Formula BMW
EU: Series Spa race one report
Excitement in the overall standings: Marco Wittmann wins in Spa. Spa (BE), 6 September 2008. German driver Marco Wittmann (Josef Kaufmann Racing) celebrated his first win of the season in the 13th round of Formula BMW Europe. On the longest ...
Published: Sep 7, 2008, 4:34 PM
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Excitement in the overall standings: Marco Wittmann wins in Spa.
Spa (BE), 6 September 2008. German driver Marco Wittmann (Josef Kaufmann Racing) celebrated his first win of the season in the 13th round of Formula BMW Europe. On the longest circuit in this year's racing calendar - at 7.004 km - the 18-year-old prevailed against the strong competition and relegated Tiago Geronimi (BR/Eifelland Racing) and Adrien Tambay (FR/Eifelland Racing) to second and third places. The tradition-steeped course of Spa-Francorchamps brought no joy for Esteban Gutierrez (MX/Josef Kaufmann Racing). After a difficult qualifying, the points leader started from 18th on the grid and finished 17th.
At the start of the race, everything worked out for polesetter Wittmann, who entered the first corner in the lead. After one lap he had already managed to open up a gap of one second, which he intermittently extended to five seconds during the eight-lap race. The battles for position being waged behind him took their toll. Doru Sechelariu (RO/Fortec Motorsport), who had started from second place on the grid, was duelling with his team-mate William Buller (GB) and both left the track together on the final lap. Spectators were able to watch 27 committed drivers serving up numerous passing manoeuvres and good one-to-one skirmishes. One particularly impressive performance was the catching-up exercise by BMW Ramon Pineiro (ES/Fortec Motorsport), who started from 24th on the grid and finished eighth.
With his victory, Wittmann has whittled down the gap to the leader in the overall standings. Occupying the top slot is Gutierrez with 305 points, followed by Wittmann (269) and Tambay (236). In the rookie rankings, just four points separate the leaders. Michael Christensen (DK/Double R Racing) tops the standings with124, ahead of David Mengesdorf (DE/Mucke Motorsport). In Round 14 on Sunday, Brazilian Geronimi will be contesting the race from pole position for the first time in his formula career. Round 14 takes place on Sunday from 9.15 to 9.45 hrs.
1st place: Marco Wittmann (DE/Josef Kaufmann Racing):
"A lot of people have said to me over the season: You've got to win. But I wasn't going to get all worked up about it. Needless to say I'm absolutely thrilled with my first win. When I was way behind in the points before the races in Budapest, I said to myself: Don't give up. As long as there's a mathematical possibility, I will carry on fighting."
2nd place: Tiago Geronimi (BR/Eifelland Racing):
"This race really got my heart pounding - to be honest, from the first to the last lap. On the very first lap I briefly left the track and picked up a lot of dirt. Philipp Eng and Adrien Tambay suddenly shot up right behind me. We were fighting for position, but I managed to stay in front. When I start from pole in the next race on Sunday, I naturally want to win."
3rd place: Adrien Tambay (FR/Eifelland Racing):
"I had a very good start, but then on the first few laps I was struggling with the tyre temperature. While I was scrapping with Philipp Eng I wasn't thinking about points but taking a gamble when I passed him on the outside. We are racing drivers, after all. You've got to give it a go. I got a radio message that Daniel Juncadella wasn't doing so well. Before the race we were level- pegging on points and I desperately wanted to gain some ground. That's what I did."
-credit: fbmw eu
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