The weekend for Jack Harvey (GB/Fortec Motorsports) and Fahmi Ilyas (MY/DAMS) got better as they both returned to the podium with them finishing first and third respectively in the second Formula BMW Europe race in Valencia. Meanwhile, Robin Frijns (NL/Josef Kaufmann Racing) was happier as he joined them on the podium in second place, and it was a delighted Daniil Kvyat (RU/Eurointernational) who had his first Rookie win of the season.
From pole Harvey made another perfect start and stayed in front for all ten laps. From third on the grid Ilyas also got a good start, while Frijns, who had been second on the grid, dropped back a place. However, Côme Ledogar (FR/Eifelland Racing) was soon in the wars for the second day running as he was involved in a collision a few metres after the start, spun round, dropped to the back of the field and limped back to the pits and retirement.
Carlos Sainz (ES/Eurointernational) had to start from the back of the grid, so had a lot of work to do if he wanted to keep his hundred per cent record for Rookie wins. Unfortunately on the first lap he collided with his team-mate, Michael Lewis (US). While the American dropped to the back of the pack, Sainz was up to tenth by the end of the lap. He managed to get up to ninth, behind Kvyat, but then in the last part of the race started to drop back and ended up tenth and third Rookie behind Kvyat and Maciej Bernacik (PL/Mücke Motorsport).
One of the best battles of the race was for fourth between Facu Regalia (AR/Eifelland Racing) and Javier Tarancon (ES/DAMS). At the end of lap six the Argentinean was in front by 0.1secs, but on lap seven the Spaniard managed to go by and stayed there.
1st Round 6: Jack Harvey (GB/Fortec Motorsports): “It has been a perfect weekend. It is a street circuit, so every mistake gets punished. You have to concentrate more so than at other circuits so you don’t hit the walls. Every race is difficult because there are a lot of good drivers out there just waiting for me to make a mistake. I am really happy with the win and also because it was my mum’s birthday on Thursday so hello to her."
2nd Round 6: Robin Frijns (NL/Josef Kaufmann Racing): “The key point in racing is qualifying and I am not a qualifying king, and never was. In this race I lost one postion at the start and by the time I got to second Jack had already got a big gap so I could not close it. I am disappointed. I know I am fast as I did the quickest race lap yesterday, but always in qualifying there is something wrong with me. I am sure it is me as the car is okay, but I am just never on pole."
3rd Round 6: Fahmi Ilyas (MY/DAMS): “I was struggling a bit with the pace of my car at the beginning and then Robin was close behind me. There was no point blocking him as there was a big fight just behind him, and I knew if they caught up there would be a big mess. I tried to catch him and kept quite close to him. Before this weekend I had not finished a race at all, but now I am very happy and want to thank the DAMS team for making this all happen."
Top Rookie in Round 6: Daniil Kvyat (RU/Eurointernational): “This was a very good and interesting race. The start didn’t go very well as I lost some positions due to collisions in front of me. I was very close to George on the last lap, but not close enough to overtake him. It was a nice race and thanks to the Eurointernational team as the car was very good.”
Provisional* Results Race 2 - Round 6
1. Jack Harvey (GB/Fortec Motorsports) 22:30.306
2. Robin Frijns (NL/Josef Kaufmann Racing) 22:34.612
3. Fahmi Ilyas (MY/DAMS) 22:35.369
4. Javier Tarancon (ES/DAMS) 22:35.806
5. Facu Regalia (AR/Eifelland Racing) 22:37.875
6. Timmy Hansen (SE/Mücke Motorsport) 22:39.812
7. George Katsinis (GR/Fortec Motorsports) 22:44.330
8. Daniil Kvyat (RU/Eurointernational) R 22:45.019
9. Maciej Bernacik (PL/Mücke Motorsport) R 22:50.910
10. Carlos Sainz (ES/Eurointernational) R 22:52.542
11. Hannes Van Asseldonk (NL/Josef Kaufmann Racing) R 22:52.744
12. Marc Coleselli (AT/Eifelland Racing) R 22:54.938
13. Petri Suvanto (FI/Josef Kaufmann Racing) R 22:55.613
14. Christof von Grünigen (CH/Fortec Motorsports) 22:56.563
15. Michael Lewis (US/Eurointernational) 23:02.414
Not classified
Côme Ledogar (FR/Eifelland Racing) 0 laps
Fastest Lap: Javier Tarancon (ES/DAMS) 2:13.918 (145.674 kph) on lap 9
R=Rookie
* Results remain provisional pending further technical checks on components sealed from car numbers 11, 24 and 26.
Standings after Round 6:
Drivers: 1. Jack Harvey 153, 2. Robin Frijns 120, 3. Timmy Hansen 101, 4. Facu Regalia 96, 5. Carlos Sainz R 92, 6. Javier Tarancon 88, 7. George Katsinis 56, 8. Côme Ledogar 55, 9. Fahmi Ilyas 44, 10. Hannes Van Asseldonk R 38, 11. Christof von Grünigen 38,12. Michael Lewis 35,13. Maciej Bernacik R 35,14. Petri Suvanto 30, 15. Daniil Kvyat R 29,16. Marc Coleselli R 14.
Teams: 1. Fortec Motorsports 242, 2. Josef Kaufmann Racing 188 , 3. Eifelland Racing 165, 4. Eurointernational 156, 5. Mücke Motorsport 135, 6. DAMS 132.
