FBMW Pacific - Convincing win for McDonagh

Bogor, Indonesia - Sean McDonagh (18/USA/Team E-Rain) recorded his second Formula BMW Pacific win today, taking victory in the 15-lap Round 8 at Indonesia's Sentul International Circuit. In a perfect lights-to-flag run, McDonagh converted his pole position into an emphatic win to put him within six points of championship leader Ross Jamison (18/HKG/Meritus).
Jamison, who started alongside McDonagh on the grid, finished 2nd, ahead of Formula BMW Junior Chris Wootton (19/AUS/Meritus), who took his maiden Rookie Cup victory.
McDonagh has vowed to be top of the leaderboard by the time he leaves Indonesia on Monday, but Jamison so far holds his position as championship leader.

Meanwhile, the heroic efforts of Rookie Cup points leader and Formula BMW Junior Simon Moss (16/RSA/Mahara) means he stays at the top of that points table. Moss charged through the field to finish 7th, having started from the back of the grid after failing to qualify due to car damage. Fellow scholarship driver Marlon Stockinger trails Moss by 14 points after a disappointing outing, with Wootton, who missed the opening two rounds of the season, 3rd.
Said McDonagh: "After Turn 4, I felt really comfortable and just tried not to make any mistakes. It was a good race!"

Jamison was far from relaxed, however: "Melvin (Moh) got by me, and I knew I had to get straight back otherwise I could have had a problem later on. Melvin went wide at the last corner, and I went on the inside at turn one."

"The track was very slippery compared to this morning's qualifying session. The tow was different, so I'm very happy with the result," said Wootton after recording his first Rookie Cup win.

Off the start, McDonagh got away well set about creating a gap to the rest of the field, eventually opening up an impressive margin of more than three seconds by the flag. Behind him, Team Holzer PFX racer Melvin Moh (19/MAS) made a good move to get past Jamison on lap 3. However, Moh's gain was short-lived with Jamison grabbing back second just one lap later.
Behind them, Wootton, Colombian youngster Gabby Chaves (Atlantic Racing Team) and McDonagh's team mate Ryuichi Nara (19/JPN) were battling it out.

Moh was not giving up on his fight with Jamison, keeping him well within his sights until the closing laps of the race when he made a mistake which allowed Wotton grab the final podium place.

Round 8 Results. Pos. No. Driver/Nat. Entrant Time 1 22 Sean MCDONAGH (KOR) Team E-Rain 23:33.535 2 88 Ross JAMISON (HKG) Meritus +3.101 3 68 Chris WOOTTON*- (AUS) Meritus +5.593 4 8 Melvin MOH (MAS) Team Holzer PFX +5.983 5 53 Gabriel CHAVES (COL) Atlantic Racing Team +7.414 6 34 Ryuichi NARA (JPN) Team E-Rain +8.699 7 38 Simon MOSS*- (RSA) Mahara +13.455 8 3 Aditya PATEL- (IND) Eurasia Motorsport +15.395 9 7 Imran SHAHAROM (MAS) Team Holzer PFX +21.752 10 78 Arvin ROSLAN- (MAS) Meritus +25.670 11 2 Marlon SToCKINGER*- (PHI) Eurasia Motorsport +26.285 12 9 Dominic ANG- (MAS) Team Holzer PFX +29.935 13 58 Huzair HARUN RASIP (MAL) Mahara +1:07.05

*Scholarship driver-Rookie Cup#Non-Series Registered

Championship Points Tables after Round 8

Drivers

Ross Jamison (HKG/Meritus) 107 points; 2. Sean McDonagh (KOR/Team E-Rain) 101 points; 3. Ryuichi Nara (JPN/Team E-Rain) 71 points; 4. Simon Moss (RSA/Mahara) 65 points; 5. Marlon Stockinger (PHI/Eurasia Motorsport) 51 points; 6. Gabriel Chaves (COL/Atlantic Racing Team) 47 points; 7. Melvin Moh (MAS/Team Holzer PFX) 38 points; 8. Chris Wootton (AUS/Meritus) 38 points; 9. Dominic Ang (MAS/Team Holzer PFX) 32 points; 10. Arvin Roslan (MAS/Meritus) 30 points; 11. Aditya Patel (IND/Eurasia Motorsport) 26 points; 12. Imran Shaharom (MAS/Team Holzer PFX) 25 points; 13. Tasmin Pepper (RSA/Meritus) 22 points; 14. Huzair Harun Rasip (MAS/Mahara) 2 points; 15. Omer Younas (PAK/Team E-Rain) 1 point.

Rookie Cup

1.Moss; 2. Stockinger; 3. Wootton; 4. Ang; 5. Roslan; 6. Patel; 7. Younas.

Teams

1.Meritus, 197 points; 2. Team E-Rain, 168 points; 3. Team Holzer PFX, 94 points; 4. Eurasia Motorsport, 77 points; 5. Mahara, 65 points; 6. Atlantic

Racing Team, 47 points

Statistics:Winners 2008: Jamison (2); Moss (2); Nara (2); McDonagh (2)Pole Positions: Moss (2); McDonagh (5); Nara (1); Moh (1)

Podiums: Jamison (6); Moss (3); Patel (1); McDonagh (5); Moh (1); Chaves (1); Nara (3); Manzur (1); Stockinger (1); Wootton (2)

Rookie Cup Winners: Moss (3); Stockinger (3); Roslan (1); Wootton (1)

Prepared by Formula BMW Pacific