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: 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: 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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Photo: Formula Masters China Series

Sepang race winners Jake Parsons and Martin Rump have clinched pole for the first and third race of Formula Masters China’s round two at Shanghai respectively.

Rump effectively dominated both sessions, but a five-place grid penalty for crashing with Asuka Muratomi at Sepang with see him start the first race of the weekend only sixth.

As such, while Rump was the only one to go beyond 1:50s in qualifying one, it’s points leader Parsons who will line up on pole, having clocked in three tenths adrift and a further two up on teammate Daniel Woodroof.

Eurasia’s Aidan Read will lead an all-Aussie row two, joined by Nicholas Rowe, with Matthew Swanepoel lining up alongside the penalised Rump on row three.

Yuan Bo, Tomoki Takahashi, KCMG’s newcomer Shang Guan Zheng and Sean Hudspeth will round out the top ten.

With no penalties affecting the outcome of qualifying two, Rump duly stormed to pole, again denying Parsons by three tenths.

Debutant Zheng impressed, qualifying in fourth behind Woodroof and ahead of Swanepoel and teammate Rowe.

Read, Bo, Jeffrey Ye and Takahashi made up the rest of the top ten.

Qualifying one results

Qualifying two results

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Photo: Formula Masters China Series

Estonian racer Martin Rump mastered the tricky wet conditions to win his first race in the Formula Masters China Series.

The 19-year-old started on pole at the Sepang International Circuit, and survived a safety car restart to win the race three seconds ahead of Meritus’s Jake Parsons.

While Rump and Parsons were in a class of their own in the slippery conditions, some of the drivers behind them found it harder to cope. The Muratomi brothers,?Asuka and Takeru had near-identical race-ending spins, and the same fate befell Takashi Hata.

Meanwhile, other competitors were severely impeded by technical issues. KCMG’s Zheng Shangguan failed to start the race, while Meritus driver Daniel Woodroof had his start delayed by six laps with his team working on his paddle-shift in the garage.

Matthew Swanepoel took a strong third for Arrows, with Worawong Komarakul?taking fourth at the chequered?flag?after a first lap stall. However, Komarakul picked up a penalty for crossing the white line on pit exit and another for passing under the safety car.

Aidan Read thus managed to secure fourth and was the best Eurasia driver, ahead of KCMG’s Nick Rowe. Sean Hudspeth took seventh off teammate Kim Jeong Tae with a last-lap pass, with Yuan Bo, Hua Miao and Jeffrey Ye Junhui completing the top ten.

Parsons will start on pole for race two ahead of Rump after having secured the fastest lap of the race.

Race results

*60-second penalty

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Jeffrey Yu Hun Hui (Photo: Star Racing Academy / KCMG)

Defending teams’ champions KCMG have signed Chinese drivers Zheng Shang Guan and Jeffrey Ye Junhui for the 2015 Formula Masters China Series season.

Zheng, 17, began racing karts?in 2012 and has spent most of his career in the local scene. In 2014, he finished third in the VW Polo Cup China, and was third again at the Elite Race Shanghai.

Ye, 18, started his racing career in 2007. He took the title in the 2009 Rotax Junior Asia Karting championship, and won the Hong Kong Kart Club race in 2013 and 2014. Both Ye and Zheng are members of the Star Racing Academy, which is a Chinese driver development scheme.

Hong Kong-based KCMG, who continue their association with Cebu Pacific Air, were champions last year with Kiwi James Munro taking the drivers’ title and Briton Dan Wells finishing third.

?It is a privilege to be part of such a successful team and I?m very happy to represent Cebu Pacific Air by KCMG in Formula Masters?this season?, Zheng said.??During the pre-season tests, the team was very hands on and it was a very constructive time for me as driver.?

?I?m very excited to compete in Formula Masters as it?s a big step forward for me?, Ye had to say.??I?m primed?for this new challenge and I?m looking?forward to contribute to the team?s success this season.?

?We?re happy to welcome Zheng and Jeffrey to the team and we?re looking forward to a strong season together in Formula Masters this year?, KCMG’s John O’Hara commented.

?More?so, we?d like to extend our thanks to Star Racing Academy for entrusting two of their talented drivers?to Cebu Pacific Air by KCMG.?

The 2015 Formula Masters China season starts next weekend at the Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia.

2015 Formula Masters China line-up so far

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