Photo: Drew Gibson

Belgian driver Alessio Picariello won twice from pole on Sunday to complete an inch-perfect weekend at Shanghai as the 2015 Formula Masters China Series season drew to a close.

The Absolute Racing driver thus took his fifth straight win?in the series and clinched fourth place in the championship despite having missed the first half?of the season.

The 2013 ADAC Formel Masters champ was peerless in race one, winning by a comfortable margin of nearly four seconds ahead of teammate Oliver Askew, who took his second podium finish in as many races.

The first race of the day went off to an inauspicious start as the asphalt on the starting grid had noticeably degraded from the previous day. With a standing start not being possible under the circumstances, the race got underway behind the safety car, which stayed out for a lap.

KCMG driver Nick Rowe began pressurising teammate and series champion Martin Rump, with the Australian passing the Estonian for third on lap four.

He began closing in on Askew soon after, but lost pace late in the race and was forced to defend from Rump to hold onto third.

Aussie Aidan Read came home fifth for Eurasia, ahead of KCMG’s Chinese duo Sean Zheng and Yuan Bo. The latter?was involved in a battle with teammate Jeffrey Ye, which saw Ye spin and fall to 12th.

Meritus duo Daniel Woodroof and Jake Parsons were also involved in a race-long battle, which saw the Malaysian edge out the Australian at the flag. Arrows racer Matthew Swanepoel completed the top ten.

Picariello had?to work harder?in the second race, having to survive two safety car periods to edge out?Rump for the win. The second of those was due to a spin for Rowe.

Parsons held on to third ahead of Read, a result which confirmed the Meritus driver as series runner-up. Behind them, Askew pipped Woodroof to fifth in a photo-finish.

Yuan Bo ended up seventh ahead of Kim Jeong Tae, while Zheng passed Tomoki Takahashi on the last lap to finish ninth.

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Photo: Formula Masters China

Belgian driver Alessio Picariello put in a commanding drive from pole in the first race of the season’s final round?at Shanghai to take his third consecutive victory.

The Absolute Racing driver got off to a fine start from pole and despite, a safety car period, managed to win by over six seconds from recently-crowned champion Martin Rump.

Picariello’s American teammate Oliver Askew had started alongside him on the front row, but lost second to Rump on the second lap.

Behind them, Jake Parsons and Matthew Swanepoel came together, the Australian falling down the order as a result, while the South African was forced to retire, bringing out the safety car.

On the restart, Askew was passed by Rump’s teammate Nick Rowe, but the Absolute Racing driver managed to get back in third place on lap seven and held on to claim his maiden podium in the series.

Aidan Read finished in the lead of a four-car train fifth, ahead of Chinese KCMG duo Yuan Bo and Jeffrey Ye, with Daniel Woodroof in eighth at the tail of the gaggle of cars.

Parsons recovered to ninth after his early collision with Swanepoel, making it the first time in the 2015 season that he was classified outside the top four, with Sean Zheng completing the top ten.

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Photo: Formula Masters China Series

Estonian driver Martin Rump extended his lead in the Formula Masters China Series championship with his seventh victory in as many races, in the penultimate round of the season at Zhuhai.

It was far from easy going for the KCMG driver though, who had Alessio Picariello for company for much of the race.

The Belgian was on Rump’s tail in the early laps, but was forced onto the grass on lap four and despite spending the remainder of the race with a damaged front wing, managed to finish just two seconds behind Rump.

Rump’s closest championship rival Jake Parsons was a lone third for Meritus, ahead of fellow Australian Aidan Read in fourth, the latter returning to form after a poor weekend at Kuala Lumpur.

Read’s teammate Sean Hudspeth ran fifth early on, but had to contend with pressure from Meritus’s Daniel Woodroof. The Malaysian got past on lap four, and two laps later, Rump’s teammate Nick Rowe, who started the race in 12th, overtook the Singaporean for fifth.

