Unlike the first event of the 2014 Formula Masters China Series at Zhuhai the second round was held in dry conditions at the ShanghaI F1 Circuit. Eurasia driver, Matt Solomon, completed the weekend with two third and one second place finishes whilst team mate Pu Jun Jin won the trophy for the best China Driver over the three races. Eurasia’s Yuan Bo leads the China Driver Championship after Shanghai whilst rookie Sean Hudspeth’s best result was a fine 8th place.
Qualifying was held in dry conditions and the first 15 minute session to determine the grid for race one saw a disappointed Matt Solomon qualify 4th. He had looked good for the front row from practice times and he was again unhappy to be third in qualifying two, albeit only three tenths off pole, which sets the race three grid. Pu Jun Jin was 6th in QTT 1 and a delighted 4th in QTT 2 as he continues to improve with every event. Bo Yuan was 7th in both sessions, he had been in the top six for practice so like Solomon he was a little unhappy with his qualifying performance. Rookie Sean Hudspeth performed well to qualify 8th for race one and 10th for race two.
Race one saw Solomon make a good start and dispatch Aston Hare from third place. They fought hard for three laps before the safety car was called. At the re-start Solomon was able to pull away from Hare and close the gap to the leaders, finishing a mere 1.4 seconds behind the winner and setting second fastest lap time giving him a front row start for race two. Pu Jun Jin finished where he started in 6th place whilst Bo Yuan spun early on but put in a great recovery to finish 11th at the flag. Hudspeth lost places at the start but drove well to finish 8th at the flag.
The sprint race two saw Solomon pushed out by Wells at turn two and drop to third and that became fourth when Yin found a way past at the hairpin. Clearly quicker it took a couple laps for Solomon to find a way past Yin and he then closed in on the leading pair finishing 4.7 seconds down at the flag. Pu Jun Jin was 10th, Hudspeth 11th and Yuan Bo 12th after eventful races for all three.
Race three on Sunday saw Solomon make a good start and dispatch Wells early on. He then hunted down the leader, James Munro, and with two laps to go he was in a position to pounce if Munro made a mistake. He clearly had a better can under him and the last lap was building up to be an exciting end to the race. However the red flag was shown after Mdakane rolled at the hairpin and had to be rescued from his overturned car, fortunately without injury. Solomon has now put down a marker and he is determined to score his first race win at the next event in July.
Pu Jun Jin was happy to finish 5th, Hudspeth 11th and Bo Yuan 12th after another eventful race.
