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Asmer Moves Ahead with Eighth Win of 2007 |
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Tuesday, 14 August 2007 |
Marko Asmer (#7 Hitech) took his eighth win of the season with a lights to flag victory ahead of a resurgent Maro Engel (#23 Carlin), who started 5th, and Atte Mustonen (#26 Raikkonen Robertson Racing). Greg Mansell (#50 Fortec) had his best result since Round 3 at Donington Park finishing 4th.Starting from pole position Marko Asmer got away cleanly but behind him Rodolfo Gonzalez (#9 T Sport) got a good getaway to slot into second ahead of Mustonen, with Engel getting the drop on Greg Mansell to move up a place as well. Alberto Valerio’s race was run before it even got started as a clutch failure forced him into retirement.
Further back down the grid Michael Meadows (#55 Newnet Raikkonen
Robertson Racing) got caught out as too many cars tried to fit through
Copse corner, with ‘Frankie’ Cheng (#39 Performance Racing) getting
ahead of Sergio Perez (#31 T Sport). Meadows’ Dallara was left beached
in the gravel trap bringing out the Safety Car before the drivers had
completed one lap of the race.The race got going again at the end of
lap 3 and Gonzalez was immediately attacking Asmer for the lead into
Copse but the Estonian wasn’t going to be passed that easily. This
allowed Mustonen to get a run on the Venezuelan at Becketts and the two
Dallara’s touched with Mustonen spinning through 360 degrees but
managed to keep the car going and Gonzalez dropped down the field as he
struggled to regain the track. This allowed Engel and Mansell to move
ahead of the spinning Finn.Behind the leaders Esteban Guerrieri (#14
Ultimate) was on the move from a lowly 14th place on the grid. An
excellent start shot the Argentine driver up to 7th on the opening lap
and then he passed Sam Bird on lap 4 for 5th.
Lap 5 saw Mustonen battling Greg Mansell to regain lost ground and the
Finn moved in to 3rd at Abbey. Guerrieri was now starting to come
under pressure from Sam Bird (#3 Carlin) and Stephen Jelley (#1
Raikkonen Robertson Racing) and within a few laps the three cars were
nose to tail as they crossed the line.
In the National Class Perez had regained the initiative from Cheng and
was able to pull away from his title rival as John Martin (#24 ADR) got
between the two National Class cars. Hamad Al Fardan (#38 Performance
Racing was a distant third in 21st place overall.
Back at the front Asmer started to pull away from Engel, who in turn
was able to keep a gap to Mustonen. On lap 10 Jelley leap frogged both
Bird and Guerrieri to move into 5th as the Argentine started to fall
away, with Bird making a place on the next lap. However Guerrieri’s
team mate Michael Devaney (#15 Ultimate) got a run on his rivals and on
lap 11 he was up to 7th ahead of Sebastian Hohenthal (#5 Fortec) and
Niall Breen (#21 Carlin).
Asmer continued to hold the gap to Engel with Mustonen holding station
on the German. Mansell was slowly falling away from the Finn but was
able to hold the gap to Jelley and Bird.
As the race entered the final few laps Walter Grubmuller (#6 Hitech
Racing) was moving up from the lower reaches of the field, moving up
from 16th to 12th in four laps. Rodolfo Gonzalez was continuing his
recovery from his earlier encounter with Mustonen and was making steady
progress until he tried to pass John Martin at Becketts. Contact
between the two cars put both cars into retirement with Martin parked
on the grass and Gonzalez recovering to the pits with broken suspension.
On the final lap Niall Breen challenged Devaney for 7th place and the
2006 Formula BMW Champion made his move on his fellow Irishman on the
inside of Becketts to take the position.
As the chequered flag went out it was Asmer who punched the air,
crossing the line ahead of Maro Engel and Atte Mustonen. Sergio Perez
also took his 8th win in the National Class, with Ernesto Otero (#59
Raikkonen Robertson Racing) taking second ahead of Hamad Al Fardan
after Frankie Cheng was forced into the pits with a punctured tyre
three laps from home.
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