Maiden podiums for Roy and Nick as on-form Ernesto takes a bittersweet 4th!
Faster Than Speed - China Report
Category: Press-release
Faster Than Speed enjoyed a strong Chinese  "Maiden podiums for Roy & Nick!"
In WS, two FTS drivers stood in the podium for the first time, as Roy Wachtmeester took an impressive 2nd in WS Advanced, while Nick Oldenhuis finished 3rd in WS Amateur.
World Championship
Ernesto De Angelis and Patrick De Wit set the 4th and 8th fastest times respectively in Q1. Sergio Casalins, carrying a pitlane-start penalty from Australia, didn't take part in the session. Meanwhile, Tom Eley, driver from our friends at Ash Racing, replaced Giuseppe Marconi, and qualified 20th in his WC debut.
In Q2, Ernesto and Patrick were again firmly in the top-10, being 4th and 7th quickest respectively, they got a place in the last round of Qualifying.
In the final Q3 Pole shootout, Ernesto was once again 4th while Patrick took 8th on the grid.
Ernesto drove a fantastic race, showing the strongest pace in the field, as he set the fastest lap of the race, despite visiting the pitlane one less time than the top two finishers. Although he clearly had the pace to win the race, and was pretty much in contention until his first stop, some damage sustained in the first corner, plus a 14-second pitstop as the damage was repaired, cost him the chance to battle for victory. As Bruno Marques' engine started smoking with a couple of laps to go, it seemed as Ernesto could still make it to the podium, but Marques' engine survived to the  "http://www.fts-racing.net"
Patrick also drove a very strong race. Also on two-stops, he initially struggled against the light three-stoppers, but made his strategy work by looking forward to a 5th place finish by the end of the race. It wasn't to be, however, as Patrick's engine failed dramatically with only 3 laps remaining, leaving him with no points, eventually classified 17th.
Sergio was also driving a strong race from the pitlane, reaching the points zone at the end of his long first stint. However, he never reached his first stop, as a disconnection left him out of the race on lap 20. Tom was making good progress until he spun with cold tyres after his second stop, and unaccustomed to the controls of his Rex2009eda, he stalled the car, ending his race prematurely.
World Series Ace
Florian Pechon qualified his FTS-P9 in 17th position. Team-mate Gabriel Montanes unfortunately had a very disappointing Q1 and just missed the top-26, losing the chance to take part in the race. Florian, struggling with understeer, was unable to make much progress in the race, finishing outside the points in 16th position. The team will be looking forward to a stronger Ace showing in Bahrain.
World Series Advanced
Roy Wachtmeester confirmmed his solid performance as he set the 3rd fastest time in Q1. In Q2, he performed very strongly again and took 3rd on the grid. Team-mate Drazen Cokor, meanwhile, qualified 18th.
Roy drove  "Roy Wachtmeester (FTS-P9)"
Drazen showed a much better race pace, and although he was compromised by his Qualifying position, he made good progress to finish the race in 10th place.
World Series Amateur
Nick Oldenhuis and Heinz Vanderhoydonck were 7th and 8th fastest in the Q1 session. Nick, entering Q2 for the first time, drove strongly to 3rd on the grid. Heinz, having to start from the back due to carrying a penalty from Malaysia, didn't take further part in Qualifying.
Heinz unfortunately had an early retirement, as his car was not correctly set-up after the race was restarted. Nick, meanwhile, had a much better afternoon, driving firmly in the top-3 and battling for P2 in the final laps, to finally take his maiden podium finish with a great 3rd position.
The team will be heading to Sakhir, Bahrain, where all FSR divisions will contest their races in the desert next weekend. Faster Than Speed will be looking forward to build on the solid results achieved in Chinese soil, fighting at the top in both WC and WS!
Faster Than Speed
Press Release
http://www.fts-racing.net
Article by: Christian Smirnoff, 2009-05-02 07:27:00
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