Daniil Kvyat continues perfect weekend with win in Singapore

Formula BMW Pacific Round 11, Marina Bay Circuit, Singapore

Daniil Kvyat (RUS/16/Eurointernational) continued a perfect race weekend, conquering the Marina Bay street circuit in Round 11 of Formula BMW Pacific in support of the 2010 FORMULA 1 SINGTEL SINGAPORE GRAND PRIX. A hard-fought last-lap battle between Kvyat and hometown favourite Richard Bradley (SIN/20/Eurasia Motorsport) saw the Russian successfully execute a controversial overtaking maneuver to give him victory.

Malaysia’s Calvin Wong (18/PETRONAS Mofaz Racing) rounded out the podium, with Meritus teammates Afiq Ikhwan (MAS/19) and Oscar Tunjo (COL) finishing fourth and fifth, respectively.

With guest drivers not eligible to score points, second-place Bradley picks up full points for Round 11, as well as one point for qualifying. The current Drivers Classification and Rookie Cup leader has now increased his strong-hold on both title chases to 57 points over Formula BMW Pacific Junior Jordan Oon (AUS/20/ E-Rain Racing), who finished ninth in the race. To clinch both titles in Sunday’s Round 12, Bradley must outscore Oon by seven points.

The dramatic race saw Kvyat hold onto the lead from pole at the start, only to run wide at Turn 7 and drop back to third behind Bradley, who started from second, and Wong, who had made his way up to third after starting from fifth on the grid. Kvyat quickly overtook Wong, and began to close in on Bradley.

Meanwhile, an intense battle for fourth was developing between Tunjo, Ikhwan and Nabil Jeffri (MAS/16/Eurasia Motorsport). Five laps into the 10-lap race, Jeffri battled with Tunjo, before both he and Ikhwan were passed by the Colombian. Jeffri dropped back towards the end, crossing the line eighth.

As the chequered flag neared, Kvyat edged closer to Bradley. On a dramatic final lap, the pair made contact for the first time. Then Kvyat got on the inside of Bradley, who closed in on the Russian.  Kvyat, however, got the advantage and emerged victorious. 

Formula BMW Pacific Junior Jordan Oon (AUS/20/E-Rain Racing) expertly worked his way through the field, having started from 22nd on the grid, after he hitting the wall early in Friday’s qualifying session. Oon finished ninth, while fellow Junior Jesse Dixon (AUS/18/Atlantic Racing Team) finished 15th overall. Although he started from third on the grid, Junior Kotaro Sakurai (JPN/15/Eurasia Motorsport) was forced to retire.

Round 12 in support of the 2010 FORMULA 1 SINGTEL SINGAPORE GRAND PRIX will take place tomorrow at the Marina Bay Circuit.


Formula BMW Pacific Driver Quotes:


Daniil Kvyat, winner, Round 11: “After the start, I missed one of the corners and went right and lost two places, but I was fast enough to catch back up to Richard [Bradley] and then overtake him.  Yes, I did plan when I wanted to overtake him. I was waiting for the last lap to overtake Richard because I knew there would be lots of pressure. It was definitely a battle. We also touched twice. We touched on the straight and then on the next corner I went inside, he closed and we touched, but I was on the inside so I got ahead. .”

Richard Bradley, 2nd and Top Rookie Round 11: “For the championship, second is great.  When I got past Daniil, I kept telling myself ‘championship, championship’, that was ultimately my goal and I did want to keep it conservative. He did catch up to me and I decided to give it a go and managed to pull a gap, but he caught up again. 

Calvin Wong, 3rd, Round 11: “I had a good start and managed to get by Oscar [Tunjo] on Turn 3 of the first lap as I had a better exit out of the turn than he did. I then got by Kotaro [Sakurai], and then I looked in front of me and kept pushing. Having raced here before, I feel like I do have an advantage being here for the second year and I have more confidence.”

