A second time within two month Atlantic Racing Team and Columbian Driver
Gabby Chaves visited the Malaysian Sepang F1 Circuit, but this time within
the Asian Festival of Speed (AFOS) series. And yes - a Festival it was
indeed!
Great organization on part of MAL, BARC and FBMW - it could have been only
better if intentional punting would stop as, unfortunately for Gabby and
another competitor, two races were spoiled for them due to contact.

"Unsportsmanlike methods are not what Atlantic Racing Team and their drivers
are about. No need for this as the car is fast and Gabby is one of the
fastest on the track - in dry or in wet conditions as all have witnessed
this past weekend," declares Ingo Strackerjan, Team Manager, and he further
explains; "We had an absolutely terrific weekend, all in all and not having
to focus on other teams and their driving methods. We can absolutely say
that Gabby and the team performed nearly flawless. Without the punting we
would have secured not only our 4th place in the driver championship but
also a podium place for the second time this weekend. When looking at the
week's total results one has to admit that Gabby is a force to be reckon
with.

The test day on the short track gave us  9th, 5th and 2nd places at the end
of the sessions. Many other drivers had tested for days on this quick but
also demanding 8 corner short track.
- On Thursday's Long Track Practices Gabby got twice a 5th place;
- In Qualifying 7th and 5th.
- Friday for the first two races brought us a 4th and 3rd place on the
familiar long track (F1), Gabby Chaves' first podium in FBMW Pacific.
- On Saturday's Short Track Practice Gabby managed a 3rd place, but we
qualified only in 9th place due to a tire problem (vibrations) but had no
time left to rectify this and as the Q2 counted for two races - we had to
start both races in 9th position but Gabby was on a role.
- At the final Sunday Short Track Races 4 and 5 we ended with a 9th
(contact) and a DNF thanks to a rather ignorant driver.

In regards to the decision and efforts made by the team to go to the Pacific
races rather than staying with the FBMW Americas series, Lucas, the team
engineer explains; "We needed a different environment for our driver as well
as for the team members to explore venues, countries and teams. The Pacific
tracks and Cities we will visit this year are so much different from the
North American race tracks, it will always be a challenge for all of us to
be front runners. Alone the heat, humidity and real strong rain at times are
so different from where we come from, all needs adjustment. Hospitality is
written in Malaysia in capital letters and it seems that each Malaysian is a
Tourism Ambassador for their country. We can only recommend to any young
FBMW driver to come to this series, even as a guest driver - the experience
the driver will gain in this Pacific series is of real value, with a large
number of competitors waiting to show their driving abilities. For years it
was thought that the Asian FBMW series was minor to other FBMW series - this
clearly has changed and when thinking of competition, teams, organization
and track experiences - I am convinced that we made the right move to be in
2008 in the FBMW Pacific series."

Next, Gabby Chaves and Atlantic Racing Team are traveling to Sentul,
Indonesia for the two official FBMW Pacific test days and Races 8, 9, 10 and
11 on July 20th .
At this time Gabby Chaves, the youngest Formula BMW driver, is sitting in
6th overall position, having position himself in front of many Junior,
Rockie, second year and or vastly more experienced drivers.