JD Motorsport clais second F1-support race win 26.07.2009: JD Motorsport claimed their second win of the weekend today, with Sergey Afanasiev scoring his first victory of the season in round ten of the International Formula Master Series at the Hungaroring in Hungary.

Tweet

Afanasiev led the field to JD Motorsport's second win of the weekend


JD Motorsport claimed their second win of the weekend today, with Sergey Afanasiev scoring his first victory of the season in round ten of the International Formula Master Series at the Hungaroring in Hungary.

Starting from the front row, Afanasiev took the lead from ISR's Erik Janis at the start and kept it for the 17-lap race, finishing first in IFM's second round as a support series to the FIA Formula 1 World Championship.

AR Motorsport's Paul Meijer secured second place on his first weekend in Formula Master, earning his team their first ever IFM podium-finish. The Dutchman passed Janis on the first lap and remained there unchallenged until the chequered flag.

ISR's Janis eventually finished third, ahead of Talent Support Programme (TSP) driver Alexander Sims in fourth place. Sims, together with Jenzer Motorsport's Fabio Leimer and fellow TSP racer Earl Bamber, fought feverishly throughout the 30-minute race, attempting several overtaking moves on each other.

Starting fifth, Sims was able to keep both rivals behind after passing Bamber on lap one, despite intense pressure from both Bamber and Leimer who swapped places throughout the race.

Leimer ultimately claimed fifth place, with Bamber in sixth, ahead of Iris Project's Patrick Reiterer. JD Motorsport's Vladimir Arabadzhiev crossed the finish line in eighth place, securing the last point-scoring position since both Sims and Bamber are ineligible to score points as TSP drivers.

Afanasiev claimed today's fastest lap, posting a best time of 1:38.696 and promoting JD Motorsport ahead of Jenzer Motorsport in the Teams' Classification.

IFM's 2009 season resumes next month at the  Spa-Francorchamps circuit in Belgium for rounds 11 and 12, where the Series will partner its second FIA Formula 1 World Championship. Both races will be broadcasted on the  pan-European channel Eurosport.


Sergey Afanasiev, JD Motorsport
"I made a few mistakes yesterday so this is a good way to make it up to my team. I've never started from second place before on the reverse grid so I wanted to make the most of it. It was fun as I was sure I would do my best; I knew I could win the start and keep the lead. It's a good feeling; I'm really happy for my team! This is the best result this year; two races and two JD Motorsport drivers at the top."


Paul Meijer, AR Motorsport
"I had another good start, which is great because it's the first time I use gear-shift paddles! I took second place after the first corner and then made sure I was on pace and as consistent with my lap times as possible. I felt really confident in the car and its balance.  I tried to get to Sergey [Afanasiev] for the lead but he was able to build a gap early on in the race so I couldn't catch him!"


Erik Janis, ISR
"My start wasn't very good; I had a little bit of wheel spin. I was second in the first corner so it was still ok and then Meijer came over from the outside and passed me. My front wing got damaged in the move so I had to be careful for the rest of the race; I had a lot of vibration coming from the front. I was lucky the wing held on. I focused on saving third place for the rest of the race. It's a shame because I was on new tyres and had really good speed."    



International Formula Master - Hungaroring
Round 10
1. Sergey Afanasiev (RUS), JD Motorsport (#2)
2. Paul Meijer (NED), AR Motorsport (#33)
3. Erik Janis (CZH), ISR (#20)
4. Alexander Sims (GBR), TSP (#40)
5. Fabio Leimer (SUI), Jenzer Motorsport (#6)
6. Earl Bamber (NZL), TSP (#42)
7. Patrick Reiterer (ITA), Iris Project (#9)
8. Vladimir Arabadzhiev (BUL), JD Motorsport (#1)
9. Samuele Buttarelli (ITA), TSP (#41)
10. Alessandro Kouzkin (RUS), Cram Competition (#47)
11. Tiago Petiz (POR), Cram Competition (#4)
12. Pål Varhaug (NOR), Jenzer Motorsport (#7)
Not classified
Alexander Rossi (USA), ISR (#16)
Josef Kral (CZH), JD Motorsport (#3)
Simon Trummer (SUI), Iris Project (#8)
Kelvin Snoeks (NED), AR Motorsport (#31)


- Formula Master - also photo