Team Meritus newly-signed driver 16-year-old Kazeem Mansor from England and

Arvin Roslan from Malaysia at the Sepang International Circuit this afternoon

 

There is going to be a bumper round of races this weekend and defending champions Team Meritus is determined to claim the lion's share of the spoils in the five scheduled Formula BMW Pacific Championship races which ends on Sunday.

 

Team Meritus, the most successful racing outfit in Asia with 27 titles, won the driver's and team championships last year and are determined to continue their winning ways again this season. And with five rounds of racing here on their home ground, Meritus knows this week offers the best chance to open up a comfortable lead in the championships.

 

There will be two Formula BMW Pacific races, Round 3 and 4 on Friday which will take place on the full length of the Sepang Circuit. The next three rounds will be on the shortened track. Round 5 will be on Saturday while Round 6 and 7 will be contested on Sunday.

 

In the opening two rounds this season, which were held as support races during the Formula One Malaysian Grand Prix last month, Meritus drivers, Simon Moss from South Africa and Ross Jamison from Hongkong each secured a victory. Moss, second in Race 1 and winner of Race 2, is the current championship leader.

 

Needless to say, Meritus leads the team championship with a total of 56 points. Team Mahara, which is also part of Meritus, is running second with a total of 37 points.  

 

Malaysia's up and coming single-seater ace, Arvin Roslan is fifth overall in the drivers' championship and is the highest ranked Malaysian driver in the Series. The rookie driver stunned the field by finishing fifth in Race 2 last month.  

 

And to ensure they sustain their winning streak, Meritus are leaving no stone unturned in their efforts to get the best out of the team and the drivers. The team is counting on utilising the knowledge and experience gained from their participation in the recently concluded GP2 Asia Series to help them through this long weekend.

 

 "To help us in our first year in GP2 Asia, we appointed Gianfranco (Bielle) as our technical director," said Team Meritus manager, Firhat Mokhzani. "He helped us immensely in GP2 and he will now attend this weekend's event to implement the transfer of our successful GP2 technology to our Formula BMW Pacific and Formula V6 teams and drivers. We hope over a period of time that we will be able to improve on the overall package that we offer to our Asian Drivers as well as improving the technical abilities of our Malaysian crew."

 

Meanwhile, Jamison said that the weekend would be tough on all drivers. "There is going to be more races than normal, five races in three days is going to be tough. But since its on different tracks, it will keep things interesting. I'm coming into the weekend aiming to get as many wins possible."