ADM Motorsport’s Norbert Siedler claimed his second win of the season, and his second in successive race weekends, yesterday in round 10 of International Formula Master at Anderstorp, Sweden.
The Porto race winner gambled on his choice of tyres, opting for slicks when the majority of the field had opted for the wet option, in the hope that no more rain would come and the track would stay dry.
His decision was the right one and handed him the win, closely followed by Iris Project’s Olivier Campos Hull and Ombra Racing’s Johnny Cecotto Jr. Both drivers had also chosen slick tyres and, as the Swedish track dried out in the last 10 laps, the trio carved their way through the field with ease, setting fastest lap after fastest lap.
Saturday’s race winner, Kasper Andersen, fought hard during the 25-lap race on wet tyres in the hope of repeating yesterday’s performance. The Dane was unable to finish in a points-scoring position, however, even after pitting for slick tyres on lap nine.
Drivers’ classification leader Jerome D’Ambrosio suffered from staying on wet tyres too, although the Cram Competition driver managed to hold on to fourth until the very last lap. A slide at Turn 4 saw D’Ambrosio go off-track, relegating him to 16th place.
Team JVA’s Tor Graves was as determined and led the race from pole for the majority of the race. The Briton retired on lap 16 from second place after a spin, having being passed by D’Ambrosio just a few laps before.
Promotorsport team-mates Ignazio Belluardo and Marcello Puglisi both made up 11 places throughout the race, despite being on wet tyres at the start. After fitting slicks in a pit stop, Belluardo made the most of being lapped by race leader Siedler, choosing to follow the Austrian closely in the finishing laps and passing Pablo Sanchez Lopez for seventh place as Siedler was lapping the Mexican. Austrian Norbert Siedler celebrates his winNorbert Siedler, ADM Motorsport
“It was mine and the team principal’s decision to run on slicks and it was the right decision! The first five laps were very hard but, as the track dried out, things were a lot easier.
“I don’t know what the plan is for me doing any more races in the rest of the season but you never know - I might be at Oschersleben!”
Oliver Campos Hull, Iris Project
“The plan was to take it easy at the start because the track was still very wet and we were on slicks. It was difficult; there were other guys overtaking me but then it became easier with the track drying out.
“Once my tyres were good for the track, it was easy to overtake, but there were quite a few yellow flags so I had to be careful of where I was passing.”
Johnny Cecotto Jr, Ombra Racing
“We were out on rain tyres to start with but decided to change to slicks after the formation lap. So the first few laps were difficult with the rain and being at the back. I had to be careful but I knew we would be quick eventually.
“It was incredible how much quicker I was than the other drivers on rain tyres in the end and it was great fun climbing through the field like that!”
International Formula Master – Anderstorp
Round ten provisional results
1. Norbert Siedler (AUT), ADM Motorsport
2. Oliver Campos Hull (ESP), Iris Project
3. Johnny Cecotto Jr (VEN) Ombra Racing
4. Juho Annala (FIN), Jenzer Motorosport
5. Marcello Puglisi (ITA), Promotorsport
6. Rodolfo Avila (MAC), Cram Competition
7. Ignazio Belluardo (ITA), Promotorsport
8. Pablo Sanchez Lopez (MEX), Alan Racing
Lap-by-lap analysis
Lap 1: Frey off-track at Turn 2 and rejoins
Gatto off-track – retired
Safety car is out
Provenzano off-track – retired
Avila passes Persiani
Lap 2: Safety car is out
Annala eighth from starting 12th
Van der Drift 15th from 29th
Lap 3: Safety car is out
Lap 4: Safety car in this lap
Lap 5: Caliendo in the pits for slick tyres
Incident between Maulini and van der Drift at Turn 3, both retired
Lap 6: Persiani passes Avila for third place
Andersen spins at Turn 8 and rejoins
Lap 8: Cantelli Jr up in eighth
Drive-through penalty for Isohella
Lap 9: D’Ambrosio passes Sanchez Lopez for fifth
Belluardo up in eighth
Cantelli Jr off-track at Turn 2 and rejoins
Andersen in the pits for slick tyres
Lap 10: Incident between Persiani and Ragues at Turn 1,
Ragues - retired
D’Ambrosio and Avila pass Persiani
Persiani out at Turn 4 – retired
Lap 11: Top eight: Graves, Avila, D’Ambrosio, Sanchez Lopez, Annala, Belluardo, Cantelli Jr, Janis
Lap 12: Janis up in seventh, Bonanomi up in eighth
Siedler 14th on slick tyres
Lap 13: D’Ambrosio and Sanchez Lopez pass Avila for second and third place
Sanchez Lopez off-track at Turn 4 and rejoins
Lap 14: Sanchez Lopez down in fifth
D’Ambrosio passes Graves for the lead
Avila off-track and rejoins
Costa spins at Turn 7 and rejoins
Frey in the pits for slick tyres
Lap 15: Sanchez Lopez up in fourth
Cantelli Jr off-track at Turn 3 – retired
Siedler up in ninth
Lap 16: Siedler up in sixth
Campos Hull up in eighth
Avila passes Graves for second
Siedler passes Sanchez Lopez for fourth
Graves off-track at Turn 4 – retired
Torre off-track at Turn 8 – retired
Lap 17: Siedler up in third
Campos Hull up in fifth
Cecotto Jr up in eighth
Siedler passes Avila for second
Siedler passes D’Ambrosio for the lead
Lap 18: Campos Hull up in third
Frey – retired
Bonanomi – retired
Isohella – retired
Lap 19: Campos Hull up in second
Cecotto Jr up in fourth
Lap 20: Cecotto passes D’Ambrosio for third
Lap 25: D’Ambrosio off-track at Turn 4
Chequered flag at 11:09 (CET)
IFM rounds 11 and 12 will take place in Oschersleben, Germany on 25 and 26 August 2007
