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Jérôme D’Ambrosio’s fifth win of the 2007 Formula Master (FM) season enabled his team, Cram Competition, to clinch the team title today in an action-packed race at Monza.

Despite a poor start which saw the Belgian driver fall from third to fifth, D’Ambrosio battled his way to the chequered flag in a series of overtaking moves worthy of his champion status.

Finishing closely behind, Alan Racing’s Pablo Sanchez Lopez fought hard all race, unafraid of locking tyres in his battle for a podium finish, and improved his chances for second place in the driver classification. The Mexican is now nine points adrift of Chris van der Drift with 10 points still available in tomorrow’s race.

Team-mate Daniil Move was less lucky; the Russian, guest driving for Alan Racing, qualified on pole but was unable to maintain his lead ahead of the season-long FM racers and eventually finished in sixth place.

Italy’s Luca Persiani used his local knowledge, scoring his best finish of the season with a third place. The Scuderia Famà driver spent the majority of the 35-minute race sparring with J.D. Motorsport’s Chris van der Drift and Promotorsport’s Marcello Puglisi, entertaining the fans with breath-taking overtaking moves.

Persiani’s team-mate Massimo Torre equalled his best finish of the season with a seventh place having qualified in tenth position, followed by Jenzer Motorsport’s Rahel Frey, who collected the last point-scoring position in eighth.

“It was a hard race today, the amount of slipstream can be hard to race with in places and you don’t want to loose out to another guy. I had a good fight with van der Drift, Sanchez Lopez, Move and Persiani; it was a very fun race.

“We have three choices for gearbox, so the racing is very close around here as the cars aren’t completely adapted to the circuit. Your driving strategy becomes very important like knowing where to overtake or not.

“For example, Ascari isn’t the best place to make a move as there is a good chance you will get passed back just after. Thankfully, my strategy worked well for me!

“Winning the team title is fantastic, Cram Competition really deserved it. They delivered a car that was always nearly perfect for each weekend and if it wasn’t, it was very good but never bad.”

Pablo Sanchez Lopez, Alan Racing

“I had a good race, it was loads of fun. I’m very happy with my result, we’ve been very competitive despite some problems in the end of the year. We keep improving though.

“Tomorrow I want to try to win the race, there is the possibility here. The car is good and we have lots of confidence but you have to be clever and grab all the opportunities too.”

Luca Persiani, Scuderia Famà

“Today was very important for me to be here, in the top three. We’ve been fast at each track but sometimes with mistakes or sometimes bad luck, we have not been on the podium.

“It’s very good to be here, it’s pay back for the team and all their hard work and mine too. I’ve raced here a few times and most of those times, I was on the podium so maybe this is my lucky track as well as my home track!

“Tomorrow, starting from the front or from sixth is the same. You can overtake and, now that I have a podium finish, I want another one.”

Formula Master – Monza

Round 15 provisional results

1. Jérôme D'Ambrosio (BEL), Cram Competition (#25)

2. Pablo Sanchez Lopez (MEX), Alan Racing (#12)

3. Luca Persiani (ITA), Scuderia Famà (#31)

4. Chris van der Drift (NED), J.D. Motorsport (#7)

5. Marcello Puglisi (ITA), Promotorsport (#9)

6. Daniil Move (RUS), Alan Racing (#43)

7. Massimo Torre (ITA), Suderia Fama (#32)

8. Rahel Frey (SUI), Jenzer Motorsport (#2)

9. Alberto Costa (ITA), Euronova Racing (#18)

10. Arturo Llobell (ESP), Cram Competition (#24)

11. Oliver Campos Hull (ESP), Iris Project (#4)

12. Marco Mapelli (ITA), Bicar Racing (#35)

13. Salvatore Gatto (ITA), Promotorsport (#15)

14. Juho Annala (FIN), Jenzer Motorosport (#3)

15. Kasper Andersen (DEN), J.D. Motorsport (#8)

16. Norbert Siedler (AUT), ADM Motorsport (#41)

17. Michele Caliendo (ITA), ADM Motorsport, (#22)

18. Dominick Muermans (NED), Ombra Racing (#30)

19. Frankie Provenzano (ITA), ADM Motorsport (#21)

20. Mattia Pavoni (ITA), Promotorsport (#10)

21. Claudio Cantelli Jr (BRA), J.D. Motorsport (#6)

22. Pierre Ragues (FRA), Euronova Racing (#19)

23. Rodolfo Avila (MAC), Cram Competition (#26)

Not classified

Giuseppe Terranova (ITA), Alan Racing (#14)

Sami Isohella, (FIN), Euronova Racing (#23)

Johnny Cecotto Jr (VEN), Ombra Racing (#29)

Nicolas Maulini, (SUI), Iris Project (#5)

Filip Salaquarda (CZE), ISR (#44)

Nick De Bruijn (NED), ISR (#33)

FM Driver Classification – top eight

1. Jérôme D'Ambrosio (BEL), Cram Competition (#25), 92 points

2. Chris van der Drift (NED), J.D. Motorsport (#7), 59 points

3. Pablo Sanchez Lopez (MEX), Alan Racing (#12), 50 points

4. Salvatore Gatto (ITA), Promotorsport (#15), 46 points

5. Norbert Siedler (AUT), ADM Motorsport (#41), 40 points

6. Marcello Puglisi (ITA), Promotorsport (#9), 37 points

7. Kasper Andersen (DEN), J.D. Motorsport (#8), 33 points

8. Johnny Cecotto Jr (VEN), Ombra Racing (#29), 30 points

FM Team Classification – top eight

1. Cram Competition, 124 points

2. Alan Racing, 94 points

2. J.D. Motorsport, 94 points

4. Promotorsport, 53 points

5. ADM Motorsport, 50 points

6. Euronova Racing, 33 points

7. Ombra Racing, 31 points

8. Jenzer Motorsport, 30 points

Lap-by-lap analysis

Lap 1: Move closes down Persiani and keeps the lead / Sanchez Lopez locks up around the first corner but nobody goes off / De Bruijn off the track with broken front suspension - retired

Lap 2: Move has a 2.33s lead / van der Drift passes Persiani

Lap 3: D’Ambrosio up to third / Frey off onto the grass after a collision with Maulini / Persiani attempts to pass van der Drift around the outside

Lap 4: Puglisi and Persiani battling hard for fifth / Filip Salaquarda off-track at Turn 10 - retired

Lap 5: Persiani passes Van der Drift for fourth place / Siedler in the pits for a new nose cone / Cecotto Jr off after a collision with Isohella at Turn 3 – both retired

Lap 6: Safety car deployed

Lap 9: Restart / Move still in the lead / D’Ambrosio attacking for second but Sanchez Lopez holds on / van der Drift attempts to pass Persiani on the straight

Lap 10: Puglisi overtakes van der Drift for fifth place / Move under pressure from Sanchez Lopez / Sanchez Lopez overtakes Move for the lead / Avila spins at Turn 4 and re-joins / D’Ambrosio pulls out to go around the outside of Move / Persiani under pressure from Puglisi and van der Drift

Lap 11: Persiani goes wide but regains the racing line for Turn 1 / Move under pressure from Puglisi for third place / Puglisi overtakes Move / Move under pressure from Persiani  for fourth

Lap 12: D’Ambrosio passes Sanchez Lopez for the lead / Persiani overtakes Move for fourth place / van der Drift passes Puglisi

Lap 13: Sanchez Lopez still fighting D’Ambrosio for the lead / D’Ambrosio takes the win

Chequered flag: 12.48