Van der Drift takes second Super Final win in seven days
NURBURG, 27 June 2010 – For the second time in seven days, New Zealand driver Chris van der Drift has won the Superleague Formula by Sonangol super final. Just as at the last rounds super final at Jarama in Spain a week earlier, the 24 year old Kiwi driving for Greek football club Olympiacos had a brilliant start from fourth place in the weekends Super Final at the Nurburgring, diving down the middle of front row starters AC Milan and Galatasaray and leading into turn one.
This superb move gave the Superleague Formula rookie a lead which he never relinquished, improving his two second lead after lap one to over 5.8 seconds at the chequered flag, and becoming the first driver to win two Super Finals this season.
The basis for the weekends success commenced in race one, the Kiwi starting from grid five and holding this position from the rolling start until his pitstop on lap 10. The tyre change was expertly done by the Kiwi’s team, GU Racing, picking up a position and then another spot the following lap when another driver pitted, leaving him in third place for the remainder of the 45 minute race. “In comparison to two drivers in front of me I continued for an extra lap”, said Van der Drift. “This lap was very important to me in that I wanted to pick up some time and after a great pitstop it was enough to give me third on track after all the pitstops were completed.”
Under the race format, start positions for the second race are determined by the reverse order of the first race results, meaning Van der Drift would start from 16th place, and leaving the New Zealander a challenge to gain as many points as possible to qualify for the super final, with only the six best scoring drivers over the weekend being eligible. “As we had a brake problem in free practice my old tyres weren’t as good as they normally are, so I got a lot of vibration in the race meaning I found it difficult to make a passing move on those cars in front of me”, explained Van der Drift. Despite this problem the Kiwi finished race two in eleventh position, with enough points scored enabling him to start the Race three Super Final in fourth place.
In contrast to the first two races, the super final begins as a standing start. As the lights were extinguished, Van der Drift shot up between the two front row starters and led going into turn one with grid three starter, Anderlecht, following him through. The New Zealander kept his lead, increasing his first lap advantage of over two seconds to over 5.8 seconds at the finish line, and picking up his second Super Final win in seven days.
“A standing start is always good. Just wish we had more of them”, said Van der Drift laughing. “The lights went on and went out really quick. I had good traction and was able to drive between the cars of AC Milan and Galatasaray to lead into the first corner, had the quickest race lap, and won with a great margin. It is fantastic to be able to win the Super Final twice in a row. I could get used to this!”
The sixth round of the Superleague Formula by Sonangol calendar is to be held at the Zolder circuit in Belgium over the weekend of 16-18 July 2010. As fifth in the championship and best rookie, Van der Drift is hoping to get a pole position soon, and to repeat his super final victories.
Results Race 1 : Superleague Formula, Nurburgring - Germany, Sunday 27 June:
1 Yelmer Buurman (NED), AC Milan, 26 laps in 46:36.469s
2 Davide Rigon (ITA), RSC Anderlecht, +7.724s
3 Chris van der Drift (NZL), Olympiacos, +11.562s
Results Race 2 : Superleague Formula, Nurburgring - Germany, Sunday 27 June:
1 Alvaro Parente (POR), FC Porto, 25 laps in 45:03.384s
2 Frank Montagny (FRA), Girondins de Bordeaux, +0.826s
3 Tristan Gommendy (FRA), Galatasaray, +5.515s
11 Chris van der Drift (NZL), Olympiacos, +47.536s
Results Race 3 Super Final : Superleague Formula, Nurburgring - Germany, Sunday 27 June:
1 Chris van der Drift (NZL), Olympiacos, 5 laps in 8.57.984s
2 Davide Rigon (ITA), RSC Anderlecht, +5.807s
3, Yelmer Buurman (NED), AC Milan, +8.462s
4 Max Wissel (GER), FC Basel, +16.488s
5 Tristan Gommendy (FRA), Galatasaray, +34.273s
Retirements:
Franck Perera (FRA), Flamengo - 0 laps
Championship Overall : Superleague Formula by Sonangol (after five rounds):
1 Craig Dolby (ENG), Tottenham Hotspur, 370 points
2 Yelmer Buurman (NED), AC Milan, 340 points
3 Max Wissel (GER), FC Basel, 297 points
4 Davide Rigon (ITA), RSC Anderlecht, 294 Points
5 Chris van der Drift (NZL), Olympiacos, 273 points
