EU: Series Nurburgring race one report

Christensen Takes Win and Points' Lead.

Nurburgring, 11 July 2009. At a slightly warmer Nurburgring, with the temperature for race one up to 15 degrees Celcius, Michael Christensen (DK/Mu cke Motorsport) took his third win of the season after beating polesitter, Felip Nasr (BR/Eurointernational) into second. Meanwhile Rookie, Robin Frijns (NL/Josef Kaufmann Racing) finished third after starting seventh.

At the start Nasr had to defend as William Buller (GB/Fortec Motorsport) made a good start from third and was side by side with him going into the first corner. However, the British driver was on the outside so it was the Brazilian who emerged to lead the first lap. Meanwhile behind them Christensen was having a battle for third with Daniel Juncadella (ES/Eurointernational).

The gap between Nasr and Buller at the end of lap one was point seven of a second. By the end of lap three the lead had stretched to 1.1 seconds, but by then Christensen was through into second. However, at the end of lap four not only was the lead cut by more than half, but also Buller in third was being persued by Facu Regalia (FR/Josef Kaufmann Racing). It was on lap six that Christensen was able to make a move on Nasr stick and from then on he increased his lead and won by over three seconds.

The big battle then was between Buller and Regalia. When they came over the line in that order at the end of lap eight the timing screens showed the gap was 0.0 seconds! As they fought for the same piece of ground they went wide and it was Frijns who saw his chance and took both of them for third after steadily moving up the field.

These were not the only battles as there were fractions between the drivers way down the field. A sign of how the battles were keeping the drivers looking in their rear mirrors was the fact the fastest lap by Christensen was set on lap four of the 11 lap race. Buller in the end was the biggest loser of the battles as he was given a drive through penalty for multiple changes of direction. As he did not have the full three laps to take this 25 seconds was added to his time.

1st - Round 7: Michael Christensen (DK/Mu cke Motorsport): "That was very, very nice. I made only one mistake at the start and I was lucky I had a very good car to make up for that. I just tried to make a good start, but that didn't happen for me. I knew it was low grip here for the start so I tried to make low revs, but they were too low. You have to take some chances in the race . I came back on the pace again and was by Juncadella on the second lap, Buller I think on the fifth lap and Nasr on lap six. I was fast enough to do that

and very happy I managed to get back and win. Tomorrow we will see what the weather is like. I hope for dry but now I have seen I am fast enough to win even if I have to start from third tomorrow."

2nd - Round 7: Felipe Nasr (BR/Eurointernational): "This was not what I was expecting. I tried to do a good start and in the first laps I had enough speed to go out in front. But then I was having problems with the car. I don't know what happened. I shall have to see now and look at the data. Let's see for tomorrow if we can do some changes to the car as I am in pole again. I have to try to get a better car.

3rd - Round 7: Robin Frijns (NL/Josef Kaufmann Racing): "I didn't expect this at all. I started seventh and lost one position so was eighth at the first corner. For the first two laps the race was hard for me. Then I overtook David Mendesdorf. I saw Daniel Juncadella and Rupert Svensden-Cook fighting for position and when they hit each other I was lucky I was not hit as well, but I gained two positions at one corner. Then I saw my team-mate, Facu Regalia, fighting with William Buller. They were fighting down the straight so I went for the stipstream I knew they were going to brake late as Buller was on the inside, so I got on the inside and again got two positions in one corner. It was quite a lucky race for me and hopefully the second race will be the same.

.Results Race 1

1. Michael Christensen(DK/Mu cke Motorsport) 23:27.464 2. Felipe Nasr (BR/Eurointernational) 23:30.620 3. Robin Frijns (NL/Josef Kaufmann Racing) R 23:32.832 4 Facu Regalia (FR/DAMS) 23:33.737 5. Timmy Hansen (SE/Mu cke Motorsport) R 23:36.098 6. David Mengesdorf (DE/Eifelland Racing) 23:37.851 7. Daniel Juncadella (Es/Eifelland Racing) 23:38.016 8. Jazeman Jaafar (MY/Eifelland Racing) 23:39.135 9. Kazeem Manzur (GB/Josef Kaufmann Racing) 23:39.658 10. Jim Pla (FR/DAMS) 23:40.118 11. Javier Tarancon (ES/DAMS) 23:41.116 12. Jack Te Braak (NL/Mu cke Motorsport) R 23:42.797 13. Olivier Lombard (FR/Eurointernational) R 23:43.417 14. Come Ledogar (FR/DAMS) 23:44.426 15. Kevin Gilardoni (IT/Fisichella Motor Sport International SPA) 23:49.020 16. George Katsinis (GR/Eifelland Racing) R 23:49.256 17. Jack Harvey (GB/Fortec Motorsport) R 23:49.576 18. Rupert Svendsen-Cook (GB/Raikkonen Robertson Racing) 23:50.083 19. Antonio Martinez (ES/Fortec Motorsport ) R 23:50.719 20. Mikkel Mac (DK/Motaworld Racing Europe Ltd) R 23:51.672 21. Ramon Pineiro (ES/Fisichella Motor Sport International SPA) 23:56.974 22. Gregoire Demoustier (Fr/Raikkonen Robertson Racing) 23:57.672 23. William Buller (GB/Fortec Motorsport) 24:03.010*

Not classified Doru Sechelariu (RO/Fisichella Motor Sport International SPA)

Fastest Lap: Michael Christensen (DK/Mu cke Motorsport) 2:06.412 R - Rookie Driver * Including 25 second penalty for changing direction

Standings after Round 7

Drivers: 1. Michael Christensen 159, 2. Felipe Nasr 155, 3. Robin Frijns R 135, 4. Daniel Juncadella 122, 5. Jack Harvey R 83, 6. Kazeem Manzur 80, 7. Facu Regalia 69, 8. David Mendesdorf 58, 9. Jazeman Jafaar 55, 10. Rupert Svendsen-Cook 48, 11. Timmy Hansen 44, 12. Jim Pla 39, 13. William Buller 38, 14. Javier Tarancon 33, 15. Doru Sechelariu 22, 16. Oliver Lombard R 21, 17. Ramon Pineiro 17, 18. Come Ledogar, Ollie Millroy and Jack Te Braak R 13, 21. Mikkel Mac R 4, 22. Gregoire Demoustier 3, 23. George Katsinis R and Kevin Gilardoni 2.

Teams: 1. Josef Kaufmann Racing 134, 2. Eurointernational 130, 3. Mu cke Motorsport 93, 4. Eifelland Racing 56, 5. Fortec Motorsport 54, 6. Raikkonen Robertson Racing 24.5, 7. DAMS 20, 8. Fisichella Motorsport International SPA 14, 9. Motaworld Racing Europe Ltd 9

Date                    Country                Circuit                    Rounds
8-10 May                Spain                  Barcelona                  1&2
12-14 June              The Netherlands        Zandvoort                  3&4
19-21 June              Great Britain          Silverstone                5&6
10-12 July              Germany                Nurburgring                7&8
24-26 July              Hungary                Budapest                   9&10
21-23 August            Spain                  Valencia                   11&12
28-30 August            Belgium                Spa-Francorchamps          13&14
11-13 September         Italy                  Monza                      15&16

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