Driver Database News

Felix Rosenqvist secured both the Formula Renault Sweden and North European Zone (NEZ) championship titles at Ring Knutstorp this weekend. Rosenqvist, who has now won three championships in two years after the success in Formula Asia 2.0 last season, was the winner of the first two races of the weekend and finished second in the remaining two – which was more than enough to claim both the titles on offer in 2009.

“An incredible feeling,” Rosenqvist says. “It’s been the most fun and developing season of my career this far, and it’s obviously great to be able to end it with two titles. I think this is the time to direct a huge “thank you” to Lennart Bohlin and Team BS Motorsport, who have given me a fantastic car all year. This is definitely the best way to pay them back!”

Bohlin himself is very impressed by how Rosenqvist’s season has gone. The Team BS Motorsport team boss has followed Felix closely throughout this year and was proud of the results at Ring Knutstorp.

“Felix is one of the very best drivers that I have ever worked with,” Bohlin says. “He thoroughly deserves both titles, and hasn’t made a single major mistake all year long – something very, very unusual for a 17-year-old boy! He has got the potential to go far, so I really hope he gets the chance to prove himself internationally in the future.”

Rosenqvist, who won more races than any other driver in 2009, has enjoyed the most consistent campaign. 14 podiums, six Pole Positions and six race wins from 14 rounds of the Swedish Formula Renault championship resulted in the title being bagged with one race remaining, while NEZ was racked up by Felix following three wins and nine top three finishes – results well worthy of a champion. Second place in both series went to team-mate Daniel Roos.

“Daniel is the best competitor I have ever raced against,” Rosenqvist concludes. “He has been difficult to beat, but we had tremendously fun and will remain close friends for years to come. Now, it’s time to relax and contemplate what’s been going on this season, but plans are already underway for next year and if everything falls into place as we want it to, 2010 could be an even more challenging prospect.”

The title-winning performances at Ring Knutstorp also provided Felix with the Ronnie Peterson Trophy, which is awarded to the driver who has impressed the most on a panel of judges including former F1 racer Reine Wisell during an event. A perfect end to a perfect season for Rosenqvist – who now heads into the autumn with several commitments ready to be tackled.

17-year-old Felix Rosenqvist won his fourth race of the season when the Swedish Formula Renault championship left its home country and travelled to the Finnish venue of Ahvenisto this weekend. Rosenqvist controlled Sunday’s race at the spectacular circuit near the town of Hämeenlinna, and has now won more races than any other driver in the series this year. The Swedish junior thereby reinforced his championship lead, and added a third-place finish on Saturday to his 2009 tally of podiums – coming home just 0.3 seconds behind home favourite and regular Formula Renault UK driver Jesse Krohn.

“I didn’t get off the line very well in the first race, and Jesse could pass me at the start,” Rosenqvist says. “It didn’t bother me much, but was a bit frustrating as I felt that I was much faster. A third at this stage of the season really is quite OK, so I decided not to take any uncalculated risks despite being close to an overtaking move a few times. The win in Race 2 was great and goes to prove that the team, as usual, have done a stunning job. I also think that it was interesting to compete against some new, internationally merited drivers here.”

The first race of the weekend was won by Rosenqvist’s team-mate Daniel Roos, who in turn finished second behind Felix in the Sunday event. The two Swedes held a clear advantage over their opponents in Finland, as qualifying proved: two front-row lock-outs by the Team BS Motorsport drivers set them up perfectly for the rest of the weekend. Coming up next is what looks to become a thrilling championship showdown at the final event of the season at Ring Knutstorp, with Rosenqvist leading the overall standings – both in Formula Renault Sweden and in the North European Zone.

“I’m not nervous at all,” Rosenqvist concludes. “I can only do my best, and we’ll see if it’s good enough when we get to Ring Knutstorp. My main rival is Daniel, who is a fantastic driver. However, it goes without saying that I would really like to win both titles and I will do whatever I can to make it happen. There will be four races instead of the normal two and, with all of them counting towards both championships, it will be imperative not to make any mistakes. I look forward to the challenge and am ready to go!”

The Ring Knutstorp finale will take place as soon as this weekend, with practice commencing on Thursday, September 10. A big starting grid is expected and teams from throughout Europe have shown interest in entering the event.

The fourth weekend in the Swedish Formula Renault championship was no success for Philip Forsman. The former Formula 1 circuit Anderstorp Raceway hosted rounds 7 and 8 of the 2009 championship, but Forsman had to go home without points after not finishing in both races because of mechanical problems. In the first race the gear shifter broke half way through the race, and in the second a gear wire caused problems.

– It was hardly a dream weekend for me, Forsman says. I thought I drove well in the first race until the shifter broke. There was nothing much that worked, and when the parts all were in the right place the engine lacked power. We spent the whole Saturday night changing to a new one to be able to keep up on the straights, but it unfortunately didn’t matter as I retired in race 2 as well.

Forsman came to Anderstorp Raceway with the goal of maintaining – and if possible improving – his position in the championship. For obvious reasons the goals couldn’t be met, and instead Philip lost two places in the standings. Forsman showed true will power when he, depsite the mechanical problems, fought some intense battles in the mid field and did better lap times than the equipment deserved.

– I did the best I could this weekend, but it’s always hard to perform when you have to focus on different things than driving, Forsman concludes. The team did a great job solving the problems that arose and we fought together through thick and thin. There were off course a few good points from the weekend – there always is – and in comparison to my team mate, who compes in Formula Master, I did good. Now we recharge for the next race!

