JD Motorsport clinched the 2008 Formula Master Team title today, at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari's for Formula Master's round 14, whilst ADM Motorsport's Earl Bamber claimed his first victory in the International Series.
The 18-year-old New Zealander passed Team JVA's Josef Kral on lap two and kept the lead for the remainder of the 21-lap race. Kral maintained his second place to the chequered flag, scoring his second podium in two race weekends.
Starting eighth, Jenzer Motorsport's Fabio Leimer posted the fastest lap of the race, 1:38.960, on his way to third place. Overtaking Trident Racing's Harald Schlegelmilch and Iris Project's Michael Ammermüller in the later stages of the race, the Swiss went on to claim his second podium finish of the weekend.
Defending from Ammermüller and Leimer for the majority of the race, Schlegelmilch maintained his third place start until lap 19 when Leimer eventually passed him. Ammermüller followed close behind in fifth place, ahead of JD Motorsport's Sergey Afanasiev who made up six places from a P12 start to secure sixth place.
Having lost position to Afanasiev on lap 15, Trident Racing's Esteban Gutierrez finished the race in seventh place with Cram Competition's Marcello Puglisi claiming the last points-finish in eighth.
Bamber's win awarded him the best rookie accolade for today's race, along with the best team-mates award together with fellow ADM Motorsport driver Tomas Pivoda.
Drivers Classification leader Chris van der Drift suffered a broken driveshaft and was unable to start the race. The JD Motorsport driver still leads from Ammermüller by 13 points ahead of the Series' final two rounds of the season. Both the Rookie and Best Team-mates Classifications also remains open.
Results and classifications following today's race are still provisional and subject to a supplementary check to be carried out on Bamber's Formula Master car.
Earl Bamber, ADM Motorsport "We were aiming to get a good start but it didn't happen as planned and Josef [Kral] kept the lead, but I managed to get past him on the second lap. I then tried to get in some quick laps and get a good lead. We were very fortunate that Fabio [Leimer] didn't get past Josef earlier in the race, as he was extremely fast."
"It was a really good result for my first weekend with the international series. The team did a really good job and the car had a fantastic set-up for this track; I think the car could have gone even faster."
Josef Kral, Team JVA "I had a good start; there wasn't too much wheel spin as there was some good rubber on the track and I started well but Earl [Bamber] caught me very quickly.
"I was pushing all the time; the car was very fast in the middle part of the race but Fabio [Leimer] was really quick! I had a little bit of luck as he made a mistake at the end of the race otherwise he could have passed me. In any case, it was our first time on this track, it's a very hard track and the team did very well to get this result."
Fabio Leimer, Jenzer Motorsport "It was a very good race for me. I started eighth and finished third so I'm happy! It took time to overtake Michael [Ammermuller] and Harald [Schlegelmilch] but in the end I got past them. After that, it was very close between Josef [Kral] and I but I made a little mistake. I had a few opportunities but he kept a better line so I couldn't make anything of them.
"This weekend was good; again we have two podiums just like in Oschersleben and I hope to do well in Monza too. I hope to win a race there; it's an easy track to overtake on but we'll have to see!"
