Photo: Formula Masters China Series

Kim Jeong Tae, a race-winner in the Formula Masters China Series this year, has died from injuries suffered in a road car accident in his native South Korea. He was 21.

Tae competed in FMCS for two seasons, winning the first race of 2016 on his way to fourth in the standings.

In a statement, Formula Masters China Series organisers said: “It is with profound sadness that we learned our friend and talented young Korean racing driver Kim Jeong Tae passed away on December 11, aged 21.

“Kim succumbed to injuries sustained in an automobile accident on November 20, following which he had been treated in intensive care.

“Kim contested two seasons in FMCS, finishing fourth overall this year. His passion for motorsport was infectious, and he will be remembered both for his exceptional talent and his sparkling personality.

“We send our deepest condolences to Kim?s family and friends, and he will be greatly missed by everyone in FMCS.”

In karting, Tae won his national Rotax Junior and Senior titles in 2012 and 2014 respectively, representing his country at the Rotax Max Grand Finals in 2014.

He also made his single-seater debut that year in the Formula BMW-based Asia Cup, before entering Formula Masters China in 2015 with Eurasia Motorsport.

Finishing 14th in the standings in his first year, he?switched to the PRT Racing team for 2016 and won the first race of the season at Shanghai.

He ended the year fourth in the standings, coming second in his final two races at Penbay in Taiwan.

Photo: Formula Masters China Series

The post FMCS race-winner Kim Jeong Tae dies after road accident appeared first on Formula Scout.

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: 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

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

Meritus GP driver Jake Parsons capitalised on a first lap incident to take his second win in the first round of the 2015 Formula Masters China Series season at Sepang.

The race began with Asuka Muratomi on pole ahead of Martin Rump, but the pair tangled going into turn one. Muratomi retired on lap five, while Rump continued, crawling around to finish tenth. The KCMG driver was fined for the incident and slapped with a five-place grid penalty for the next race.

Parsons was unaffected by the melee and snuck through. He then cruised to victory, seven seconds ahead of teammate Daniel Woodroof.

The Malaysian managed to get past Eurasia’s Aidan Read on the penultimate lap, demoting the Aussie to third.

Sean Hudspeth held off Matthew Swanepoel for fourth, while series debutant Nick Rowe secured his best finish in sixth. Behind them, Yuan Bo passed Tomoki Takahashi right at the end for seventh.

Kim Jeong Tae was ninth, with Rump completing the top ten.

After the first round, Parsons leads the standings on 48 points, ahead of Rump on 32, while the consistent Read is just two points behind the Estonian.

Race results

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Photo: Formula Masters China Series

Australian driver Jake Parsons put Meritus GP on top with an assured lights-to-flag victory in the second race of the 2015 Formula Masters China Series season at Sepang.

The 20-year-old managed to keep race one winner Martin Rump at arm’s length, winning the race by 2.6 seconds.

Eurasia’s Aidan Read finished a strong third, taking his maiden series podium.

Read’s teammate Sean Hudspeth recovered from 11th on the grid to take fourth, while Meritus’s Daniel Woodroof put in an even more stirring drive, fighting back to fifth after being forced to start from the pits as he made up eight places on the opening lap itself.

Asuka Muratomi came home sixth, holding off Arrows racer Matthew Swanepoel. Nick Rowe, Kim Jeong Tae and Tomoki Takahashi completed the top ten.

The only retiree was Takeru Muratomi, while Yuan Bo was unable to start after sustaining suspension damage in a collision on the formation lap.

Race 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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Photo: Asia Cup / Meritus

South Korean racer Kim Jeong Tae has joined forces with Eurasia Motorsport for the 2015 Formula Masters China Series season.

Kim began his karting career in 2012, and won the Korean Junior and Senior Rotax Max Championships in the following two years. In 2014, he also made his single-seater bow in the Meritus-backed AsiaCup Series, taking a best finish of sixth.

?We have been impressed with his speed and application and he just gets better every time he sits in the car?, said Eurasia’s Mark Goddard.

The Philippines-based outfit powered Hong Kong racer Matthew Solomon to second place in the championship in 2014.

Kim will be the first South Korean driver to race in the Formula Masters China series, which began in 2011 under the guise of ‘Formula Pilota China’ before being re-christened in 2013.

The 2015 Formula Masters China series gets underway on May 2 at the Shanghai International Circuit.

2015 Formula Masters China line-up so far

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