Zolder, Belgium, 18 July 2010 - New Zealander Chris van der Drift has picked up his fourth win of the season at the Zolder circuit in Belgium on Sunday. The 24 year old Kiwi gave a superb performance in Saturday's qualifying sessions coming out of the qualifying rounds with pole position, following that up with a start to finish victory in Sunday's race one. The Olympiacos driver gained enough points in the two feature races to give himself pole for the Super Final in which he finished in second place.

Maiden pole position
The Kiwi produced a stunning Superleague Formula by Sonangol demonstration to claim his maiden pole position for Greek football club giants Olympiacos. After winning back to back Super Finals at Jarama and Nurburgring, Van der Drift topped qualifying group B dipping down under the 1.19's, over 3.5 tenths clear of his nearest rival. The New Zealander had to win his first pole position the hard way, first having to overcome second placed in the championship, Yelmer Buurman (AC Milan) in the quarter finals, then against third placed, and team-mate, Max Wissel (FC Basel) in the semi-finals.

Chris van der Drift (right holding flag) grabs Pole at the Zolder circuit in Belgium

Van der Drift consistently improved his lap times throughout the series' unique knockout stages and succeeded in beating Davide Rigon of home favourites RSC Anderlecht.in the final session with a spectacular lap of 1.18.721, over four tenths clear, to take his first pole position in just his sixth race weekend in the football related championship.

"This is a fantastic reward for all the hard work the team has done to score our first pole position here", said Van der Drift.. "Some of the times were so close, particularly against Yelmer (Buurman) who led through the first two sectors, but I picked up enough in the third to take it by less than five hundredths. I was able to lap faster and faster in the knockout stages as I pushed and found better lines through the corners".

From pole to race win
Starting from pole position, the Superleague Formula by Sonangol rookie had Rigon in his mirrors for the entire 45 minute race, producing a mature exhibition which saw him keep his head despite being pushed hard by Rigon, Van der Drift leading from start to finish except for a short period during the pit stop phase. "I had to ensure that I made absolutely no mistakes, as with the speeds that we have no-one can simply get by", said Van der Drift.

Chris van der Drift in action at the Zolder circuit in Belgium

Tactical
After the win in race one, the Olympiacos driver had to start in last position for the second race under the ‘reversed grid' rules of the championship. The race start however was spectacular with an incident between Marcos Martínez (Sevilla FC) and championship leader Craig Dolby (Tottenham Hotspur), Martinez' back wing coming away and striking the kiwi's car on it's front nose. "Suddenly I saw a back wing assembly coming at me", said a relieved Kiwi. "At first I thought that my front wing was certainly heavily damaged, but the car felt ok and the team couldn't see anything wrong either. Thankfully!". Through good tyre management, Van der Drift finished the second race in eighth position, having been able to save a set of new tyres for the five lap Super Final dash for cash.

Second in Super Final
As the New Zealander had scored more points in both earlier races than any other rival, he started from pole position for the first time in a Super Final. But before the lights went out there was already some confusion. "I followed the instructions of the marshals as I could not see the start position lines. But suddenly I realized that it was wrong and by that time I had rolled a little too far forward", said Van der Drift, who was subsequently not penalized for the error. "I was too cautious at the start of the race and into the first corner of the Super Final and Davide went straight up the inside of me", said the Kiwi, perhaps slightly rattled due to the start line issue. "We have been the two fastest this weekend, so I had no real chance to pass him. I'm happy though to pick up a lot of points for Olympiacos, because that was the goal coming here. Since the first race at Silverstone we have been improving steadily. It's now my goal to again win pole position, win the first race, achieve as many points as possible in the second race, and take the Super Final win. I'm looking forward to the next round now at Brands Hatch as I have raced there and I like the circuit."

Championship standings
At the moment Olympiacos driver Van der Drift is fifth in the chamionship with 351 points. As a result of picking up 78 points during the weekend, he now lies within 14 points of third position.

The seventh round of the championship (of twelve) will be held in two weeks at the English circuit of Brands Hatch, 31 July-01 August.

Chris van der Drift is proud to be one of New Zealand motor racing's Black Bullets. To find out more about our Black Bullets go to www.blackbullets.com.
Chris sincerely thanks his sponsors: RacingPool, Ekris, National Meats, Arai, Oakley, Stockholm Fashion and VisionRacer.

Results Race 1 : Superleague Formula, Zolder - Belgium, Sunday 18 July:
1 Chris van der Drift (NZL), Olympiacos, 34 laps in 46:07.239
2 Davide Rigon (ITA), RSC Anderlecht, +1.892
3 Robert Doornbos (NED), Corinthians, +3.966

Results Race 2 : Superleague Formula, Zolder - Belgium, Sunday 18 July:
1 Julien Jousse (FRA), AS Roma, 32 laps in 45:16.364s
2 Duncan Tappy (GBR), Flamengo, +10.461
3 Tristan Gommendy (FRA), Galatasaray, +12.209
8 Chris van der Drift (NZL), Olympiacos, +28.681

Results Race 3 Super Final : Superleague Formula, Zolder - Belgium, Sunday 18 July:
1 Davide Rigon (ITA), RSC Anderlecht, 5 laps in 6.39.980
2 Chris van der Drift (NZL), Olympiacos, +1.029
3 Julien Jousse (FRA), AS Roma, +7.391