On the 5-6th of September rounds 9 and 10 of the Swedish Formula Renault championship takes place at Ahvenisto in Finland: Northern Europe’s own Nürburgring.

Photo by Mattias Persson – Motorsport Publication

Felix Rosenqvist won the first of two races when the Swedish Formula Renault championship travelled to Anderstorp Raceway for rounds 7-8 this weekend. Rosenqvist, who grew up in the town of Värnamo close to Anderstorp, qualified on Pole Position and led the race from start to finish. In the second race of the weekend, Felix finished in third place having chased his team-mate Daniel Roos and winner Tom Blomqvist for the entire duration of the 15- lap event.

“I am very happy to have won on my home circuit,” Rosenqvist says. “The car actually didn’t work as well as I would have liked it to here, and we had problems finding the right balance. I suffered from quite severe understeering in Race 2 and couldn’t attack Daniel despite being very close to him for all 15 laps, but it’s great to have won one of the races and the championship situation continues to look good. Congratulations to Tom for a well-deserved first win and a successful weekend.”

Saturday at Anderstorp saw the best qualifying session of the year, with rain in the morning soaking the circuit for the first half of the session. However, as the tarmac got drier, slick tyres needed to be fitted and Rosenqvist grabbed Pole on his very last lap. Having won Race 1, the 17-year-old made a good start in the second race on Sunday and almost took the lead going into the first corner from third on the grid. The Team BS Motorsport driver decided to play it safe, though, and backed off to secure his eight podium of the year.

“It was great to race so close to home this weekend,” Rosenqvist concludes. “It was difficult for family and friends to come and watch when I raced in Asia, but it was nice to see all of them turn up here. That said, I know plenty of people who wanted to come but changed their minds when they saw the ticket prices… It really was way too expensive for the fans here at Anderstorp, which is sad – not least for us regional drivers. We are approaching the end of the season and it’s important to stay focused for a couple of more weeks – but I am ready!”

The next round of the Swedish Formula Renault championship – ironically – will take place in Ahvenisto, Finland, on September 5-6.

Team BS Motorsport’s driver Felix Rosenqvist won one of the weekend’s two races in the Swedish Formula Renault championship at Anderstorp Raceway. Daniel Roos ended up second in both races, and advanced from third to second in the championship. Rosenqvist qualified in pole position – two hundreds of a second ahead of Roos – in a dramatc qualifying session and lead Race 1 from lights to flag while Roos kept his position right behind. The second race was unusually not won by Team BS Motorsport, which had to settle for second and third behind first-time winner Tom Blomqvist.

- Me and the whole team is off course happy over the success we had at Anderstorp, but there is something missing for us to be completely satisfied, says Team BS Motorsport’s team boss Lennart Bohlin. In some ways the situation from Falkenberg where we had problems getting the cars perfectly set up repeated itself, but here it still was enough for a victory for Felix and two seconds thanks to Daniel. We didn’t have the same big advantage as we had in Karlskoga a week ago, but improved our position in the championship – and that’s a sign of strength.

Team BS Motorsport had once again a third car on track, and Daniel Ivarsson – who makes some appearances for the team this season – had a solid performance and mixed in the hard battle in the mid field. It resulted in an 8th and a 7th place for Ivarsson, who now has his focus on the finale at his home track Ring Knutstorp in September. For Rosenqvist and Roos there are further challenges before the finale.

- Me and many others are really looking forward to next race, says Jan Stråth (part owner, Team BS Motorsport). We will go back to Ahvenisto in Finland, which is a place where there are many strong memories for this team. It was there we raced for the first time, when Felix and Daniel went over and won at the NEZ premiere this spring. I think it will take a lot to beat Team BS Motorsport there, but you never know – it was a quality field in the races here at Anderstorp, and we’re lucky we have drivers who can sort things out when the cars aren’t 100%. With regards to the season so far we’re aiming to win as much as possible, and I think we have a good chance during the rest of 2009.

Rounds 9 and 10 for Formula Renault Sweden are decided at Ahvenisto, Finland, in two weeks time (5-6 September).

Driver comments and results
Felix Rosenqvist
Qualifying: 1
Race 1: 1
Race 2: 3
Other: Part of the trio who fought for victory in Race 2, fastest in qualifying despite running out of gas the final meters.

- It was fun to race at home only a few miles from Värnamo where I grew up. Very nice to win one of the races, especially since the car really wasn’t very good this weekend. I had pretty big problems with understeer in Race 2 and didn’t want to risk anything by trying to get by Daniel – I want to fight for the championsip and Anderstorp meant good points. Congratulations to Tom (Blomqvist) who took his first victory this weekend!

Daniel Roos
Qualifying: 2
Race 1: 2
Race 2: 2
Other: Fastest lap in both races, pole position in Race 2 – chased for the win, but couldn’t get past the leader.

- The strongest feeling right now is disappointment. I was definitely not happy with my set-up in Race 2, but the positive thing is that despite the problems I finished second twice and had fastest lap twice. The team works hard, but so does the other teams – we want to get one step higher and we will. I think Tom Blomqvist deserves a “congratulation” for a good drive today – always nice with your first victory.

Daniel Ivarsson
Qualifying: 9
Race 1: 8
Race 2: 7
Other: Steady improvements during the weekend

- The first race went really well; with some luck on my side I drove up to fifth, but on the last lap I had a to hard battle with the Dutchman Kelvin Snoeks which resulted in us both losing a couple of positions. I was eight at the finish, and in Race 2 I outbreaked a competitor and ended seventh. Now I’m charged for the finale at Ring Knutstorp in threee weeks – that will be quite something!

Photo by Mattias Persson.