Michael Christensen (DK/Mü cke Motorsport) took his fourth win of the year in Formula BMW Europe. He totally dominated the race at the Hungaroring track to lead his rival in the championship, Felipe Nasr (BR/Eurointernationa) across the line by over seven seconds. Third, and claiming his first ever Formula BMW Europe podium was Jim Pla (FR/DAMS)
Christensen started from pole, but had to work hard to keep this advantage as he and Nasr went side by side into the first corner. The Brazilian was on the outside so the Dane was able to keep the advantage. Meanwhile behind them it was Robin Frijns (NL/Josef Kaufmann Racing) from fourth on the grid who got the better of Pla who was third.
As Christensen pulled away at the front of the field there were battles going on behind and none closer than the one between Frijns and Pla. As they came over the start/finish line at the end of lap eight the timing beam could not separate them and there gap was 0.0seconds. It was then on the first corner of lap nine that Pla made his move and snatched his first podium.
However, some battles didn’t end without contact as on lap five it was Mikkel Mac (DK/Motawordl Racing Europe Ltd) and Antonio Martinez (ES/Fortec Motorsport) while fighting for 19th. The outcome of this was retirement for Mac. Then on lap ten Martinez was in the wars again, this time colliding with Gary Thompson (IR/Rä ikkonen Robertson Racing), but both managed to continue. However, the first retirement of the race was William Buller (GB/Fortec Motorsport) on lap one as he went off and lost control of his car on the dirt and that was the end of his race.
1st - Round 9: Michael Christensen (DK/Mü cke Motorsport): “The race was very good for me. I made a quite good start, but not perfect. It was good enough to leave everybody behind me, but then Felipe Nasr managed to get alongside me in the first corner. I managed to hold him behind me and from there on I just tried to improve and made a gap to him.In the end I just enjoyed driving and leading. The gap was quite big in the end, but I didn’t look at the times or the mirrors to see how far away he was.“
2nd – Round 9: Felipe Nasr (BR/Eurointernational): “At the begining it was a bit difficult to control the car as I was having too much oversteer. Then I just tried to do a good start and attack Michael Christensen in the first corner. But I could not overtake him so I stayed in second. The car was not fast enough to catch him and I think we maybe have a problem with it, so we shall have to look at this. But when you can’t win the race it is better to finish second and think about the championship. We need to work hard now to think about something new for tomorrow.“
3rd - Round 9: Jim Pla (FR/DAMS): “My race wasn’t so bad, but I did a bad start as Robin Frijns got by me in the second corner. At the beginning it was difficult to catch him, but in the middle of the race I was able to. Then I overtook him in the first corner and in the end it was easy to drive and keep my place. This is my first podium in this series, so I am very happy. My team did a very good job for me both in the race and in qualifying.“
Provisional Results Race 1
1. Michael Christensen(DK/Mü cke Motorsport) 24:28.232
2. Felipe Nasr (BR/Eurointernational) 24:35.599
3. Jim Pla (FR/DAMS) 24:38.393
4. Robin Frijns (NL/Josef Kaufmann Racing) R 24:39.919
5. Daniel Juncadella (ES/Eifelland Racing) 24:40.264
6. Rupert Svendsen-Cook (GB/Rä ikkonen Robertson Racing) 24:40.982
7 Facu Regalia (ES/Josef Kaufmann Racing) 24:43.228
8. Jack Te Braak (NL/Mü cke Motorsport) R 24:54.140
9. Timmy Hansen (SE/Mü cke Motorsport) R 24:54.371
10. Javier Tarancon (ES/DAMS) 24:55.139
11. David Mengesdorf (DE/Eifelland Racing) 24:55.507
12. Doru Sechelariu (RO/Fisichella Motor Sport International SPA) 24:55.881
13. Kazeem Manzur (GB/Josef Kaufmann Racing) 24:56.316
14. Jack Harvey (GB/Fortec Motorsport) R 24:56.619
15. Jazeman Jaafar (MY/Eifelland Racing) 24:57.075 **
16. Olivier Lombard (FR/Eurointernational) R 25:01.540 **
17. Ramon Pineiro (ES/Fisichella Motor Sport International SPA) 25:05.184
18. George Katsinis (GR/Eifelland Racing) R 25:06.786
19. Matt Bell (GB/Motaworld Racing Europe Ltd 25:14.826
20. Gregoire Demoustier (FR/Rä ikkonen Robertson Racing) 53:15.206
21 Come Ledogar (FR/DAMS) 25:18.765*
22 Antonio Martinez (ES/Fortec Motorsport ) R 25:21.370
23. Gary Thompson (IR/Rä ikkonen Robertson Racing) G 25:22.038
Not Classified
Mikkel Mac (DK/Motaworld Racing Europe Ltd) R 4l laps Kevin Gilardoni (IT/Fisichella Motor Sport International SPA) 2 laps William Buller (GB/Fortec Motorsport) 0 laps Fastest Lap: Michael Christensen (DK/Mü cke Motorsport) 1:51.535 on lap 12
R – Rookie Driver
G – Guest Driver *
Includes 25 second penalty for jump start
** A drop of ten grid positions for Race 2 for unsporting behaviour
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