Behind them, newcomer Oliver Askew was running ninth early on after passing Sean Zheng, but went wide in the closing stages of the race and allowed Zheng and Jeffrey Ye through, the two Chinese drivers finishing not far behind the struggling Hudspeth, who lost seventh to teammate Yuan Bo four laps from the end.

63 points now separate Rump and Parsons, and with only a maximum of 89 on offer, the Estonian could theoretically clinch the title on Sunday.

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Photo: Drew Gibson/FMCS

Estonian driver Martin Rump extended his championship lead with two commanding Sunday wins on the Kuala Lumpur street track in the fourth round of the 2015 Formula Masters China Series season.

The KCMG driver enjoyed comfortable lights-to-flag victories in both races, and with it, extended his race-winning streak to six. The battle for second in both races was nowhere near such a formality as that, though.

Race two saw Rump’s closest title-challenger Jake Parsons of Meritus GP beat series newcomer and 2013 ADAC Formel Masters champion Alessio Picariello in an enthralling battle. Having got the jump on Picariello off the line, Parsons proceeded to hold off the Belgian for the entire race, finishing just 0.02 seconds ahead.

Shota Kiyohara replicated his race one performance with another fourth-place finish, while Daniel Woodroof passed Nick Rowe to take fifth. Formula Renault Eurocup frontrunner Dennis Olsen grabbed seventh.

Sean Zheng, Sean Hudspeth and Matthew Swanepoel completed the top ten in race two.

Rump was peerless again in race three, but there was action behind him with Picariello being forced to retire early with a broken rear suspension. Olsen slipped into second at the start, but was forced to contend with Kiyohara, Parsons and Rowe for most of the race.

The Super License driver dropped to fifth at the flag, having had to serve a drive through penalty for a jump start. Olsen, Parsons and Rowe finished line astern in second, third and fourth.

Yuan Bo took his first points with KCMG with a solid drive to sixth, ahead of Swanepoel in seventh.

Hudspeth kept the charging Woodroof at bay, the Malaysian having started dead last after a crash in qualifying yesterday. Aidan Read completed a low-key weekend with a tenth-place finish.

Race two results

Race three results

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Photo: FMCS/Drew Gibson

Martin Rump claimed his seventh win of the Formula Masters China Series season after beating racing returnee Alessio Picariello in the first race on the streets of Kuala Lumpur.

Rump had pipped his title rival Jake Parsons by just one hundredth of a second in qualifying to take pole, which he then converted into an early race lead.

The 2013 ADAC Formel Masters champion Picariello was making his first racing appearance of the season, driving for the Absolute Racing team that debuted at the last round at Penbay.

From fourth on the grid, the Belgian passed Nick Rowe?for third and set off after Parsons, who later spun into the wall, triggering a safety car.

Picariello avoided Parsons to take second to Rump, with Rowe completing the podium.

Japanese driver Shota Kiyohara was fourth ahead of Malaysian Daniel Woodroof and China’s Sean Zheng.

Sean Hudspeth held off Jeffrey Ye to take seventh, with Kim Jeong Tae and Takashi Hata completing the top 10 finishers.

Formula Renault 2.0 frontrunner Dennis Olsen was also making his debut alongside Picariello at Absolute, but his race from seventh on the grid was ended by a broken pushrod.

From their fastest race laps, Rump and Picariello will share the front row for race two on Sunday, while Olsen qualified alongside the Estonian for race three.

Race results

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Photo: Formula Masters China Series

Estonian driver Martin Rump did his championship hopes a world of good by completing a sweep of three race wins at the Penbay International Circuit in Chinese Taipei, in the third round of the Formula Masters China Series season.

The KCMG driver started race two from pole after taking the fastest lap in race one, and after shaking off the challenge of championship rival Jake Parsons at the start, was able to pull away and record an easy victory, winning by 5.5 seconds.

