Jenzer Motorsport claimed their first ever Formula Master win yesterday following driver Fabio Leimer's victory in round seven at the Circuito do Estoril, Portugal.
The 19-year-old Swiss led the 18-lap race from start to finish, having secured pole position yesterday, to clinch his very first win in a single-seater category.
Second-place finisher Chris van der Drift enjoyed a great start by overtaking Iris Project's Michael Ammermüller on the first corner. The JD Motorsport racer consolidated his lead in the Drivers Classification by increasing the gap to six points from Ammermüller.
Unfortunately Ammermüller's start was not as successful and resulted in the German racing to the chequered flag in third place. Ammermüller's record as the only driver to have scored points in all races remained however, with a further six points added to his tally.
Trident Racing's Harald Schlegelmilch claimed fourth place despite an eventful start which saw the Latvian lose out to Arturo Llobell.
Team-mate Kasper Andersen finished close behind in fifth place, with just 0.4 seconds separating the two Trident Racing drivers.
Running in fourth place as today's last lap began, Cram Competition's Llobell succumbed to an overtaking move from Schlegelmilch, which also allowed Andersen through; Llobell crossed the finish line in sixth place.
JD Motorsport's Vladimir Arabadzhiev improved on his P9-start by two places within the first lap, overtaking both ADM Motorsport's Norbert Siedler and ISR's Tim Sandtler. Arabadzhiev kept the position for the duration of the race and finished in seventh place.
Having secured sixth place in Friday's qualifying, Sandtler moved down to ninth at the start but climbed back to his eighth-place finishing position by lap five. The ISR driver will start today's Formula Master race on pole thanks to the Series' reverse grid regulations.
Best rookie was secured by Leimer's thrilling race win whilst the best team-mates accolade was claimed by JD Motorsport's van der Drift and Arabadzhiev, thanks to their respective second and seventh place finishes.
Eurosport's coverage of race two on Sunday will be broadcast live on Eurosport 2 and Asia Pacific at 16:30 (CET).
Fabio Leimer, Jenzer Motorsport
"This weekend I have had my first pole and my first win so I'm happy! The start was important; a bad one would have let Michael or Chris overtake. But I got a good start and was fast in the first five or six laps. Near the end Chris was faster, but I had enough distance to win the race.
"It's my first win in a single-seater category, obviously my first in Formula Master and it's also the first win for Jenzer Motorsport in the Series...so we are very happy! Tomorrow I must try to finish in the points; that is the key from now on as we still have enough races left to win the series."
Chris van der Drift, JD Motorsport
"The most important part in this race was the start, and Fabio started really well. I managed to get alongside Michael before the first corner and get past. Fabio was quicker than me, but I found a rhythm and was consistent. I kept pushing and pushing near the end but couldn't decrease the gap enough to catch Fabio."
Michael Ammermüller, Iris Project
"The start for me was not so good; I pulled away slower and Chris passed me. It is difficult to overtake on this track: you have to be a lot quicker to be able to get past. I am looking forward to tomorrow and will hopefully get a better position. I hope to get good points to keep the other drivers behind me in the series."
