Carlos Sainz Junior conquers Guia Circuit. 21.11.2010: Formula BMW Pacific Round 15, Guia Circuit, Macau Carlos Sainz Junior (ESP/16/Eurointernational) conquered the notorious 6.2km Guia Circuit, with a lights-to-flag victory in the final Formula BMW race in support of the 57th Macau Grand Prix. Euroint

Formula BMW Pacific Round 15, Guia Circuit, Macau

 Carlos Sainz Junior (ESP/16/Eurointernational) conquered the notorious 6.2km Guia Circuit, with a lights-to-flag victory in the final Formula BMW race in support of the 57th Macau Grand Prix. Eurointernational swept the podium as Tomoki Nojiri (JPN/21) and Tom Blomqvist (GBR/16) finished second and third, respectively.

Dustin Sofyan (INA/16/Eurointernational) finished fourth overall, his highest Formula BMW Pacific finish ever, while Formula BMW Pacific Junior Kotaro Sakurai (JPN/15/Eurasia Motorsport) rounded out the top five.

The bumper field of 27 made for a superb series finale, with young talents from across Asia, Europe, Australia and South America gaining experience which could later prove invaluable to their future careers.

Pole-sitter Sainz Junior got away cleanly at the start, with Oscar Tunjo (COL/Meritus) and Drivers Classification and Rookie Cup winner Richard Bradley (SIN/19/Eurasia Motorsport) following behind. At the infamous Lisboa Bend, Bradley hit Tunjo and the Colombian, second in the Drivers Classification and Rookie Cup, was forced to retire. Bradley finished 17th, after a drive-through penalty. Sakurai was promoted to second, with Nojiri, Blomqvist and Sofyan behind.

On the first lap, after Calvin Wong (MAS/18/PETRONAS Mofaz Racing) hit the barrier at Paiol, the Safey Car was called out for two laps. Upon the restart, Sainz again got away cleanly and began to establish a gap, which he ultimately extended to 4.097 seconds. At Lisboa, Nojiri got by Sakurai. Blomqvist, Sofyan and Sakurai then engaged in a battle for third place, with Blomqvist and Sofyan getting by Sakurai on the penultimate lap, again at Lisboa.

Formula BMW Pacific Junior Jordan Oon (AUS/20/E-Rain Racing) worked his way up the grid from 14th to finish sixth overall. Oon has now clinched third in both the Drivers Classification and the Rookie Cup. Fellow Junior Jesse Dixon finished 12th overall.


Formula BMW Pacific Driver Quotes:

Carlos Sainz, Junior, 1st Round 15: “To be here and win it feels incredible. Yesterday, during the qualifying session I was able to do one lap okay and I think being on pole helped me today as there were some very risky moves from the ones behind me [at the start]. This is Macau and anything can happen, so I was happy to pass the first corner. I only know that I feel very happy to be first and with three Eurointernational cars in the top four, I think we had the best car out there today.”

Tomoki Nojiri, 2nd Round 15: “The race was very active for me. I tried to push very hard in the race, but Carlos was much faster. Macau is a very good experience for me and I try to drive my best and I hope to be back here next year with Formula 3.”

Tom Blomqvist, 3rd Round 15: “After yesterday’s qualifying result, I made things a little bit more difficult for me during the race. I timed the slip stream right and managed to get by [Kotaro Sakurai, who was in third]. I would like to think [that Carlos and I are part of the future of motorsport], but you never know. You have to go out there, work hard and I hope it works out.”