Formula Master - Imola Round 14 1. Earl Bamber (NZL), ADM Motorsport (#11) 2. Josef Kral (CZH), Team JVA (#29) 3. Fabio Leimer (SUI), Jenzer Motorsport (#23)4. Harald Schlegelmilch (LAT), Trident Racing (#31) 5. Michael Ammermüller (GER), Iris Project (#27) 6. Sergey Afanasiev (RUS), JD Motorsport (#5) 7. Esteban Gutierrez (MEX), Trident Racing (#34) 8. Marcello Puglisi (ITA), Cram Competition (#9) 9. Daniel Mancinelli (ITA), Scuderia Famà (#46) 10. Tim Sandtler (GER), ISR (#19) 11. Arturo Llobell (ESP), Cram Competition (#1) 12. Vladimir Arabadzhiev (BUL), JD Motorsport (#4) 13. Giacomo Ricci (ITA), Euronova Racing (#37) 14. Frankie Provenzano (ITA), Cram Competition (#21) 15. Tor Graves (GBR), Team JVA (#30) 16. Tomas Pivoda (CZH), ADM Motorsport (#8) 17. Marco Menotti (SUI), Iris Project (#28) Not classifiedMichele Caliendo (ITA), ADM Motorsport (#22) Matei Mihaescu (ROM), Jenzer Motorsport (#24) Chris van der Drift (NZL), JD Motorsport (#6) Yuhi Sekiguchi (JAP), Euronova Racing (#45)
Formula Master drivers classification - top eight 1. Chris van der Drift (NZL), JD Motorsport (#6), 83 points 2. Michael Ammermüller (GER), Iris Project (#27), 70 points 3. Fabio Leimer (SUI), Jenzer Motorsport (#23), 61 points 4. Harald Schlegelmilch (LAT), Trident Racing (#31), 42 points 5. Vladimir Arabadzhiev (BUL), JD Motorsport (#4), 29 points 6. Kasper Andersen (DEN), Trident Racing (#32), 27 points 7. Sergey Afanasiev (RUS), JD Motorsport (#5), 25 points 8. Arturo Llobell (ESP), Cram Competition (#1), 24.5 points
Formula Master teams classification - top eight1. JD Motorsport, 135 points 2. Trident Racing, 87 points 3. Iris Project, 70 points 4. Jenzer Motorsport, 64 points 5. Cram Competition, 60 points 6. ADM Motorsport, 36 points 7. Team JVA, 22 points 8. Euronova Racing 20.5 points
Formula Master rookies classification - top eight 1. Michael Ammermüller (GER), Iris Project (#27), 94 points 2. Fabio Leimer (SUI), Jenzer Motorsport (#23), 76 points 3. Harald Schlegelmilch (LAT), Trident Racing (#31), 61.5 points 4. Vladimir Arabadzhiev (BUL), JD Motorsport (#4), 45 points 5. Sergey Afanasiev (RUS), JD Motorsport (#5), 40 points 6. Josef Kral (CZH), Team JVA (#29), 34.5 points 7. Tim Sandtler (GER), ISR (#19), 34 points 8. Alejandro Núñez (ESP), Trident Racing (#33), 28 points
Formula Master team-mates classification - top eight 1. Vladimir Arabadzhiev & Chris van der Drift, JD Motorsport, 668 points 2. Sergey Afanasiev & Chris van der Drift, JD Motorsport, 664 points 3. Fabio Leimer & Matei Mihaescu, Jenzer Motorsport, 556 points 4. Sergey Afanasiev & Vladimir Arabadzhiev, JD Motorsport, 542 points 5. Alejandro Núñez & Harald Schlegelmilch, Trident Racing, 405 points 6. Kasper Andersen & Harald Schlegelmilch, Trident Racing, 400.5 points 7. Josef Kral & Tor Graves, Team JVA, 391 points 8. Kasper Andersen & Alejandro Núñez, Trident Racing, 369.5 points
Lap-by-lap analysis Lap 1: Sekiguchi remains on the grid - OUT Lap 2: Bamber passes Kral for the lead at Turn 1 / Mancinelli overtakes Provenzano for ninth place Lap 3: Caliendo passes Ricci for 15th position Lap 4: Caliendo overtakes Graves for 14th place Lap 5: Leimer passes Puglisi for eighth place / Sandtler overtakes Arabadzhiev for 12th position / Ricci passes Graves for 15th place Lap 6: Mihaescu pits - OUT / Leimer passes Gutierrez for fifth place Lap 7: Pivoda spins at Turn 20 and rejoins Lap 10: Afanasiev overtakes Puglisi for seventh position Lap 12: Sandtler passes Llobell for 11th place Lap 13: Caliendo out at Turn 13 - OUT Lap 15: Afanasiev overtakes Gutierrez for sixth position Lap 16: Leimer passes Ammermüller for fourth place and sets the fastest lap of the race: 1:38.960 / Sandtler overtakes Provenzano for 10th position / Provenzano spins at Turn 15 and rejoins in 14th place Lap 18: Pivoda spins at Turn 20 and rejoins Lap 19: Leimer passes Schlegelmilch for third place
Chequered flag: 14:44
