Double victories for Rio Haryanto in Indonesia. 15.08.2009: Rio Haryanto (16/Questnet Team Qi-Meritus) continued his winning streak at the Sentul International Circuit, as the Indonesian scored two victories on his home circuit and has now won three Formula BMW Pacific

Rio Haryanto (16/Questnet Team Qi-Meritus) continued his winning streak at the Sentul International Circuit, as the Indonesian scored two victories on his home circuit and has now won three Formula BMW Pacific races in a row. In Round 7, Haryanto fought a tight race with second place finisher Fahmi Ilyas (MAL/17/E-Rain Racing) and with Gary Thompson (IRL/17/E-Rain Racing) finishing third. In the following Round 8, it was Formula BMW Junior Axcil Jefferies (ZIM/15/Eurasia Motorsport) and Thompson who joined Haryanto on the podium.

For many of the drivers, this weekend’s races at the 3.960 km circuit located outside of Jakarta represent their first experiences on the track. Haryanto, however, was one of the few drivers who had some previous experience on the circuit and he certainly used his strength to his advantage.

Thompson continues to lead both the Drivers Classification and the Rookie Cup, although his lead has now shrunk to a single point. Haryanto is second in the Drivers Classification, while Jefferies is third, 20 points behind the leader.

In the earlier Round 7, Haryanto got off to a strong start. However, after a brief Safety Car period, Haryanto lost his position to Ilyas who was then able to put some distance between the two, before Haryanto regained his winning position near the end of the race.

In Round 8, Haryanto never relinquished his top position, leading from pole to chequered flag. From third on the grid, Jefferies made his way into the second, where he would stay for the remainder of the race. Ilyas, who had started in second, was penalized with a drive-through penalty for jumping the start and finished sixth overall.

Formula BMW Juniors Chris Wootton (AUS/20/Eurasia Motorsport) and Steel Guilana (AUS/17/Atlantic Racing Team) each had a bout of bad luck. Wootton made a mistake on Lap 4, putting himself out of the race. Guiliana, who had been running as high as fifth, spun on Lap Eight.

It was a successful race for Indonesian Dustin Sofyan (15/Questnet Team Qi-Meritus) who finished fifth in Round 8 after starting near the bottom of the grid.

Rounds 9 and 10 will take place Sunday as part of the Asian Festival of Speed.

Round 7 Quotes:

1st: Rio Haryanto: “It’s a significant moment for me because this is the first time I have won on my home track. To win pole position this morning and now to win the race is good for me. I still hope that we can keep going and win the remaining three races.”

2nd: Fahmi Ilyas: “Second place is still quite good. I’ll try to win the next race. We have a good car and I think I will be able to easily overtake Rio in the next race. I could win the next race. I was so close, but will depend on the performance of my tyres.”

3rd: Gary Thompson: “It was quite a good race for me. I managed to overtake Axcil on Turn Four after the Safety Car. But I couldn’t get near to Rio’s pace. He was too quick. I just played it safe and getting a podium finish is better than not finishing at all. The track was very dirty and there was gravel all over the place. Hopefully I’ll get another podium finish in my next race.”

Top Junior Axcil Jefferies: “The top three racers had a break from everyone else once the safety car came on. I found the track dirty and on the fourth lap, ran wide and dropped to ninth. I overtook the drivers lap by lap and one stage, the car was half a second faster than everybody else! We really had a good pace at this stage and I am relieved that we got fourth place.”


Round 8 Quotes:

1st: Rio Haryanto: “What a great weekend so far! I controlled the race from beginning to end and even though I made a bit of a mistake during the race, I still won and that’s good for the championship points. I’m definitely looking forward to tomorrow’s races and hopefully I will continue my good form.”

2nd: Axcil Jefferies: “Second was not something I was hoping for. I had bad luck in Round 7 and I am hoping for better luck tomorrow. I thought at one stage Rio [Haryanto] and I were evenly matched. Who knows? If we had more laps, I might have overtaken him, you never know!”

3rd: Gary Thompson: “To be honest, it was quite disappointing to finish third. I made a bad start and although I caught Fahmi [Ilyas], who blocked me for two laps, I couldn’t go any better. If I had a better start, I would have finished higher up. We’ll see how things go tomorrow.”

 
 
Round 7 Results.