Round 15 – Provisional Results

1    12    Carlos SAINZ Jr. (G)    ESP    Eurointernational    24:47.003
2    15    Tomoki NOJIRI (G)    JPN    Eurointernational    +4.097
3    11     Tom BLOMQVIST (G)    GBR    Eurointernational    +7.373
4    14    Dustin SOFYAN    INA    Eurointernational    +11.755
5    55    Kotaro SAKURAI (S) (R)    PHI    Eurasia Motorsport    +15.180
6    66    Jordan OON (S) (R)    AUS    E-Rain Racing    +18.597
7    83    JIM Ka To (G)    HKG    Champ Motorsport    +28.602
8    75    CHANG Mun Shien (R)    MAS    IM Racing    +28.847
9    45    Duvashen PADAYACHEE (R)    AUS    Eurasia Motorsport    +38.150
10    7    Nabil JEFFRI (R) *    MAS    Eurasia Motorsport    +38.991
11    38    Pasin LATHOURAS (R)    THA    Meritus    +39.971
12    10    Jesse DIXON (S) (R)    AUS    Atlantic Racing Team     +43.071
13    23    Jimmy ANTUNES  (G)    SUI    Atlantic Racing Team    +46.471
14    17    Ryan RITCHIE (R)    MAS    PETRONAS Mofaz Racing    +47.467
15    25    LI Zhi Cong (G)    CHN    Asia Racing Team    +48.195
16    18    Natasha SEATTER (R)    MAS    PETRONAS Mofaz Racing    +49.051
17    69    Richard BRADLEY* (R)     SIN    Eurasia Motorsport    +49.864
18    27    William CHEUNG (G)    HKG    Atlantic Racing Team    +58.144
19    68    Ivo YIU (G)    MAC    Champ Motorsport     +1:06.579
20    22    Yuichi NAKAYMA (G)    JPN    Asia Racing Team    +1:08.719
21    73    UN Wai Kai (G)    MAC    Champ Motorsport    +1:09.093
DNF    19    Amirrul KHIRUDIN (R)    MAS    PETRONAS Mofaz Racing    --
DNF    9    S.H. Tom MUN    KOR    E-Rain Racing    --
DNF    8    Andrey KHRAPOV (G)    RUS    Meritus    --
DNF    88    Oscar TUNJO (R)    COL    Meritus    --
DNF    16    Calvin WONG    MAS    PETRONAS Mofaz Racing    --
DNF    21    Ryo HIRAKAWA (G)    JPN    Asia Racing Team    --

 (S)    Scholarship driver, (R) Rookie Cup, (G) Guest driver

* 30-second penalty for contact with another driver

Fastest Lap: Tom Blomqvist/Eurointernational/2:29.992/Lap 8

Formula BMW Pacific points standings after Round 15.



Drivers

1.Richard Bradley (217); 2. Oscar Tunjo (141) 3. Jordan Oon (134); 4. Calvin Wong (121); 5. Nabil Jeffri (83); 6. Afiq Ikhwan (74); 7. Dustin Sofyan (68); 8. Kotaro Sakurai (68); 9. James Birch (63); 10.  S.H. Tom Mun (49); 11. Duvashen Padayachee (49); 12. Jesse Dixon (49); 13. Pasin Lathouras (46); 14. Chang Mun Shien (23); 15. Axcil Jefferies (18); 16. Amirrul Khirudin (5); 17. Ryan Ritchie (5); 18. Suriya Balakerisnan (5); 19. Yannick Mettler (4); 20. Natasha Seatter (3)

Rookie Cup

1.Richard Bradley (217); 2. Oscar Tunjo (141) 3. Jordan Oon (134); 4. Nabil Jeffri (83); 5. Afiq Ikhwan (74); 6. Kotaro Sakurai (68); 7. James Birch (63); 8. Duvashen Padayachee (49); 9. Jesse Dixon (49); 10. Pasin Lathouras (46); 11. Chang Mun Shien (23); 12. Amirrul Khirudin (5); 13. Ryan Ritchie (5); 14. Natasha Seatter (3)

Teams

1.Eurasia Motorsport (362); 2. Meritus (281); 3. E-Rain Racing (196); 4. PETRONAS Mofaz Racing Team (152); 5. Atlantic Racing Team (89); 6. Motaworld Racing (75);  7. IM Racing (58); 8. Eurointernational (56); 9. Asia Racing Team (18);  10.  Mango Asia (8).


- Nikki Kemp -  photo BMW