Marlon Stockinger capped a five race Formula BMW Pacific event at Sepang with a fine second place overall having won the Rookie Class in three of the races. Team Mate Aditya Patel had a character building weekend with other cars running into him in every race. The series now moves to Sentul in Indonesia.
The first two races were held on the Grand Prix circuit and Eurasia Motorsport’s drivers, Marlon Stockinger and Aditya Patel, qualified in eighth and ninth positions for race one. Both drivers were expecting to do better after good practice times but they failed to get the best out of new tyres. “This is normal for rookie drivers and I am sure they will have a better qualifying result in Sentul” said Eurasia Motorsport’s Mark Goddard.
A dramatic first lap in race one saw Aditya hit by a red car and he was forced to pit to repair the damage. He rejoined but was unable to complete enough laps to be classified. Meanwhile Marlon was also caught out in the first corner melee on the opening lap and dropped to the rear of the field. He got his head down and impressed with a controlled drive to finish in sixth place, overtaking half the field on his way to the flag.
The second race, also on the Grand Prix circuit, saw Aditya attract all the bad luck again when he tangled with a red car and spun to the tail of the field losing a whole lap whilst he regained the circuit. Marlon had too much wheel spin a the start and came by towards the back of the field at the end of the first lap but he got his head down and overtook several cars before finishing eighth at the flag, posting a competitive fastest lap in the process. “If I can make a good start I am sure I can finish on the podium” said an upbeat Marlon after the race.
The event then moved to the short circuit and once again, after posting second fastest time in a practice session, Marlon couldn’t quite get the best out of new tyres and would start seventh on the grid. “I tried too hard and lost time by over-driving” reported Stockinger. Aditya would start tenth, after showing well at the beginning of the session but he lost out in the final five minutes.
Aditya again suffered on the first lap of the race, contact forcing him to the rear of the field whilst Marlon was embroiled in a fantastic battle for fourth place. The top three had made a break as Melvin Moh held up the group behind with some defensive driving. Marlon slowly made his way to the front of the group after some brave passes and just held off Kazeem Manzur at the flag.
Sunday morning saw heavy rain and a wet race. Marlon made a terrible start to race four when he couldn’t find a gear until after the lights went out whilst Aditya was in the thick of a huge battle for sixth place. He would eventually finish seventh after a fraught race. Marlon meanwhile was picking off the field off one by one, his fastest race lap being quicker than race winner, Sean McDonagh. He eventually made it to fourth place but despite closing on the top three he ran of time to progress any further. Many observers felt it was the drive of the race.
The final race of the weekend was held in hot dry conditions and Stockinger made a good start from fourth on the grid to come by in third place after one lap. He quickly moved up to second taking McDonaugh on the outside of turn seven in a brave move. He then hounded eventual race winner, Ryuichi Nara, all the way to the flag finishing .604 seconds behind after a great drive. Aditya finished eighth after a less eventful race for him.
“Marlon has demonstrated he will be a factor in the championship race from now on” reported Mark Goddard, “and we are really looking forward to Sentul in July. Aditya had one of those weekends in which he seemed to attract all the bad luck around but he has already finished on the podium in the first event of this year and we hope the bad luck is now behind him and he will return to form in Sentul.”
Stockinger is currently second on the rookie championship, fifth overall whilst Aditya is eleventh overall.