Rump’s teammate Nick Rowe took his second successive third-place finish, ahead of South African driver Matthew Swanepoel. Series newcomer and MSA Formula regular Sennan Fielding was an impressive fifth at the line, with Zheng Shangguan and Jeffrey Ye making it four KCMG cars in the top seven.

Shota Kiyohara, Sun Zheng and Daniel Woodroof completed the top ten in race one.

A wet race three was no different for championship leader Rump, who was far ahead of the pack before a late safety car period. Rowe took a strong second place, with Fielding recording his first podium in the series in third.

Parsons struggled with understeer and was forced to contend with fourth, ahead of Aidan Read and Kiyohara. Woodroof, Swanepoel, Ye and Shangguan completed the top ten.

Race two results

Race three results

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Photo: Formula Masters China Series

Championship leader Martin Rump held off closest rival Jake Parsons to win the first race of the third Formula Masters China round at Penbay from pole.

The race started on a damp but fast-drying track, and the safety car was called out immediately after two cars stalled at the start, one of them being MSA Formula regular Sennan Fielding, making his debut in the series this weekend.

Rump had a good restart, but Parsons continued to shadow him throughout the race. The KCMG driver managed to hold on, however, winning by under a second to extend his championship lead.

The duo were in a league of their own for the entire race, finishing nearly 25 seconds clear of third-placed Nick Rowe, who took his second podium of the season. In the closing stages, Rowe was forced to contend with a train of cars, led by Aidan Read, who eventually took fourth.

Just behind him was Chinese driver Jeffrey Ye, who made it three KCMG cars in the top five. Fast-charging Matthew Swanepoel was at the tail of the four-car train, finishing sixth after starting from the pits.

Parsons’s teammate Daniel Woodroof took seventh ahead of series newcomer Sun Zheng. Takashi Hata and Kim Jeong Tae.

Race results

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Photo: Gruppe C GmbH/ADAC

For the second week in a row, crash-strewn junior races are the big talking point of the week, this time in ADAC F4. Valentin Khorounzhiy gives his thoughts on the situation.

?This should not and will not happen again,? Lechner Racing protege Florian Janits said after hitting Job van Uitert at turn one in ADAC F4’s final Spielberg race. It wasn’t the very capable Austrian’s finest move, but his incident was far from the most egregious this weekend.

Indeed, it’s not been a great couple of weeks for FIA’s junior ladder as the well-publicised disaster of a European F3 round at Monza has now been followed up with an ADAC F4 outing that was less of a trainwreck, but just enough to generate some pretty woeful headlines for the series.

While Saturday’s only race produced two relatively tame incidents, all hell broke loose on Sunday. First, Thomas Preining hit Mick Schumacher on the main straight, resulting in a broken hand for the series’ most popular driver. But that was followed up by an even worse crash in the opening lap of the final race ? Mattia Drudi rejoined the track at high speed, spun himself over Ralf Aron and triggered a very nasty pileup.

Several cars were out for the day, but rising Ferrari star Guan Yu Zhou had the worst of it, losing almost half his car in a high-speed roll. It was honestly a surprise to even see the race restarted ? and, conversely, quite unsurprising to see it canned early after two more crashes.

Crashes happen in racing, of course. But that’s now two weeks in a row that a junior championship has been called short of the checkered flag amidst carnage. It definitely makes sense to wonder what exactly is at play here.

Let’s get the really obvious one out of the way from the get go ? the thing European F3 and ADAC F4 have in common is that they’re ludicrously popular, with grid sizes unrivaled by other professional international single-seater championships.

ADAC F4 is so in demand it actually has non-qualifiers, which does seem rather harsh on young racers who got their sponsorship together to be there. But even with DNQs, the grid size at Spielberg was at 37 cars.

Even disregarding skill and experience levels and other variables like that, simple maths will tell you this bumps the probability of incidents up quite a notch compared to your usual 20-car grid. More incidents mean more safety cars, more safety cars mean the field getting bunched up all over again – ‘cautions breeding cautions’, if you like. Some will tell you that means less safety cars need to be called out, but I won’t be one of them.

