AMA Round 1: iMic With Simon
Round 1: iMic With Simon Review
League: World Series Ama
Category: Article
2009 had been billed as the season where  "Precision Motorsports Logo"
From 46 drivers, 37 took part in Q1 which saw 11 drivers lose out at the first hurdle. of those 11, Niko Van Doren was the biggest shock from a front running slot to be dropped after what seemed to be technical trouble. Pre Qualifying also claimed both Knight Racing cars, the sole European F1 car and both Shadow Overtakers which eliminated 3 complete teams straight away. Just 2.3 seconds covered the top 28 with Toni Aleman just missing out too. Pole would then be handed to Johannes Kunkel in Q2 who then did not take the race start.
The race start itself saw new pole man Muhammed Patel, in just his second race lead from the start with Pedro Melim leapt into 2nd from Ivan Kaloyanov - three new men really showing what the new generation of FSR 2009 can do. Indeed early losers were Alberto De Juan and Juan Diego Sanchez whom were both out with accidents while Simon Melhuish span off at the final turn and dropped to 14th.
From there Simon Melhuish began the race of his life. From 14th to 12th on lap 2, 11th on lap 3 and up to 6th by lap 11, he was the fastest man on the track but he couldn't show his full speed while the top quintet battled away. However up front Patel had a healthy gap to Melim, Corey Gabriel who'd moved up to 3rd, Alessandro Marcelli who'd moved into 4th and Juan Nicola showing great form in 5th before the pitstop window opened - and here was where Patel showed true class.
Melim was first in and made a slow stop which would see him in trouble later and 2 laps later Patel was in, around and out again while Marcelli & Mulhuish battled hammer and tongs over what was now the lead. So much would they battle on worn tyres infact that by the time they'd both pitted and rejoined on lap 18, they'd dropped to over 10 seconds behind the Precision Motorsports driver. Melhuish then passed Marcelli when he made one of several mistakes in the later section of the race and then made light work of Melim for 3rd. On lap 24 he made a bold move on Gabriel who yielded 2nd, however the duo chased down the calm and collected Patel to round off the podium in spectacular fashion.
Muhammed Patel won his second FSR race in style, only losing the lead for one lap and never looked uncomfortable out in front. The fact the he was only 5th fastest in the fastest lap standings shows that it was consistency and concentration that won him out on the day. Simon Melhuish will be ruing his lap 1 spin that dropped him to 14th and cost him a potential win. However he performed some stunning overtaking moves and will be one to watch at Sepang. Corey Gabriel drove hard and fast to collect a well deserved podium slot for 3rd.
Pedro Melim looked good for 2nd early in the race but a bungled pitstop and a slower set of second tyres dropped him 20 seconds back to 4th ahead of Alessandro Marcelli who looked wild and ragged all weekend but equalled fast and dangerous to the front runners. Sixth placed Malcolm Rice made sure experience counted with some excellent overtaking moves, especially the one Ivan Kaloyanov on the last lap, the latter coming home 7th for his first point scoring run. His race was ruined by an early pitstop leaving him stuck behind slower cars he couldn't overtake. Simon Adebisi drove a quiet but clever race to an eventual 8th and you have the feeling there's more to come from him at Sepang, as you did of Antonio Perrone who recovered from a dismal 18th on the grid to an eventful 9th with some good moves. Fredrik Arbegard brought his car home 10th after a very dogged drive which saw more off track excursions than a holiday camp.
Toni Hernandez (showing great promise on his début), Ari Kesseli & Michael Theis kept together most of the race, driving like pros in their own personal battles and were all rewarded with points, as was Marco Vandenbroeck who gave Williamson Dynamics their first point on his and their début.
A lap down Adrian Greda had put up a spirited fight all race but ended up just out the points in 15th ahead of Scott Beck whom had a good clean start but fell back from there. Both drivers along with Graham Dickinson who ran into trouble on 19 and lost a points finish, will be looking for revenge and points in Sepang. Similarly Darren Johnston (18th) and Anthony Herbert (19th) whom round off the finishers will be looking for those coveted points after taking a comforting finish in the season opener, Johnston actually being 16th in the fastest lap table showing flashes of decent speed. All that left the other DNF's of Lawal, who spent the race in last after a dreadful opening lap, Oldenhuis who was on for a fist of points before chucking it in the wall, Juan Nicola who did the same while on for a top 6 finish and Fran Miller who also popped his car in the junk box.
All in all, Melbourne delivered, as did all the drivers with their prowess and sportsmanship with their excellent racing talents. Who's up for round 2?
Article by: Simon Smith, 2009-04-06 16:51:03
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