Sunday’s action-packed round 12 of the International Formula Master (IFM) series has reignited the points battle as series leader, Jerome D’Ambrosio, scored just one point and J.D. Motorsport’s Chris Van der Drift took his second win of the year.
After a frantic start, that saw Mattia Pavoni and Giuseppe Terranova come together on lap four and Oliver Campos Hull crashing out three laps later after skidding at the chicane and rolling the car, drivers had a breather with four relatively calm laps.
In that time, however, the eight leading cars formed a tight pack with race leader Luca Persiani just 2.7 seconds ahead of eighth-place Kasper Andersen.
The building tension culminated in a flurry of action at the mid-point of the 28-lap race as Van der Drift made his bid for second place triggering a series of passing manoeuvres amongst the leading group.
Van der Drift kept his momentum up, passing Persiani for the lead on the following lap and then driving away from the battling Formula S2000s to pull out an incredible 14-second lead by the chequered flag.
The fight for podium places continued in his wake as Persiani slipped down the order making way for Marcello Puglisi in second and Ragues snatched third from his team-mate Marco Bonanomi with two laps to go.
The result means Van der Drift is now second in the points table with a gap of 25 points from D’Ambrosio, who finished the race in eighth. The result was an achievement for the Cram Competition driver who lost his rear wing when De Bruijn ran over the back of his car in the closing laps.Podium celebrationsChris Van der Drift, J.D. Motorsport
“With four races left and 40 points to go, you never know what’s going to happen. You always push the same and see what you get out of it and today we got a win.
“I was quicker than Persiani and he made a mistake coming into turn one, so I made a run on him coming down the straight and it worked out quite nicely. From then I just started to pull away.”
Marcello Puglisi, Promotorsport
“I am getting better with every race. This is my third podium now so I hope to be a winner before the end of the season.
“This was a very exciting race and I started well, overtaking two people. In the beginning I wasn’t that fast because that’s the way we set up the car, to last the distance.
“There were some fights going on in front of me and they looked like they were faster than me. I made some mistakes but in the end I raced well and it’s the result that counts.”
Pierre Ragues, Euronova Racing
“It’s my first podium and it’s very nice to be here now! The preparation of the car was always good but here everything went really well with starting second in the grid.
“I felt extra pressure because I was battling with my team-mate. It’s very hard because we are very good friends as well.”
International Formula Master – Oschersleben
Round 12 results
1. Chris Van der Drift (NED), J.D. Motorsport
2. Marcello Puglisi (ITA), Promotorsport
3. Pierre Ragues (FRA), Euronova Racing
4. Marco Bonanomi (ITA), Euronova Racing
5. Kasper Andersen (DEN), J.D. Motorsport
6. Luca Persiani (ITA), Scuderia Fama
7. Salvatore Gatto (ITA), Promotorsport
8. Jerome D’Ambrosio (BEL), Cram Competition
Lap-by-lap analysis
Lap 1 Siedler pushed off grid and retires
Waved yellow flags as Caliendo is stranded on the grid
Persiani into the leadLap 2 Torre retiresLap 3 Avila pushed wide as Sanchez Lopez gets it wrong under brakingLap 4 Ragues goes around the inside of Puglisi but does not make it stick
Pavoni runs into the back of Terranova who pulls into the pits with a puncture
Llobell’s engine blows upLap 5 Provenzano passes Maulini
Sanchez Lopez passes Cantelli JrLap 6 Andersen is flying in eighth, putting in the fastest lap of the raceLap 7 Campos Hull crashes out after skidding at the chicane and rolling the carLap 8 Van der Drift goes down the inside of Puglisis for fourth placeLap 9 Ragues tries to go wide around team-mate Bonanomi into the first corner but it does not workLap 11 Puglisi and Gatto are side-by-side for fifth place, with Puglisi sneaking pushing past on the inside after a four-corner battle
Van der Drift passes Ragues, who tries to fight back and makes contact with the J.D. Motorsport car but Van der Drift holds on in thirdLap 12 Andersen goes around the outside of Series leader, D’Ambrosio at the Shell EssesLap 13 Puglisi passes Ragues but cannot hold onto the place under brakingLap 14 Four laps of relative calm, but the top eight car train is covered by just 2.7sLap 18 Van der Drift makes his move for second place, triggering a flurry of action with Ragues and Bonanomi the main losers and Puglisi and Van der Drift taking the best advantageLap 19 Van der Drift continues his advance, driving around Persiani for the leadLap 20 Van der Drift pulls out a 3.45s lead over second-place PersianiLap 21 Puglisi holding off Ragues around the first corner for fourth placeLap 22 Puglisi passes Bonanomi around turn one for third placeLap 23 Euronova Racing team-mates Ragues and Bonanomi are battling for fourth
Puglisi takes second from PersianiLap 24 Bonanomi is very late on the brakes trying to pass Persiani for third
Andersen passes Gatto for sixthLap 25 De Bruijn runs into the back of D’Ambrosio, taking off the Cram Competition driver’s rear wingLap 26 Cecotto Jr. slides as he tries to catch D’Ambrosio in eighthLap 28 Van der Drift has pulled out a 14.529s lead and takes a consummate victory
International Formula Master – Driver points standings
1. Jerome D’Ambrosio (BEL), Cram Competition, 68 points
2. Chris Van der Drift (NED), J.D. Motorsport. 43 points
3. Pablo Sanchez Lopez (MEX), Alan Racing, 30 points
4. Salvatore Gatto (ITA), Alan Racing, 38 points
5. Marcello Puglisi (ITA), Promotorsport, 33 points
6. Kasper Andersen (DEN), J.D. Motorsport, 32 points
7. Norbert Siedler (AUT), ADM Motorsport, 29 points
8. Maximilian Goetz (GER), ISR, 24 points
International Formula Master – Team points standings
1. Cram Competition (ITA), 88 points
2. Alan Racing (ITA), 80 points
3. J.D. Motorsport (ITA), 77 points
4. Promotorsport (ITA), 41 points
5. Euronova Racing (UK), 33 points
6. ADM Motorsport (ITA), 32 points
7. ISR (CZR), 30 points