Formula Master - Estoril - Round seven
1. Fabio Leimer (SUI), Jenzer Motorsport (#23)
2. Chris van der Drift (NED), JD Motorsport (#6)
3. Michael Ammermüller (GER), Iris Project (#27)
4. Harald Schlegelmilch (LAT), Trident Racing (#31)
5. Kasper Andersen (DEN), Trident Racing (#32)
6. Arturo Llobell (ESP), Cram Competition (#1)
7. Vladimir Arabadzhiev (BUL), JD Motorsport (#4)
8. Tim Sandtler (GER), ISR (#19)
9. Davide Rigon (ITA), ADM Motorsport (#7)
10. Sergey Afanasiev (RUS), JD Motorsport (#5)
11. Pablo Sanchez Lopez (MEX), Cram Competition (#2)
12. Alejandro Núñez (ESP), Trident Racing (#33)
13. Josef Kral (CZH), Team JVA (#29)
14. Luca Persiani (ITA), Scuderia Famà (#25)
15. Michele Caliendo (ITA), ADM Motorsport (#22)
16. Frankie Provenzano (ITA), Scuderia Famà (#21)
17. Daniel Mancinelli (ITA), Euronova Racing (#46)
18. Matei Mihaescu (ROM), Jenzer Motorsport (#24)
19. Tor Graves (GBR), Team JVA (#30)
20. Tomas Pivoda (CZH), Euronova Racing (#35)
21. Yuhi Sekiguchi (JAP), Euronova Racing (#45)
22. Filip Salaquarda (CZH), ISR (#18)
Not classified
Norbert Siedler (AUT), ADM Motorsport (#17)
Marcello Puglisi (ITA), Pro Motorsport (#9)
Formula Master drivers classification - top eight
1. Chris van der Drift (NED), JD Motorsport (#6), 42 points
2. Michael Ammermüller (GER), Iris Project (#27), 36 points
3. Fabio Leimer (SUI), Jenzer Motorsport (#23), 26 points
4. Harald Schlegelmilch (LAT), Trident Racing (#31), 25 points
5. Kasper Andersen (DEN), Trident Racing (#32), 24 points 6. Sergey Afanasiev (RUS), JD Motorsport (#5), 18 points 7. Norbert Siedler (AUT), ADM Motorsport (#17), 17 points 8. Pablo Sanchez Lopez (MEX), Cram Competition (#2), 14.5 points
Formula Master teams classification - top eight1. JD Motorsport, 74 points 2. Trident Racing, 57 points 3. Iris Project, 36 points 4. Cram Competition, 30 points 5. Jenzer Motorsport, 26 points
6. ADM Motorsport, 17 points 7. Pro Motorsport, 6 points 8. ISR, 5 points
Formula Master rookies classification - top eight 1. Michael Ammermüller (GER), Iris Project (#27), 51 points 2. Harald Schlegelmilch (LAT), Trident Racing (#31), 37.5 points
3. Fabio Leimer (SUI), Jenzer Motorsport (#23), 33 points4. Sergey Afanasiev (RUS), JD Motorsport (#5), 30 points 5. Vladimir Arabadzhiev (BUL), JD Motorsport (#4), 26 points 6. Alejandro Núñez (ESP), Trident Racing (#33), 17 points 7. Tim Sandtler (GER), ISR (#19), 16 points 8. Josef Kral (CZH), Team JVA (#29), 8.5 points
Formula Master team-mates classification - top eight
1. Sergey Afanasiev & Chris van der Drift, JD Motorsport, 352 points 2. Vladimir Arabadzhiev & Chris van der Drift, JD Motorsport, 324 points 3. Kasper Andersen & Harald Schlegelmilch, Trident Racing, 316.5 points 4. Sergey Afanasiev & Vladimir Arabadzhiev, JD Motorsport, 288 points 5. Arturo Llobell & Pablo Sanchez Lopez, Cram Competition, 284 points 6. Alejandro Núñez & Harald Schlegelmilch, Trident Racing, 280 points 7. Kasper Andersen & Alejandro Núñez, Trident Racing, 276.5 points 8. Fabio Leimer & Matei Mihaescu, Jenzer Motorsport, 250 points
Lap-by-lap analysis Lap 1: van der Drift passes Ammermüller at the first corner for 2nd place / Llobell passes Schlegelmilch for 4th place / Sandtler slips down to 9th
Lap 3: Sandtler pushing Siedler for 8th place
Lap 4: Afanasiev passes Persiani for 15th place
Lap 5: Sandtler passes Siedler for 8th place / Sekiguchi passes Mancinelli for 19th place
Lap 8: Salaquarda passes Puglisi for 12th / Núñez passes Persiani for 16th place
Lap 9: Yellow flags in Turn 1 - Salaquarda spins and rejoins / Kral up to 12th position
Lap 10: Possible flat tyre for Salaquarda / Puglisi - out
Lap 11: Siedler without a front wing / Rear right flat tyre for Salaquarda / Sanchez Lopez up to 9th place
Lap 13: Provenzano and Mihaescu up to 17th and 18th places / Mancinelli down to 19th / Sekiguchi has a loose front wing
Lap 14: Afanasiev passes Kral for 12th place
Lap 17: Mihaescu spins and rejoins in Turn 9 / Rigon passes Sanchez Lopez for 9th
Lap 18: Schlegelmilch and Andersen pass Llobell for 4th and 5th positions
Chequered flag: 12.42
