Home Z - Archive seriesFormula Masters China Martin Rump and Asuka Muratomi fastest in FMCS qualifying

Martin Rump and Asuka Muratomi fastest in FMCS qualifying

by Aditya Banerjee
Photo: Formula Masters China Series

Martin Rump (Photo: Formula Masters China Series)

Estonian Martin Rump took a commanding pole for the first race?of the 2015 Formula Masters China Series season at Sepang, while Japanese driver Asuka Muratomi topped the second qualifying session.

KCMG driver Rump went to first early in the first session and was never troubled afterwards, taking pole by over 0.4 seconds, ahead of AsiaCup series champion Jake Parsons of Meritus.

The Muratomi brothers locked out the second row of the grid, with Asuka ahead of his elder brother Takeru. Meritus’s Daniel Woodroof was fifth fastest, albeit less than a tenth of a second off the front row. He will be joined by Indonesian teammate Worawong Komarakul on the third row of the grid.

South African driver Matthew Swanepoel put his Arrows car seventh on the grid ahead of Eurasia’s Aidan Read, with KCMG’s Nick Rowe and Sean Hudspeth rounding off the top ten.

The second session to decide the grid for race three saw Asuka Muratomi take a comfortable pole position ahead of Rump, who was not able to improve on his time from the first session. Parsons demoted teammate Woodroof to take third place on the grid late in the session.

If Meritus locked out the second row, the third row was an all-Eurasia affair, with Read lining up ahead of Takeru Muratomi. Komarakul was seventh fastest ahead of Rowe. beating the Aussie by just one-hundredth of a second.

Swanepoel was ninth quickest, while Hudspeth bookended the top ten yet again.

Qualifying one
Pos. Driver Team Time Gap
1 Martin Rump KCMG 2:07.109
2 Jake Parsons Meritus GP 2:07.545 0.436
3 Asuka Muratomi Eurasia Motorsport 2:07.549 0.440
4 Takeru Muratomi Eurasia Motorsport 2:07.633 0.524
5 Daniel Woodroof Meritus GP 2:07.653 0.544
6 Worawong Komarakul Meritus GP 2:07.822 0.713
7 Matthew Swanepoel Arrows Racing 2:08.067 0.958
8 Aidan Read Eurasia Motorsport 2:08.121 1.012
9 Nicholas Rowe KCMG 2:08.146 1.037
10 Sean Husdepth Eurasia Motorsport 2:08.348 1.239
11 Tomoki Takahashi Super License 2:08.505 1.396
12 Yuan Bo Meritus GP 2:08.737 1.628
13 Kim Jeong Tae Eurasia Motorsport 2:08.785 1.676
14 Zheng Shangguan KCMG 2:08.951 1.842
15 Hua Miao Eurasia Motorsport 2:09.385 2.276
16 Jeffrey Ye KCMG 2:10.367 3.258
17 Takashi Hata Super License 2:10.870 3.761
Qualifying two
Pos. Driver Team Time Gap
1 Asuka Muratomi Eurasia Motorsport 2:06.876
2 Martin Rump KCMG 2:07.138 0.262
3 Jake Parsons Meritus GP 2:07.239 0.363
4 Daniel Woodroof Meritus GP 2:07.258 0.382
5 Aidan Read Eurasia Motorsport 2:07.411 0.535
6 Takeru Muratomi Eurasia Motorsport 2:07.595 0.719
7 Worawong Komarakul Meritus GP 2:07.756 0.880
8 Nicholas Rowe KCMG 2:07.766 0.890
9 Matthew Swanepoel Arrows Racing 2:07.879 1.003
10 Sean Hudspeth Eurasia Motorsport 2:08.042 1.166
11 Kim Jeong Tae Eurasia Motorsport 2:08.685 1.809
12 Yuan Bo Meritus GP 2:08.722 1.846
13 Tomoki Takahashi Super License 2:08.739 1.863
14 Hua Miao Eurasia Motorsport 2:09.029 2.153
15 Jeffrey Ye KCMG No Time
16 Zheng Shangguan KCMG No Time
17 Takashi Hata Super License No Time