Photo: Gruppe C GmbH/ADAC

In addition, just as European F3, ADAC F4 boasts a very, very strong this year, possibly as strong as it gets in entry-level championships. At Spielberg, that meant that 26 cars qualified within a second of the top times in their respective groups. That’s not exactly a field that’s going to spread out as the race goes on.

And that might be part of the problem in a different sense. Some overtaking attempts at Spielberg seemed downright desperate, as did some defensive moves and that’s hardly surprising. For many of these drivers, this season is make-or-break and they’ve been thrust into a grid that has about 20 names just as quick as them. Most of them won’t get many chances to score a top result ? and Spielberg, due to its overtake-heavy nature, represents one of the better opportunities to fight through to a finish that can secure your future.

The biggest hit of the weekend took place right after Drudi rejoined from the runoff at the first corner and spun himself over Aron. Monza’s Parabolica runoff was heftily blamed for a good chunk of last weekend’s carnage, albeit, as someone who saw Sun Zheng dip into the gravel that used to be there and get collected by a flat-out Matevos Isaakyan last year in FR2.0 Alps, I implore people not to oversimplify the issue.

The current situation at Turn 1, however, clearly needs some work because the runoff means that the available track narrows dramatically in a very short distance, almost asking for an incident like this.

Drudi, of course, should’ve eased off the throttle. But it’s not hard to see why he didn’t ? it’s a split-second decision between either doing something other drivers have gotten away with all weekend and keeping a good spot, or losing momentum and dropping well out of the top ten. He’s a title contender so, for him, the difference between finishing, say, 11^th, 35^th or retiring altogether is virtually non-existent ? all are non-scores.

It is also worth noting this particular misjudgment was made by one of the series’ finest ? a driver who last year did the first-ever hat-trick of wins in an FIA F4 series. Not that the rest of those who caused trouble don’t deserve to be here ? Preining’s a Rotax karting star, Janits is a race winner in Renault 1.6, Robert Shwartzman, whose failed overtake on David Beckmann eventually led to the red flag, is one of Russia’s biggest prospects. Even Schumacher himself caused a crash on Saturday and there won’t be many who argue he doesn’t belong on the grid.

It’s arguable, of course, but for my money, the issue is not the drivers, nor is it a lack of some nebulous notion of ‘respect’ or, even worse, ‘fear’. It’s just a direct result of putting a number of inexperienced racers in the competition of their lives.

Photo: Gruppe C GmbH/ADAC

So, how can this whole situation be solved? Well, there’s not much the FIA can do this year, sporting regulations being set in stone and all, except maybe be stricter in enforcing penalties for undesirable on-track behaviour ? a fine goal, though probably not the instant solution to every problem some might think it is.

Personally, should ADAC F4 aim for a similar grid size next year, I would heartily welcome a huge rethink of the points system for 2016. When there’s more than two dozen drivers within one second of the leader, only handing points to nine of them is not only unfair, but also conducive for unreasonable risk-taking in the lower reaches of the pack.

But, at the end of the day, filling the grid with 40 people straight out of karting is just not very safe or particularly educational ? it is unlikely they will have to face such numbers anywhere else further along in their single-seater careers.

The entry list should be capped, as bad for business as that sounds. And if demand remains this high, there should be an alternative supply. The most recent competitor to what was then ADAC Formel Masters in this region was Formula Renault 1.6 NEC, which would’ve certainly helped the new F4 series manage grid numbers if it didn’t go under. But it did and something is needed to fill that void instead.

The solutions, however, all mostly seem long-term. With entries paid and budgets settled, it’s not easy to imagine what the FIA and ADAC could do right now to prevent a repeat of this further down the calendar. But one thing’s for sure – crossing fingers and closing eyes is not an option. Especially not when the next track ADAC F4 will be visiting is Spa-Francorchamps.

