BULLER TAKES VICTORY IN MACAU
Northern Ireland’s William Buller took a fantastic race win in last weekend’s (22/11/2009) Formula BMW Pacific race at the infamous Macau street circuit.
Buller was one of a number of guest drivers to race at the event supporting the prestigious Macau Grand Prix – others included 2009 Formula BMW Europe Champion Felipe Nazr.
A fortnight before the event, it seemed Buller would not have a drive at all.“My dad put in a call to Antonio Ferrari, team owner of leading Formula BMW outfit EuroInternational.
“Luckily for me, one of the team’s four drivers had called 20 minutes earlier to say he could not race, so I got the drive.”
That left William with just a week to learn the technical 3.8 mile Macau street circuit, where one small error can end in disaster. It was a difficult task, especially after recent testing in Formula 3 cars, but a test with the team at Monza helped along with a number of hours on the simulator.
After walking the track (attempting not to get run over by Macau’s traffic in the process) William knew the track well in time for free practice. This showed, with the young Northern Irishman placing in the top two until the final five minutes of the session. William pushed a little too hard and hit the wall, although still managed a respectable fourth place overall.
Qualifying began well with William topping the times and getting faster with every lap. He then caught some traffic but decided not to back off as he would have quickly caught them again. Buller was in fifth position when he made it past the traffic, leaving time for just one flying lap. William gave it his all and found out on returning to the pits he’d qualified on pole position.
“Beating Formula BMW Europe Champion Felipe Nazr in the same car by four-tenths of a second felt amazing” Said William.
“To start from pole is a great feeling as all eyes are on you. It just makes all the difference.”
Buller made a good start to the race, but with a long start/finish straight, both Jim Pla and Felipe Nazr slipstreamed past before the first corner. However, Nazr out braked himself into the bend, leaving Buller and Pla to battle for the lead. Chaos ensued to the rear of the grid with a huge incident involving nine cars bringing out the safety car.
As the safety car came in, William got a fantastic restart, staying close enough to Pla to get in the tow and slingshot back into the lead of the race. From there Buller put his head down and pulled away with consistent fastest laps, breaking the lap record by six-tenths of a second in the process, a lead he would keep until the chequered flag.
After the race Buller commented, “Winning this race felt amazing - such a good feeling!”
“Macau is a prestigious circuit and one of the most difficult in the world to get right, so to beat such stiff competition is a real achievement”
“It’s a great way to finish of the year and I’m really please in winning my final Formula BMW race!”
The win made William the fist Northern Irishman to win at Macau since ex-Ferrari Formula 1 star Eddie Irvine.
