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Despite
the slight delay in Meritus' 2004 Formula BMW Asia campaign, the
team's former protégés had a very successful weekend
of racing. Takuma Sato, who won with Meritus in AF2000 at the 1999
Macau Grand Prix, equalled his best ever finish in F1 by taking
fifth at the Spanish Grand Prix, after qualifying in third. Also
in Europe, Tung Ho-Pin, who dominated the 2003 Formula BMW Asia
series with Meritus, clinched second at Oschersleben in the competitive
German F3 series in his fourth ever race.
Sato's
third place on the grid was his best qualifying to date, and was
also the best ever qualifying for a Japanese driver. The best race
result for a Japanese driver was third for Aguri Suzuki when he
raced for Larousse at his home GP in 1990. Sato in the BAR Honda
was not able to keep up with the lead pack after the start, eventually
finishing behind the Ferraris of Michael Schumacher, Rubens Barrichello
and the Renaults of Jarno Trulli and local hero Fernando Alonso.
Tung's
weekend was a little more eventful with the VAR Team, after qualifying
second for both round 3 and 4 of the Recaro Formula 3 Cup at the
Motopark track at Oschersleben, Germany. The qualifying sessions
started out very wet, and Tung showed his talent by out-pacing everyone
by up to a second on the soaked track. However the track began to
dry out before the end of the session, meaning he had to settle
for second place.
In
the first race on Saturday, Tung was pushing race leader Michael
Devaney hard, until Tung made a mistake on the fast right hander,
spinning across the track and hitting the wall backwards, ending
his race. After some fast repair work by the VAR team, he was back
on the grid for the second race on Sunday, and made a great start
to take the lead into turn 1. He was later passed by Bastian Kolmsee,
and then hindered by a couple of back markers, which brought the
pack right up behind him. Tung proved his mettle by defending his
position perfectly, and eventually crossed the line second.
"Too
bad about Saturday's race. The team did a fantastic job by repairing
my damaged car for Sunday's race. My start was great and I could
overtake Kolmsee at the first corner. But in the first few laps
I struggled with the grip of my car and Kolmsee overtook me back
in lap 4. After that I created a gap to the drivers behind me but
I had to fight in the end to keep Seyffarth behind me after the
slower cars made my gap evaporate. It was a nice battle and I am
happy with my second place," said Tung after the race.
Sato
and Tung are proof positive of Meritus' goal to Create Asian Racing
Heroes, as they strive to become the best racers from the region.
Meritus' current Heroes in the Making will be back on track on June
18-19 at the Sepang International Circuit, Malaysia, for rounds
3 & 4 of the Formula BMW Asia series, part of the Asian Festival
of Speed. Marchy Lee hopes to continue his earlier success at the
Bahrain Grand Prix support race, where he took both wins. This time
he will be performing in front of the Japanese GT teams, which are
also racing that weekend.
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