Results Roundup

Formula Renault 2.0 Alps ? Round 4/7 ? Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium

Jake Hughes?and Matevos Isaakyan?win the two respective races to close in on championship leader Jack Aitken and, with eight races to go, the title will almost certainly be decided among the trio. Isaakyan’s teammate Thiago Vivacqua helps him out by taking points out of the Koiranen duo with two podiums.

Race 1: 1 Hughes; 2 M. Isaakyan; 3 Vivacqua; 4 Aitken; 5 Riener; 6 Pronenko
Race 2: 1 M. Isaakyan; 2 Vivacqua; 3 Hughes; 4 Aitken; 5 Romanov; 6 Hamprecht
Standings: Aitken, 149; Hughes, 142; M. Isaakyan, 129; Riener, 109; Vivacqua, 101
Next round: Monza (4-5 July)

Photo: Fast Lane Promotion

Formula Renault 2.0 NEC ? Round 3/7 ? Spielberg, Austria

Josef Kaufmann Racing duo Kevin Jorg and Louis Deletraz run the show, locking out the top two in each of the three races by a considerable margin. Jorg wins the first two, but Deletraz gets the last laugh and now enjoys a sizeable lead in the points. Behind them, Jehan Daruvala, Alex Gill and Nikita Mazepin all take their first podium finishes.

Race 1: 1 Jorg; 2 Deletraz; 3 Daruvala; 4 O’Keeffe; 5 Gill; 6 Habsburg
Race 2: 1 Jorg; 2 Deletraz; 3 Gill; 4 Daruvala; 5 Eastwood; 6 O’Keeffe
Race 3: 1 Deletraz; 2 Jorg; 3 Mazepin; 4 O’Keeffe; 5 Habsburg; 6 Sasahara
Standings: Deletraz, 175; Jorg, 129; Sasahara, 124; O’Keeffe, 101; Gill, 90; Daruvala, 78
Next round: Spa-Francorchamps (25-26 July)

Euroformula Open ? Round 4/8 ? Silverstone, United Kingdom

Yu Kanamaru?enters title picture as the round’s top scorer, winning the first race and finishing runner-up to points leader Konstantin Tereshchenko in the second. Two podiums for Vitor Baptista keep him in the hunt, while Alessio Rovera returns to form with a third place on Saturday.

Race 1: 1 Kanamaru; 2 Baptista; 3 Rovera; 4 Stern; 5 Menchaca; 6 Fioravanti
Race 2: 1 Tereshchenko; 2 Kanamaru; 3 Baptista; 4 Pulcini; 5 Rovera; 6 Sathienthirakul
Standings: Tereshchenko, 155; Baptista, 147; Kanamaru, 119; Rovera, 92; Sathienthirakul, 70; Stern, 57
Next round: Spielberg (4-5 July)

ADAC F4 ? Round 2/8 ? Spielberg, Austria

Joel Eriksson wins twice to take the points lead, even if a race three pileup stops him from adding to the tally. The shortened finale is won by Joseph Mawson. Oschersleben stars Marvin Dienst and Ralf Aron have tough weekends, but both make podium appearances.

Race 1: 1 Eriksson; 2 Aron; 3 Zhou; 4 Waldherr; 5 Zimmermann; 6 Shwartzman
Race 2: 1 Eriksson; 2 Zimmermann; 3 Dienst, 4 Drudi; 5 Waldherr; 6 Esmeijer
Race 3: 1 Mawson; 2 Esmeijer; 3 Beckmann; 4 Waldherr; 5 Cecotto; 6 Schramm
Standings: Eriksson, 74; Dienst, 73; Mawson, 64; Aron, 63; Waldherr, 48; Drudi, 47
Next round: Spa-Francorchamps (20-21 June)

MSA Formula ? Round 4/10 ? Oulton Park, United Kingdom

Ricky Collard and Lando Norris share wins to edge clear of former leader Dan Ticktum, while the reverse-grid race is claimed by first-time winner Sennan Fielding. Matheus Leist posts three top-five finishes, while a maiden podium is secured by Colton Herta.

