Australian teenager Aidan Read took double victory and a battling P3 in rounds 7,8 and 9 of the Formula Masters China Series held at the Northern Thailand Circuit of Buriram this weekend (23-24 July 2016) to move clear in second place in the Championship chase and halving the deficit to Championship leader Phillip Hamprecht to just 14 points at the mid season point.
Fresh off of his debut victory in Shanghai last time out and visiting the Thai venue for the first time Aidan adapted to the track and its conditions quickly and secured Pole Position for the opening race which he subsequently went on to dominate, winning and taking fastest race lap along the way and securing Pole Position for Race 2 in the process.
Race 2 followed a similar pattern with Aidan untroubled as he again took a lights to flag success and added to his points and trophy haul.
The 3rd race of the weekend was to prove more challenging however. Starting in P3 behind Sean Zheng and Phillip Hambrecht Aidan held position until lap 3 when in turn 3 he sized up a pass on the Chinese driver. Contact in the battle saw Aidan lose a large section of his front wing and attack immediately turned to defence as his damaged car lost performance. Adapting to the car as best he could Aidan held off the Korean Kim for the duration of the race despite suffering heavy pressure and in an evil handing car and it was eventually Kim who succumbed in the fight spinning off and allowing Aidan to collect his third podium of the weekend.
The championship is now very much alive and the battle between Hambrecht and Read will be hard fought over the next 3 rounds of the Series to decide the Champion in what looks likely to be a fight between the German and the Australian although Chinese Sean Zheng and former teammate Kim cannot be discounted.
Aidan said: “Overall I’m very pleased with the performance this weekend. 2 wins and 3 podiums puts us closer to the top of the championship standings at the halfway point. The Eurasia boys did a great job with the car, we showed some great speed and consistency here in Buriram.
The first 2 races were very strong, I was able to drive away from pole, setting the fastest laps and taking the win in both. Race 3 was a bit more difficult. I started in P3 and when challenging the front 2 I picked up some damage which hurt the overall pace quite a lot. From there I did everything I could to hold P3 and stay in the hunt for points with a broken front wing.
A good haul of points and some of my best races have made this weekend one to remember. Sepang next, bring it on!”
Aidan and the Eurasia team will now prepare for the next rounds of FMCS in Malaysia in three weeks time (13-14 August). Despite the cancellation of KL Street Grand Prix, FMCS fans in Malaysia will not be disappointed as Races 10-12 will now be held at the Sepang International Circuit on the same weekend. A detailed race schedule and event information will be announced in the due course.