International Formula Master (IFM) is heading to the legendary Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari in Imola this weekend for its 2009 season finale, with the battle still on to find this year's top rookie, top team and the runner up to champion Fabio Leimer.
Whilst Jenzer Motorsport's Leimer secured the 2009 IFM driver's title last race weekend in Oschersleben, Germany, four drivers can still mathematically claim the runner-up spot.
Currently second in the drivers' standings, JD Motorsport's Sergey Afanasiev is best placed to win the accolade although team-mate Josef Kral is only four points behind. Fellow Jenzer Motorsport Pål Varhaug is also in the running and hoping to gift his team with a standings' 1-2 finish, despite a deficit of nine points, whilst ISR's Alexander Rossi needs to climb back 14 points to take the number two spot.
Varhaug and Rossi are also competing for the top rookie honours with Varhaug only leading the category by four points, whereas Jenzer Motorsport and JD Motorsport are both tied on 126 points in the team's standings.
Meanwhile reigning champion Fabio Leimer is aiming for an entry in the IFM record books. Having equalled 2008 winner Chris van der Drift's number of wins in a season, the young Swiss is hoping to beat the record of six victories with a top result this weekend.
"Chris van der Drift won six races last year and now I have taken my sixth win this season so I want to win another race of course!" said the 20-year-old. "Imola is a great track and I won there last year and was very competitive in pre-season testing so I will try to win there and set a new record."
International Formula Master's Italian race weekend gets underway this Friday with two free practice sessions, whilst qualifying and race one will take place on Saturday, and race two on Sunday. Both rounds will be shown LIVE on Eurosport as follows:Race 1: Saturday 19 September 2009, from 14:00 CET live on Eurosport 2Race 2: Sunday 20 September 2009, from 11.30 CET on Eurosport International & Asia Pacific
Formula Master has delivered some of Europe's best racing since its debut in 2007 with the Series' concept of offering young, aspiring drivers the chance to establish themselves on an international stage proving a great success already.
2009
Two events with Formula 1 (Hungaroring and Spa)Six event with WTCC (Pau, Valencia, Brno, Brands Hatch, Oschersleben, Imola) Only series to partner two FIA world championships for all its roundsEight events - 16 racesEight European destinationsBoth races broadcast on the Eurosport platform with Sunday races live on Eurosport International
Race car
Engine: Formula Master (250 HP) Chassis: Tatuus carbon fibre monocoqueLight-weight body (560 kg including driver)Magneti Marelli hydraulic gearbox control system with gearbox and clutch paddlesMagneti Marelli ECU Marvel 8 (version 2008), which includes data acquisitionFirst car in the world to secure 2008 FIA F3 homologationControl tyres by YokohamaSeries statistics
105 million TV viewers in 78 countries worldwide684,000 attending spectators (2007-08)66 drivers - 23 countries (2007-08) 2007 Champion Jérôme D'Ambrosio (BEL), Cram Competition2008 Champion Chris van der Drift (NZL), JD Motorsport
