EU 2000: Oschersleben race two notes

The sun shines on Ammermecller

This was the first race of the day to be run in the dry. Starting from pole, Michael Ammermecller (Jenzer Motorsport) led from start to finish ahead of the two SG Formula drivers, Yann Clairay and Carlo Van Dam.

The race got underway without Teemu Nyman (Motopark Oschersleben), who went off the course on the warm-up lap. Ammermecller got off to an impeccable start ahead of Yann Clairay, Carlo Van Dam, Filipe Albuquerque and Kamui Kobayashi, so all the favourites were up there!

Yann Clairay seemed to be the only one capable of staying with the pace set by Michael Ammermecller. After two laps, the two leaders had opened up a gap over Carlo Van Dam. Kamui Kobayashi snatched 4th place away from Filipe Albuquerque on lap 3.

In the wake of the duo of Ammermecller / Clairay and the trio of Van Dam / Kobayashi / Albuquerque, the main field was being led by Alan Hellmeister (JD Motorsport) and Junior Strous (Mr. Glow Motorsport). In sixth, Hellmeister was being tracked closely by Dima Raikhlin (SL Formula Racing). As for Strous, he gradually dropped back through the field as he was passed by Daniel Serra (Cram Competition), Patrick Rocha (Prema Power Team) and Xavier Maasen (JD Motorsport).

The race then turned into a somewhat processional affair. The only notable incidents involved Juan Antonio del Pino (Epsilon Euskadi), who ran off into the gravel trap, as well as Dani Clos (Pons Racing) and Sergei Afanasiev (Lukoil Racing Team) who collided with each other.

In the closing stages, Yann Clairay looked like he might pull back up to Michael Ammermecller, but the Frenchman was unable to attack. But, overall, it was a good result for the SG Formula team, who put two drivers on the podium.

Michael Ammermecller: "I'd like to dedicate this win to my engineer Steven Cosgrove, who had to undergo heart surgery after suffering a heart attack last week. But despite this, the team has still put in some really great work and we're back to winning form after a bad day yesterday. In the race, Yann was never far behind and I couldn't afford to make any mistakes."

Yann Clairay: "It's a good result for me and the team with two drivers on the podium. My start wasn't very good but I managed to stay with Michael. I was never very far off the pace but I made a mistake on the final lap. Still, I don't think I'd have managed to get past Michael anyway."

Carlo Van Dam: "We knew we were quick here after winter testing. I got a good start but I wasn't able to stay with the pace set by Michael and Yann. Things were easier towards the end of the race, but the gap had already opened up."

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