Armaan Ebrahim claimed his second win of the season in another close race during the Formula V6 Asia Round 4 at Sepang International Circuit today. The weather changed midway through the race with a slight drizzle that came down to make the conditions hard to manage by the drivers, leaving streaks of slippery track surface around some parts of the circuit.
At the start, Ebrahim, driving for Black Tara, got off the line clean from second, maintaining his lead all the way to the chequered flag but not without pressure from the two drivers from The Pizza Company Team Qi-Meritus. The duo kept the race interesting, pursuing Ebrahim throughout the 15-lap race.
“I had a good start. In the dry we had a very good car, slowly – not a lot – but lap by lap we could pull away from Earl, who managed a very good start and became second. I took a bit of time to get used to it and then James nearly caught up to me and he was quick at that point. So I really had to put my head down and really push because he was really quick.
“We had a close battle for some time but there was always a little gap. It was a good tight race, I needed that. I’m confident now for Indonesia, we need to change a few things but the team did a fantastic job getting the car right, its really good to drive and I thank the team” said Ebrahim at the post race press conference.
But the start of the race action came from seventh placed starter, Earl Bamber of The Pizza Company Team Qi-Mertus, when he shot off the line and was immediately into fourth at the start line, overtaking Hafiz Koh, Robin Tato and Kevin Chen. He then caught up to Mark Williamson and made a late braking manoeuvre to claim third by turn one before taking on his team mate, James Grunwell at turn two. Bamber took the outside line and kept on the pace claiming second by turn three.
He did not manage to keep the position for long before Grunwell reclaimed second on lap 5 taking the inside of turn 1. The Thai driver then caught up to Ebrahim and put the pressure on the Indian driver, pushing him to make a mistake. But at the last lap, Grunwell was caught off guard by a slippery turn 14 and slipped off the line into the run off area, leaving Bamber to overtake him to take second place at the chequered flag.
“We got a really good start, starting in seventh and got into second at the first corner which was quite surprising. I don’t think Armaan and James got the best of starts. I tried to attack Armaan but I think he got one or two tenths on each lap and I couldn’t quite close the gap to him. Then James got me down to turn one and he managed to catch Armaan and had a bit of a battle” said Bamber.
For Grunwell, it seemed more of a bittersweet third placed finish “At the start I stalled it. I was barely creeping off the line, so I was lucky not to be passed by more cars to be honest, but after that when it started to drizzle, it was just a matter of who was willing to risk more.
I was taking a lot of risks and that showed in my pace how much quicker I was then Armaan but I guess I took too many risks on the last lap trying to pass Armaan and went off. It was a good race for us, a good two days and we got two podiums”.
On the opening lap, there was an incident between Team TaraDTM’s driver Koh and Champ Motorsport’s American driver Kevin Chen. Chen tried to overtake on the inside of turn 15 when his front nose touched the rear of the Singaporean’s tyre. The incident ended the race for both drivers as Chen lost his front wing while Koh’s rear tyre was punctured.
“Hafiz had a good line but it was unfortunate for him to be involved in the incident. Kevin didn’t have anywhere to go and they just collided. Both drivers were committed to the turn and at the end of the day, it was a race incident” said Adam Shahnaz, Team Manager of TaraDTM.
Isaiah-Ro Charlez’s team, Black Tara worked hard throughout the night to prepare his damaged car from yesterday’s race to allow the Australian driver to race today. Charlez climbed all the way from last to finish fourth by the end of the race.
The battle for the Championship continues to be fierce as James Grunwell has taken over the lead this weekend with 47 points but second placed man, Armaan Ebrahim is just one point behind with Earl Bamber in third at 43 points. The Series continues at Sentul International Circuit, Indonesia next month from 18-20 July 2008.
Formula V6 Asia Round 4 Finishers
POS NO NAME NAT TOTAL TIME TEAM
1 3 Armaan Ebrahim IND 30.13.148 Black Tara
2 88 Earl Bamber NZL 30:15.820 TPC Team Qi-Meritus
3 38 James Grunwell THA 30:17.204 TPC Team Qi-Meritus
4 8 Isaiah-Ro Charlez MAS 30:29.970 Black Tara
5 33 Mark Willaimson AUS 31:19.934 Team TaraDTM
6 7 Robin Tato INA 31:34.857 Team E-Rain Racing