1 88 Rio HARYANTO (INA) Questnet Team Qi-Meritus 25:24.433
 
2 17 Fahmi ILYAS• (MAS) E-Rain Racing +1.466
 
3 7 Gary THOMPSON• (IRL) E-Rain Racing +5.183
 
4 22 Axcil JEFFERIES•* (ZIM) Eurasia Motorsport +12.262
 
5 2 Dominic ANG (MAS) Team Holzer PFX +25.129
 
6 38 Dustin SOFYAN • (INA) Questnet Team Qi-Meritus +31.752
 
7 49 Akhil KHUSHLANI (IND) E-Rain Racing +45.959
 
8 8 Steel GUILIANA*• (AUS) Atlantic Racing Team +50.359
 
9 4 Muhamad Alif JAFRI• (MAS) Team Holzer PFX +1:03.968
 
- 11 Chris WOOTTON* (AUS) Eurasia Motorsport DNF
 
- 3 Calvin WONG• (MAS) Team Holzer PFX DNF
 

Pole Position: Rio Haryanto/1:32.063
Fastest Lap: Rio Haryanto/1:34.583/150.915 kph/on Lap 9

 

Round 8 Results.
 
1 88 Rio HARYANTO (INA) Questnet Team Qi-Meritus 23:13.628
 
2 22 Axcil JEFFERIES•* (ZIM) Eurasia Motorsport +1.797
 
3 7 Gary THOMPSON• (IRL) E-Rain Racing +7.448
 
4 49 Akhil KHUSHLANI (IND) E-Rain Racing +21.140
 
5 38 Dustin SOFYAN • (INA) Questnet Team Qi-Meritus +29.159
 
6 17 Fahmi ILYAS• (MAS) E-Rain Racing +41.089

 7 4 Muhamad Alif JAFRI• (MAS) Team Holzer PFX +42.325
 
8 3 Calvin WONG• (MAS) Team Holzer PFX +43.078
 
9 2 Dominic ANG (MAS) Team Holzer PFX 1 Lap
 
 8 Steel GUILIANA*• (AUS) Atlantic Racing Team DNF
 
 11 Chris WOOTTON* (AUS) Eurasia Motorsport DNF
 

Pole Position: Rio Haryanto/1:32.119
Fastest Lap: Rio Haryanto/1:32.040/155.085 kph/on Lap 10
 

*Scholarship driver
•Rookie Cup
#Non-Series Registered



Provisional Championship Points Tables after Round 8.

Drivers
1.Gary Thompson (IRL/E-Rain Racing) 107 points; 2. Rio Haryanto (INA/Questnet Team Qi-Meritus) 106 points; 3. Axcil Jefferies (ZIM/Eurasia Motorsport) 97 points; 4. Fahmi Ilyas (MAS/E-Rain Racing) 64 points; 5. Dustin Sofyan (INA/Questnet Team Qi-Meritus) 52 points; 6. Akhil Khushlani (IND/E-Rain Racing) 49 points; 7. Chris Wootton (AUS/Eurasia Motorsport) 30.5 points; 8. Dominic Ang (MAS/Team Holzer PFX) 30 points; 9. Calvin Wong (MAS/Team Holzer PFX) 29 points; 10. Fahad Algosaibi (KSA/E-Rain Racing) 12.5 points; 11. Steel Guiliana (AUS/Atlantic Racing Team) 9 points; 12. Muhamad Alif Jafri (MAS/17/Team Holzer PFX) 9 points; 13. Cao Hong Wei (CHN/Ao’s Racing Team) 8 points; 14. Aditya Patel (IND/Atlantic Racing Team) 5 points; 15. Zhu Huan (CHN/Questnet Team Qi-Meritus) ½ point.

                 

Rookie Cup 1. Thompson, 107 points; 2.Jefferies, 97 points; 3. Ilyas, 64; 4. Sofyan, 52 points; 5. Wong, 29 points; 6. Algosaibi 12.5 points; 7. Guiliana, 9 points; 8. Jafri, 9 points.
 

Teams 1. Questnet Team Qi-Meritus,178 points; 2. E-Raing Racing, 165.13 points; 3. Eurasia Motorsport, 146.25 points; 4. Team Holzer PFX, 94.5 points; 5. Atlantic Racing Team, 70.5 points; 6. Ao’s Racing Team, 42 points; 7. Motaworld Racing, 6 points.

 

- Nikki Kemp, HongKong  also photo