IFM: Series Pau race two report

KOUZKIN TAKES FIRST IFM VICTORY IN PAU

Cram Competition's Alessandro Kouzkin scored his first International Formula Master (IFM) victory today in the Series' second round on the French street circuit of Pau.

Starting fifth, the 16-year-old rookie climbed through the field before overtaking AR Motorsport's Dennis Retera for the lead in a daring late-braking move on lap nine.

Starting from the front row, Retera had to fend off Trident Racing's Frankie Provenzano and Cram Competition's Harald Schlegelmilch before losing his place to Kouzkin. Both Provenzano and Schlegelmilch failed to complete the race, whilst Retera claimed second place.

Jenzer Motorsport's Pål Varhaug scored his second podium-finish of the weekend with a third place thanks to a clean race, as well as Provenzano and Schlegelmilch's retirements.

Hitech Junior's Alexander Rossi claimed his first IFM points with a fourth place finish, ahead of ADM Motorsport team-mates Earl Bamber and Marcello Puglisi who took the last point-scoring positions in fifth and sixth.

Despite crossing the finish line in seventh place, yesterday's race winner Fabio Leimer still claimed a point; the Jenzer Motorsport driver recorded the day's fastest lap in 1:11.703, setting a new IFM race lap record for the French circuit.

IFM's 2009 season resumes in two weeks' time at the Circuit y la Comunitat Valenciana Ricardo Tormo in Spain for rounds three and four. Both races will be broadcasted live on the pan-European channel Eurosport.

Alessandro Kouzkin, Cram Competition

"I had a good start and then I passed Dennis; that was important. It was a difficult race but a special race for me because it's my first win and I'm very happy about this! I hope to do a fantastic race again in Valencia."

Dennis Retera, AR Motorsport

"It was a tough race for me; I had a good start from P1 but I did have to fight to keep the lead! Alessandro [Kouzkin] made a nice overtaking move; I thought I had the line but he got through anyway and I had to let him go. I still got second place, which I'm happy with. It's good to have a podium and it's good for the team. This was my first weekend in the Series, without any pre-season testing so we'll be celebrating!"

Pål Varhaug, Jenzer Motorsport

"I had very good start and the rest of the race was fun. I was careful not to crash into Schlegelmilch when I saw that he had a broken front wing and just waited until he had to pit. So for me it was a really nice race; I enjoyed it more today than yesterday actually as it was much tighter race. I'm really happy and thank the team for their hard work."

-credit: ifm