Colombian Oscar Tunjo claimed his maiden victory in Formula BMW Pacific in Round 12 on the Marina Bay street circuit in Singapore after original winner Calvin Wong was penalised.
A stewards' investigation after Round 11 led to guest driver Daniil Kvyat losing his victory in that race for causing a collision with Richard Bradley as they fought for the lead. Local driver Bradley inherited the win, with Kvyat also losing his pole position for Round 12 as he was penalised five grid positions. Bradley himself also received a grid penalty for 'crowding' during the race.
Meritus driver Tunjo got away cleanly in Round 12 after inheriting pole position, before being passed by Mofaz Racing's Wong for the lead. Kvyat passed Bradley and Kotaro Sakurai to move into third, but retired later with an overheated engine. The Russian's Eurointernational teammate Carlos Sainz Jr. moved up into third position and began pressing Tunjo, the Colombian eventually finishing the race just one-tenth of a second ahead of the Spaniard.
Tunjo was then declared the winner of the race after Wong was handed a 30 second penalty for jumping a chicane. Bradley finished in third, giving him a 55 point lead in the standings, with Tunjo now in second.
Tunjo said: “It was difficult to defend. Carlos and Richard were very close and I had to defend my line. He was faster than I was so it was hard. I came into the race not really worrying about Richard, but trying to get the maximum and win the race.”
Sainz Jr. said: “I didn't have a very good qualifying, I messed it up and paid for it in both races. Today was a difficult race. I had a good start, but was pushed into the wall and lost some positions. I was in P9 but then lap by lap, I got up there. We were in third and I was trying to overtake Oscar… In the end, I'm happy because it was the maximum I could do.”
Bradley added: “Today I was racing solely for the championship. I knew I needed to beat Oscar to clinch it, but I wanted to be conservative and not mess anything up. I just kept thinking about the championship.”
