing at all with the team and went straight into the car in Pau after six months away from racing in the series. We worked hard and now we have a victory as a result.

“I had a great start, although the guy in front got away well too but I had a good reaction time. Then Alexander [Rossi] was easy to pass; I just drove past him. We definitely have to keep working though; our car was quite good in the beginning but not as fast as the front-runners. We struggled a lot as the weekend got underway although overnight we did some changes and today we saw the result. But we can improve a lot still, we have to keep working and then we’re going for it!”

Pål Varhaug, Jenzer Motorsport
“I had a very good start, made up one position and then passed someone else in the first corner. After that I passed also on the last corner so a very good start really!

“I was stuck behind Maulini for some laps and could not pass him but once that was done it was a very good race! I knew I was losing time in the first corner; I was always controlling my line in that corner but the rest of the track was more or less ok. I must thank the team as the car was very good and they did a great job.”

Sergey Afanasiev, JD Motorsport
“This weekend started well, we were fast in free practice and qualifying but yesterday’s race wasn’t successful. Today was very different though; I was very calm and took the start easily and then focused on passing people one by one.
I was worried only of Harald [Schlegelmilch] because he usually has good starts but not this time.

“After that, it was a normal race, just passing people until I arrived behind Josef [Kral]. He was attacking a lot so I decided to wait and see what happened over the race. He did a great job keeping on the road but in the end I was able to pass him.”

Lap-by-lap analysis
Formation lap: Kouskin spins at Turn 14 into the gravel – OUT
Lap 1: Andersen takes the lead / contact between Varhaug and Rossi, Rossi spins
Lap 2: Schlegelmilch and Provenzano head to head into Turn 1 / Black/White flag for Provenzano / Schlegelmilch passes Provenzano for ninth place / Trummer pits – OUT
Lap 4: Kral passes Arabadzhiev for fourth place
Lap 5: Varhaug and Kral pass Maulini for second and third positions / Afanasiev overtakes Arabadzhiev for fifth / Schlegelmilch passes Snoeks for eighth / Bamber overtakes Retera for eleventh place
Lap 7: Afanasiev and Arabadzhiv pass Maulini for fourth and fifth positions
Lap 8: Kral pressuring Varhaug for second place
Lap 9: Leimer pressuring Maulini for sixth place / Provenzano passes Snoeks for ninth position
Lap 10: Bamber overtakes Snoeks for tenth place
Lap 15: Retera passes Snoeks for eleventh position
Lap 16: Kral attempts to overtake Varhaug for second but spins into the gravel – rejoins in fourth place / Rossi passes Reiterer for thirteenth position
Lap 17: Leimer passes Maulini for sixth place
Lap 18: Varhaug under pressure from Afanasiev for second position
Lap 19: Final lap / Andersen wins round four

Chequered flag: 10:42

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Jenzer Motorsport’s Fabio Leimer led today’s 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 Motorsport’s Josef Kral following him closely into the first corner.

An incident involving ADM Motorsport Earl Bamber and Iris Project’s Simon Trummer brought out the safety car soon after, giving Kral a chance to fight for the lead once again. Unfortunately the Czech wasn’t 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 Racing’s Kasper Andersen in the earlier stages of the race, before benefiting from team-mate Sergey Afanasiev’s retirement on lap seven.

Jenzer Motorsport’s Pål Varhaug claimed fourth place, having started the race in ninth place, ahead of Iris Project’s Patrick Reiterer in fifth position. Hitech Junior’s 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 Motorsport’s 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 today’s 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 didn’t 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. It’s 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 wasn’t a straight forward race as the track is quite demanding to the car but I’m 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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