Michael Ammermüller claimed his and the Iris Project team's first ever Formula Master win in round ten of the Series yesterday, at Brands Hatch, England.
Starting from third, the German overtook second-place man Michele Caliendo at the start before being promoted to the lead when ISR's Tim Sandtler spun out of the race on lap six following a safety car period.
Scuderia Famà's Daniel Mancinelli secured his maiden Formula Master podium with a second place on his first outing. The Italian also scored the team's first points this season, finishing fourth yesterday.
JD Motorsport's Chris van der Drift ensured his lead in the Drivers Classification stayed healthy with a third place finish, having started in eighth place. The New Zealand driver fought hard to keep his place from Trident Racing's Harald Schlegelmilch, who climbed from P14 on the grid to a fourth place finish. Schlegelmilch ran as high as third in the 28-lap race but a failed move to pass Mancinelli gifted van der Drift the position.
Cram Competition's Frankie Provenzano claimed fifth, having started the race in ninth place, whilst Euronova Racing's Michael Meadows secured more points on his best weekend of the season so far with a sixth place finish.
Trident Racing's Alejandro Núñez drove a safe race and secured seventh place, benefitting from incidents occurring at the front end of the field. Jenzer Motorsport's Fabio Leimer claimed the day's last point, securing eighth place with a pass on ADM Motortsport's Norbert Siedler on lap 14.
Best rookie went to Ammermüller thanks to his winning drive, whilst Schlegelmilch and Núñez's respective fourth and seventh place finishes awarded them the best team-mates accolade for today.
Michael Ammermüller, Iris Project "I am very happy. It's taken a long time but I'm glad to have reached it! We learnt a lot in the first race yesterday and got a good set-up change for race two. I was alone for almost the whole race after Sandtler made a mistake and I kept worrying that we might get a safety car, as that would have closed the gap.
"Although I have driven at Oschersleben before, we have a test before the race weekend so that will help everyone learn the track. It's good to race in my home country; there will be more fans there and that's always nice."
Daniel Mancinelli, Scuderia Famà "I'm very happy with the result; this is my first podium even though I didn't know the track. I made a good start and then just had to defend my position. It's very good and I'm really happy for the team."
Chris van der Drift, JD Motorsport "I got off to a good start, with some of the incidents I managed to pick up places. It was difficult to pass, so I just had to bide my time until I could take advantage of the situation. I didn't challenge hard for another position as it was more important for me to bring the car home and finish with some points."
Formula Master - Brands Hatch Round ten results1. Michael Ammermüller (GER), Iris Project (#27) 2. Daniel Mancinelli (ITA), Scuderia Famà (#46) 3. Chris van der Drift (NZL), JD Motorsport (#6) 4. Harald Schlegelmilch (LAT), Trident Racing (#31) 5. Frankie Provenzano (ITA), Cram Competition (#21) 6. Michael Meadows (GBR), Euronova Racing (#15) 7. Alejandro Núñez (ESP), Trident Racing (#33) 8. Fabio Leimer (SUI), Jenzer Motorsport (#23) 9. Michele Caliendo (ITA), ADM Motorsport (#22) 10. Norbert Siedler (AUT), ADM Motorsport (#17) 11. Arturo Llobell (ESP), Cram Competition (#1) 12. Sergey Afanasiev (RUS), JD Motorsport (#5) 13. Filip Salaquarda (CZH), ISR (#18) 14. Vladimir Arabadzhiev (BUL), JD Motorsport (#4) 15. Luca Persiani (ITA), Scuderia Famà (#25) 16. Tomas Pivoda (CZH), ADM Motorsport (#8) 17. Tor Graves (GBR), Team JVA (#30) Not classified Yuhi Sekiguchi (JAP), Euronova Racing (#45) Kasper Andersen (DEN), Trident Racing (#32) Matei Mihaescu (ROM), Jenzer Motorsport (#24) Tim Sandtler (GER), ISR (#19) Josef Kral (CZH), Team JVA (#29) Marcello Puglisi (ITA), Cram Competition (#9) Alberto Costa (ITA), Euronova Racing (#3)
