Lin scores well-deserved win

Hanss Lin Po Heng (Belgravia Motorsport) of Chinese Taipei scored a
well-deserved win taking victory in Round 8 of Formula BMW Asia at the
Goldenport Circuit today. Lin's win put an end to Marchy Lee's
uninterrupted winning streak. Mehdi Bennani (Team Meritus) of Morocco
was second, with 21-year-old Bahraini Salman Al Khalifa in third. Lee
holds his position at the top of the championship leaderboard with 150
points, with South Korean You Kyong-Ouk on 92 and Mehdi Bennani on 80.
Lin's win puts him 4th in the championship standings on 78 points,
moving up one place. Lee got off the grid clean from pole but Lin was
already on charge and had overtaken the Hong Kong driver as they
emerged from the hairpin, with Bennani and You giving chase. However,
Lee kept closing the gap and made his move on Lin on lap 9, retaking
the lead only to spin on the following lap. That put Lee down to 7th
place and, although he managed to work back through the field to 4th,
his unbroken run of wins had ended. You crossed the finish line in
third place, but was later penalised 30 seconds for a false start. Lin
was thrilled to finally clinch a win, especially at the same circuit
that saw him take victory last year in the final round of the season.
"It's very difficult to get a perfect lap on this circuit, but I
am always consistent here," he said. Bennani was glad to be on
the podium, especially after a bad start and having avoided the tangle
between Lin and Lee. "I saw them in front of me and they were
having a hard fight," he said. "When Marchy spun he was right
in front of my car and I had to brake hard." Another driver who
made his mark this weekend was Salman Al Khalifa of Bahrain who took
his first podium, after his 4th place in the earlier round. "I see
this as a way of repaying the chance I have been given," he said.
"This podium makes me wish for even more." BMW Junior
driver, Han Han of China finished 9th and was disappointed with both
his race and his weekend overall. "I don't know what
happened," he said. "I pushed so hard but I couldn't catch
the guys in front of me. It's not the fault of my tyres or my car, I
just couldn't find the speed." Bennani was top Rookie for the
second time in a day, ahead of 18-year-old Malaysian Nik Iruwan Nik
Izani (Team Meritus), and Robert Boughey (Minardi Team Asia) of
Thailand. Iruwan's performance was markedly improved throughout the
weekend and for several laps he was running in 4th overall before
falling back to 6th. "I am getting more and more competitive, but
I still make too many mistakes," he said. "What I need is
more consistency during the race, but I am learning quickly and now my
goal is to have at least one podium finish before the end of this
season." Rounds 9 and 10 of Formula BMW Asia will be held at the
Autopolis Circuit in Japan on September 4 and 5.