The Minardi Team Asia Drivers will be arriving in a positive frame of mind at the Bira Circuit near Pattaya in Thailand for the next round of the Formula BMW Asia Series on June 12th.
Both Dejan de Zoysa and Jonathan Chan had their best race to date in round four held at the Sepang Circuit whilst Aaron Lim now knows he has the speed after his performance at Sepang.
Chan had the misfortune to write off the chassis in qualifying at Sepang. A metal cover for the Armco Post holes at the point the short circuit crosses the GP circuit pit lane entry was sucked up by a car and ripped the bottom out of two following cars, one of which was Chan’s. The chassis is now literally junk and to make matters worse Chan is having to foot the bill to replace it. He was able to race in Sepang through the generosity of Tyson Sy, who allowed Chan use of his chassis for the event.
Jonathan really got his head down from the back of the grid of Round Four and his fastest race lap was only a few tenths shy of the leaders. “I hope in Bira I have no more bad luck and that I can really get on the pace. The last race has given me some confidence and I am sure I can really get up to speed” reported the new slimmer Chan who has lost 6kgs through exercise and dieting in a bid to improve his chances of winning.
Dejan also set an extremely good lap time in Round four to set him up for a good event at Bira. “I don’t know the circuit at all but I hope with the help of the Team I can quickly learn it’s secrets.” Minardi’s Mark Goddard actually holds the outright lap record for Bira, setting it in 2003 during a round of the Asian Formula Three Series. “Bira requires a different driving style to somewhere like Sepang or Bahrain and I am sure we can help our drivers learn the fast way round there” reported Goddard. Dejan is one of the least experienced drivers on the grid and he has demonstrating great potential with his ever improving performances.
Aaron Lim actually had his first car race in Sepang but in reality he possesses far more racing experience than Dejan and Jonathan having spent three years karting in Europe. He lacks nothing in speed but Sepang demonstrated his race craft needs some work. “Its different to karts where there is basically one line. I kept taking the racing line into turn one at Sepang and they got up the inside of me on the first few laps!” said Aaron. “I won’t be doing that again in Bira” he added.
“I am sure Aaron will be on the pace in Bira and we will be giving him some lessons on how to stay in front” added Goddard.