Formula Master drivers classification - top eight 1. Chris van der Drift (NZL), JD Motorsport (#6), 63 points 2. Michael Ammermüller (GER), Iris Project (#27), 50 points 3. Harald Schlegelmilch (LAT), Trident Racing (#31), 34 points 4. Fabio Leimer (SUI), Jenzer Motorsport (#23), 29 points 5. Kasper Andersen (DEN), Trident Racing (#32), 27 points 6. Vladimir Arabadzhiev (BUL), JD Motorsport (#4), 24 points 7. Arturo Llobell (ESP), Cram Competition (#1), 20.5 points 8. Sergey Afanasiev (RUS), JD Motorsport (#5), 18 points
Formula Master teams classification - top eight1. JD Motorsport, 105 points 2. Trident Racing, 71 points 3. Iris Project, 50 points 4. Cram Competition, 50 points 5. Jenzer Motorsport, 29 points 6. ADM Motorsport, 19 points 7. Euronova Racing, 15.5 points 8. Scuderia Famà, 13 points
Formula Master rookies classification - top eight 1. Michael Ammermüller (GER), Iris Project (#27), 71 points 2. Harald Schlegelmilch (LAT), Trident Racing (#31), 49.5 points 3. Fabio Leimer (SUI), Jenzer Motorsport (#23), 42 points 4. Vladimir Arabadzhiev (BUL), JD Motorsport (#4), 36 points 5. Sergey Afanasiev (RUS), JD Motorsport (#5), 33 points 6. Tim Sandtler (GER), ISR (#19), 29 points 7. Alejandro Núñez (ESP), Trident Racing (#33), 28 points 8. Michael Meadows (GBR), Euronova Racing (#15), 19 points
Formula Master team-mates classification - top eight 1. Sergey Afanasiev & Chris van der Drift, JD Motorsport, 492 points 2. Vladimir Arabadzhiev & Chris van der Drift, JD Motorsport, 483 points 3. Alejandro Núñez & Harald Schlegelmilch, Trident Racing, 405 points 4. Kasper Andersen & Harald Schlegelmilch, Trident Racing, 400.5 points 5. Sergey Afanasiev & Vladimir Arabadzhiev, JD Motorsport, 383 points 6. Fabio Leimer & Matei Mihaescu, Jenzer Motorsport, 349 points 7. Arturo Llobell & Pablo Sanchez Lopez, Cram Competition, 319 points 8. Michele Caliendo & Norbert Siedler, ADM Motorsport, 289.5 points
Lap-by-lap analysis Lap 1: Ammermüller passes Caliendo from 2nd place / Incident between Puglisi and Costa at Turn 2, both cars in the gravel - out Lap 2: Kral spins off track - out / Safety car is deployed Lap 5: Safety car in this lap Lap 6: Mancinelli passes Caliendo for 3rd / Sandtler off track at Turn 6 and rejoins to retire in the pits - out Lap 8: Mihaescu in the pits with a loose front wing from P9 / Schlegelmilch passes Núñez 7th place Lap 9: Afanasiev passes Arabadzhiev for 13th place Lap 10: Schlegelmilch passes Meadows for 6th place / Graves passes Andersen for 17th place Lap 12: Schlegelmilch passes Provenzano for 5th place / Drive-through penalty for Graves for overtaking under yellow flags / Llobell passes Salaquarda for 11th place Lap 13: Schlegelmilch passes van der Drift for 4th place Lap 14: Leimer passes Siedler for 9th place / Afanasiev passes Salaquarda for 12th place Lap 15: Graves serves his drive-through penalty Lap 16: Schlegelmilch passes Caliendo for 3rd / Caliendo spins and rejoins at Turn 7 Lap 17: Andersen passes Sekiguchi for 16th place Lap 18: Van der Drift sets fastest lap of the race: 1:19.674 / Mihaescu retires - out Lap 21: Graves spins and rejoins at Turn 7 / Leimer passes Caliendo for 8th place Lap 22: Schlegelmilch down to 4th place / van der Drift up to 3rd place / Andersen in the pits - out Lap 25: Schlegelmilch passes van der Drift for 3rd place / Sekiguchi off track at Turn 7 - out Lap 26: Van der Drift passes Schlegelmilch for 3rd place
Chequered flag: 15.04
