Magic Chris van der Drift flies and wins at Spa-Francorchamps!

Spa-Francorchamps, 15th May 2005 – Chris van der Drift, winner of the 2004 rookie title in the Formula BMW ADAC Championship, can celebrate a spectacular result today, thanks to a magic win on the Spa-Francorchamps track, his first ever win in this series. Yesterday Van der Drift also finished on the podium (3rd) in wet conditions. With this brilliant result the Dutch New-Zealander still has an opportunity to win this years championship. In the championship standings he is currently in third position with 58 points.

QUALIFYING
Running in the midfield the 19-year old driver tried to set fast lap times on rain tyres on Friday afternoon qualification sessions. The track dried faster than was expected and Van der Drift had to change his rain tyres for slicks. The Team Rosberg driver had to settle with ninth place in the end. In the final session Chris van der Drift climbs into the top six and starts Sunday’s second race in sixth place.

CHRIS VAN DER DRIFT: “We changed the rain tyres for slicks at the end of the first qualifying lap. The circuit dried amazingly fast so I could improve my lap times over and over again. Despite missing out on the top three places, I see lots of opportunities to fight my way to the front since overtaking at this track is possible at many locations.”

RACE 01 + 02
In the first race on Saturday afternoon, rain brought luck to Chris van der Drift. Despite the torrential rain and aquaplaning, he crossed the finish line in third place after he started in ninth position. Vandy inherited third place after second-placed driver Nicolas Hülkenberg spun of the track in the final lap of the race. In the second race Chris again had a super start and went from sixth to third place again. Van der Drift held this position until he overtook team-mate Jonathan Summerton on the fourth lap. Finally the youngster from Team Rosberg had a great battle with poleman Nico Hülkenberg. Van der Drift o vertook the German driver at Eau Rouge. From that m oment Chris van der Drift cemented his leading position increasing over the last two laps. Finally Chris ended this exciting race with a first place!

CHRIS VAN DER DRIFT: " This is for sure the happiest day of my life! I am really delighted to win my first Formula BMW race ever! Today I had a great start and overtook three cars in the opening lap. In the fourth lap I had a big battle with Nico Hülkenberg and Jonathan Summerton. I pushed really hard to overtake Hülkenberg and he eventually pushed me on the grass at 200 km/hours! Finally I passed him at Eau Rouge and I didn’t look in the mirrors for the rest of the 8 laps. It is really fantastic to win here on this beautiful circuit, because the gap between me and the number two in the championship (Buemi) is closer now. Tonight me and my team will celebrate my win with a bottle of champagne!”

RESULT RACE 01 SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS
01. Sebastien Buemi, ADAC Berlin-Brandenburg, 21:23.999
02. Marco Holzer, AM-Holzer Rennsport GmbH, + 06.403s
03. CHRIS VAN DER DRIFT, TEAM ROSBERG, + 10.843s
04. Nicolas Hülkenberg, Josef Kaufmann Racing, + 13.433s

RESULT RACE 02 SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS
01. CHRIS VAN DER DRIFT, TEAM ROSBERG, 20:23.036
02. Nicolas Hülkenberg, Josef Kaufmann Racing, + 00.813s
03. Jonathan Summerton, Team Rosberg, + 01.631s
04. Martin Ragginger, ADAC Berlin-Brandenburg, + 06.790s

CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS AFTER ROUND 06
01. Nicolas Hülkenberg, Josef Kaufmann Racing, 100 points
02. Sebastien Buemi, ADAC Berlin-Brandenburg, 75 points
03. CHRIS VAN DER DRIFT, TEAM ROSBERG, 58 POINTS