Jordan Oon, top Formula BMW Pacific Junior, Round 11: “The race was really fun. I spent the first three or four laps getting past a lot of the cars at the back. I didn’t want to do anything stupid so I took my time. There was a bit of a gap between myself and then next pack of drivers, so I spent a couple of laps getting into the rhythm and then started overtaking. After yesterday, my goal was to finish seventh. With three laps left in the race, I still had two drivers in front of me. I gave it my best but it didn’t happen.”


Round 11 – Provisional Results

1    11    Daniil KVYAT (G)    RUS    Eurointernational    26:36.207
2    69    Richard BRADLEY (R)    SIN    Eurasia Motorsport    +2.044
3    16    Calvin WONG    MAS    PETRONAS Mofaz Racing    +4.533
4    78    Afiq IKHWAN (R)    MAS    Meritus    +14.206
5    88    Oscar TUNJO (R)    COL    Meritus    +16.352
6    12    Carlos SAINZ Jr. (G)    ESP    Eurointernational    +16.844
7    2    James BIRCH (R)    GBR    Motaworld Racing    +26.658
8    7    Nabil JEFFRI (R)    MAS    Eurasia Motorsport    +27.439
9    66    Jordan OON (S) (R)    AUS    E-Rain Racing    +27.902
10    38    Pasin LATHOURAS (R)    THA    Meritus    +29.674
11    9    S.H. Tom MUN    KOR    E-Rain Racing    +30.756
12    8    Andrew KHRAPOV (G)    RUS    Meritus    +41.438
13    19    Amirrul KHIRUDIN (R)    MAS    PETRONAS Mofaz Racing    +44.517
14    75    CHANG Mun Shien (R)    MAS    IM Racing    +48.334
15    10    Jesse DIXON (S) (R)    AUS    Atlantic Racing Team     +51.404
16    18    Natasha SEATTER (R)    MAS    PETRONAS Mofaz Racing    +1:03.340
17    4    Dylan YOUNG (R)    AUS    Motaworld Racing    +1:03.713
18    17    Ryan RITCHIE (R)    MAS    PETRONAS Mofaz Racing    +1:31.925
19    26    Paul LAU (G)    HKG    Asia Racing Team    +2:12.932
DNF    45    Duvashen PADAYACHEE (R)    AUS    Eurasia Motorsport    -
DNF    55    Kotaro SAKURAI (S) (R)    PHI    Eurasia Motorsport    -
DNF    14    Dustin SOFYAN (G)    INA    Eurointernational    -

 (S)    Scholarship driver, (R) Rookie Cup

Fastest Lap: Carlos Sainz Jr/Eurointernational/2:35.356/Lap 10

 
Formula BMW Pacific provisional points standings after Round 11.


Drivers

1.Richard Bradley (167); 2. Jordan Oon (110); 3. Oscar Tunjo (106); 4. Calvin Wong (86); 5. Nabil Jeffri (68); 6. James Birch (53); 7. Afiq Ikhwan (46); 8. S.H. Tom Mun (41); 9. Dustin Sofyan (39); 10. Pasin Lathouras (38); 11. Kotaro Sakurai (37); 12. Duvashen Padayachee (36); 13. Jesse Dixon (28); 14. Axcil Jefferies (18); 15. Chang Mun Shien (11); 16. Suriya Balakerisnan (5); 17. Yannick Mettler (4); 18. Natasha Seatter (2); 19. Amirrul Khirudin (2).


Rookie Cup

1.Richard Bradley (167); 2. Jordan Oon (110); 3. Oscar Tunjo (106); 4. 4. Nabil Jeffri (68); 5. James Birch (53); 6. Afiq Ikhwan (46); 7. Pasin Lathouras (38); 8. Kotaro Sakurai (37); 9. Duvashen Padayachee (36); 10. Jesse Dixon (28); 11. Chang Mun Shien (11); 12. Natasha Seatter (2); 13. Amirrul Khirudin (2).


Teams
1.Eurasia Motorsport (268); 2. Meritus (215); 3. E-Rain Racing (159); 4. PETRONAS Mofaz Racing Team (104); 5. Motaworld Racing (65); 6. Atlantic Racing Team (55); 7. IM Racing (26); 8. Asia Racing Team (18);  9. Mango Asia (8).



- NIkki Kemp -