Race 1: 1 Collard; 2 Norris; 3 Herta; 4 Martins; 5 Leist; 6 Barlow
Race 2: 1 Fielding; 2 Leist; 3 Ticktum; 4 Baybutt; 5 Barlow; 6 Herta
Race 3: 1 Norris; 2 Collard; 3 Fielding; 4 Leist; 5 Ticktum; 6 Florescu
Standings: Collard, 175; Norris, 168; Ticktum, 149; Leist, 134; Mitchell, 89; Fielding, 87
Next round: Croft (27-28 June)

SMP F4 ? Round 2/7 ? Moscow Raceway, Russia

Finns Aleksanteri Huovinen and Niko Kari star, making the podium in all three races and grabbing a win each. Aleksey Korneev bounces back after stalling from pole in race one to win race three, while Vladimir Atoev and Nikita Sitnikov also claim home-soil podiums.

Race 1: 1 Huovinen; 2 Kari; 3 Atoev; 4 Sitnikov; 5 N. Isaakyan; 6 Maslennikov
Race 2: 1 Kari; 2 Huovinen; 3 Sitnikov; 4 N. Isaakyan; 5 Atoev; 6 Troitskiy
Race 3: 1 Korneev; 2 Kari; 3 Huovinen; 4 Nylund; 5 Troitskiy; 6 N. Isaakyan
Standings: Huovinen, 117; Kari, 99; Atoev, 75; Troitskiy, 53; N. Isaakyan, 52; Sitnikov, 47
Next round: Sochi (19-20 July)

Photo: SMP F4

Japanese F3 ? Round 4/8 ? Fuji, Japan

In spite of best efforts from first-time poleman Nirei Fukuzumi and B-Max leader Mitsunori Takaboshi, the TOM’S winning streak continues, with Kenta Yamashita and Nick Cassidy sharing wins. Cassidy increases lead, but teammate remains within one race’s points haul.

Race 1: 1 Yamashita; 2 Cassidy; 3 Takaboshi; 4 Sasaki; 5 Fukuzumi; 6 Ishikawa
Race 2: 1 Cassidy; 2 Takaboshi; 3 Yamashita; 4 Fukuzumi; 5 Sasaki; 6 Ishikawa
Standings: Cassidy, 72; Yamashita, 63; Takaboshi, 56; Fukuzumi, 23; Ordonez, 18; Takahashi, 17
Next round: Okayama (27-28 June)

Formula Masters China ? Round 2/6 ? Shanghai, China

Martin Rump wins twice despite grid penalty and takes championship lead. However, Jake Parsons responds with wet-weather victory in race three and is just one point adrift. Their respective teammates Nicholas Rowe and Daniel Woodroof make podium appearances, as does local Yuan Bo.

Race 1: 1 Rump; 2 Woodroof; 3 Parsons; 4 Rowe; 5 Read; 6 Hudspeth
Race 2: 1 Rump; 2 Rowe; 3 Woodroof; 4 Read; 5 Tomoki Takahashi; 6 Bo
Race 3: 1 Parsons; 2 Rump; 3 Bo; 4 Swanepoel; 5 Read; 6 Tae
Standings: Rump, 81; Parsons, 80; Read, 52; Woodroof, 42; Rowe, 39; Swanepoel, 32
Next round: Penbay (4-5 July)

Formula Renault Argentina ? Round 4/12 ? Rio Hondo, Argentina

17-year-old Martin Moggia starts to pull away in the standings lead, finishing runner-up to first-time winner Gaston Cabrera in race one and taking the race two honours. Of his nearest rivals, Marino Ciarrocchi takes a runner-up finish, whereas Emiliano Marino struggles. 2014 runner-up Federico Cavagnero returns to claim a podium, while Nazareno Beguiristain posts maiden top-three.

