Matthew Solomon finished a fine third in round twelve of Formula Masters China Series race held at the new Inje Circuit in Korea whilst Tanart Sathienthirakul ended the weekend with second place in the final race of the event. Pu Jun Jin was again top driver in the China Driver Class increasing his Class Championship lead.
Round twelve, the third race of the weekend, saw Tanart make a tardy start and was immediately jumped by his team mate, Matthew Solomon. The safety car was out on lap two whilst a couple of stranded cars were retrieved and at the re-start Solomon cemented his third place by driving away from the group behind, headed by Tanart. Solomon kept the leading cars in site all way to the flag whilst Tanart dropped to sixth after his battery failed causing the engine to stall several times. Pu Jun Jin lost places at the start but then fought his way back up the field to finish seventh overall and first in the China Driver Class. This gave him the China Driver of the event award and saw him increase the class championship lead.
The final race of the weekend was the re-run of the cancelled race in Ordos and saw the first start aborted when Afiq stalled at the end of the formation lap. He was allowed to take the new start from his grid slot which caused some consternation as the rules dictate he should have started from the tail of the field. Tanart made a good start and slotted into fourth spot with Solomon in fifth. Eventual race winner Wright was passed by Tanart at turn 16 only for the former to repay the compliment by re-taking the spot at turn one. Wright found a way Past Afiq who then held Tanart behind until the 9th lap when the Eurasia driver forced his way by to take second place. Pu Jun Jin dropped to the back of the field on the first lap after being hit by a rival but he was able to work his work his way back to 9th in the 15 car field.
Solomon was happy to achieve his first podium finish, the young Hong Kong driver clearly the most competitive rookie driver this year. Tanart was pleased with two second place finishes although a race win is surely not far away. Pu Jun Jin has taken a clear lead in the China Driver Class and has impressed with his continued improvement.
The next event will take place at the Sepang F1 Circuit in Malaysia on September 15th
