EU: Series Hockenheimring race 2 report

Double Dutch in Hockenheim.

Hockenheim, 25 July 2010. The second podium of the weekend in Hockenheim featured two Dutch drivers for the first time, with the Josef Kaufmann Racing duo of Robin Frijns and Hannes Van Asseldonk finishing first and third. Sandwiched between them was Britain's Jack Harvey (Fortec Motorsports). This was not only Van Asseldonk's first podium but also his first Rookie win.

Frijns made the perfect start from pole and led second placed Daniil Kvyat (RU/Eurointernational) into the first corner. However, it was Harvey in front of Van Asseldonk, having switched from their grid positions. Unfortunately a casualty of lap one was Formula BMW Pacific Guest driver, Dustin Sofyan (IA/DAMS), as he spun into retirement.

Frijns was able to pull out a lead as Harvey battled to pass Kvyat, which he did on lap two. Once the Brit was clear the battle for Rookie honours began with never more than 0.6secs separating them. Then on lap 11 the Dutch driver got by the Russian and was 0.3secs ahead of him at the end of the 13 lap race, which was also the time dividing Frijns and Harvey.

There were some good battles down the field and one pretty intense one was for ninth between Javier Tarancon (ES/DAMS), George Katsinis (GR/Fortec Motorsports), Michael Lewis (US/Eurointernational) and Maciej Bernacik (PL/Mucke Motorsport). At the end of lap eight the gaps were 0.4secs.0.5secs and 0.1secs. Katsinis grabbed the spot on lap ten only to lose it to Tarancon again on lap 12. Meanwhile, Carlos Sainz (ES/Eurointernational) had a lot of work to do and managed to climb from 12th on the grid to sixth at the flag.

1st Round 10: Robin Frijns (NL/Josef Kaufmann Racing): "I am happy. It was a difficult race for me. I had a good start and drove away a little bit as Jack was fourth on the grid and had touble with the guy in front of him. When he was second he closed the gap a bit. It was a really good race to drive. I should have won yesterday, but I made a mistake. It is really good for the championship and my confidence. "

2nd Round 10 : Jack Harvey (GB/Fortec Motorsports): "I made a good start and was third off the line from fourth on the grid. I got by Daniil on the second lap, but by that time Robin had pulled away a little bit. I had a really good race pace and was able to go over the line right behind him. We had really good speed, but after Robin got away the gap was just too big. It was a good result for me, as I have two more podiums from the weekend so I cannot grumble too much."

3rd and Top Rookie Round 10: Hannes Van Asseldonk (NL/Josef Kaufmann Racing): "I feel great as this is my first podium in Formula BMW. It was a tough race and I had a very bad start. I then didn't make mistakes. I caught up with Daniil and am really glad to be on the podium. When I passed Daniil it was difficult. Then I had to defend and lost time because of that. After that I just thought about driving forward and not thinking about Daniil. The team prepared everything well so thank you to them."

-source: fbmw