Race 1: 1 Cabrera; 2 Moggia, 3 Cavagnero; 4 Ciarrochi; 5 Satler; 6 Zurita
Race 2: 1 Moggia; 2 Ciarrochi; 3 Beguiristain; 4 Dominici; 5 Lima; 6 Zurita
Standings: Moggia, 132; Ciarrochi, 105; Marino, 93; Dominici, 66; Cabrera, 63; Lima, 52
Next round: Rafaela (27-28 June)

F4 Sudamericana ? Round 2/8 ? Santa Cruz, Brazil

Despite a DNS in race one, former Ginetta Junior racer Pedro Cardoso vaults to the top of the standings by winning race two. Race one, meanwhile, is won by 2014 returnee Francisco Camarotta. Agustin Lima, who led after El Pinar, skips the round to race in Formula Renault Argentina.

Race 1: 1 Camarotta; 2 Casella; 3 Muraglia; 4 Guedes; 5 Pflucker; 6 Caland
Race 2: 1 Cardoso; 2 Camarotta; 3 Casella; 4 Guedes; 5 Pflucker; 6 Caland
Standings: Cardoso, 61; Casella, 58; Guedes, 57; Camarotta, 45; Lima, 42; Muraglia, 35
Next round: Mercedes (19 July)

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Photo: Formula Masters China Series

KCMG’s Martin Rump and Meritus GP’s Jake Parsons remain the only race winners of the 2015 Formula Masters China, winning a race each during Sunday running at Shanghai.

Both Rump and Parsons now have three wins to their name and are just one point apart in the standings.

The pendulum swung in the Estonian’s favour in the first race of the day, with mechanical issues ruling Parsons out of contention.

Without the presence of his Aussie rival, Rump led lights-to-flag, leading a KCMG 1-2 as teammate Nicholas Rowe earned his first podium in the series.

Daniel Woodroof was the top Meritus driver, holding off Aidan Read to finish on the podium for the third consecutive time.

Tomoki Takahashi was not far back in fifth, ahead of Yuan Bo, while Zheng Shang Guan led Sean Hudspeth, Jeffrey Ye and Kim Jeong Tae over the line in seventh.

The track conditions changed for race three and Parsons reigned supreme in the wet.

Despite Rump holding on to the lead off the line and the Aussie being involved in an incident with Woodroof, who had to pit for a front wing change, Parsons was into the lead by the end of the opening lap.

The top two was decided then and there, but the last podium spot was up in the air, with top local racer Bo eventually edging Matthew Swanepoel.

Read was fifth, having now finished all six races of 2015 within the top five, while Tae denied Rowe in the fight for seventh. Takahashi, Hudspeth and Zheng completed the top ten.

Race one results

Race two results

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Photo: Formula Masters China Series

Estonian racer Martin Rump picked up his second victory of his debut season in Formula Masters China, winning the first race at Shanghai.

Despite his imperious pace in qualifying, Rump’s win was no certainty, the KCMG driver starting race on in sixth due to a grid penalty.

But the Estonian was up to third one lap in and set out after Meritus duo of Jake Parsons and Daniel Woodroof.

Having cleared Woodroof two laps later, Rump had Parsons in his sights, but his charge was interrupted by a safety car, brought out by a collision between Matthew Swanepoel and Shang Guan Zheng.

Yet it took Rump just one lap after the restart to clear Parsons, who was then stunned by Woodroof as well, his Malaysian teammate relegating him to third.

Nicholas Rowe took fourth, ahead of Eurasia drivers Aidan Read and Sean Hudspeth. Tomoki Takahashi, Yuan Bo, Jeffrey Ye and Kim Jeong Tae completed the top ten.

Rump will start the remaining two races of the round from pole, having topped qualifying two and set the fastest lap in the first race.

Race results

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