Second victory for Alessio Picariello at Oschersleben

• Alessio Picariello wins second of three races in the etropolis Motorsport Arena Oschersleben
• ADAC Sports Foundation protégés Jason Kremer and Maximilian Günther finish on podium
• Picariello: „So far, it's been a perfect opening weekend for me.“

Oschersleben – Race 2

Date: 28 April 2013
Race: 02/24
Weather: Overcast, 8°C
Circuit lenght: 3.696 km
Pole: Alessio Picariello
Laps: 15
Winner: Alessio Picariello
Fastest lap: Nicolas Beer (1:29.727)

Oschersleben – For Alessio Picariello (19, Belgium, Mücke Motorsport), the Formel ADAC season-opener in the etropolis Motorsport Arena Oschersleben could hardly get better: After the double pole in qualifying and his win in the first race, the Belgian clinched victory in Sunday morning’s second race. „So far, it's been a perfect opening weekend for me – two pole positions that I translated into two wins – I am very pleased,“ said Picariello. He achieved two wins last season in the Formel ADAC academy.

Jason Kremer (18, Germany, Schiller Motorsport) came home in second place behind Mücke Motorsport driver Picariello. The ADAC Sports Foundation protégé was directly behind Picariello, crossing the finishing line with a deficit of only 0.356 seconds. Maximilian Günther (15, Germany, Mücke Motorsport) completed the podium party in third place. In only his second race in the junior series, the ADAC Sports Foundation protégé achieved a top-three finish for the first time.

Picariello in pole position got off the line well, making a good start. There was plenty of action in the mid-field: Giorgio Maggi (15, Switzerland, Mücke Motorsport), Hannes Utsch (18, Germany, JBR Motorsport & Engineering) and Kim Alexander Giersiepen (18, Germany, KSW Motorsport) were involved in a collision and had to retire.

At the end of the following Safety Car period, Picariello led the field from Kremer and Günther. Behind the trio, those in hot pursuit were involved in hard-fought scraps. In the space of one lap, Hendrik Grapp (19, Germany, Mücke Motorsport) lost his fourth place to Nicolas Beer (17, Denmark, Neuhauser Racing). Callan O'Keeffe (16, South Africa, Lotus) also sneaked past. Beer finished the race in fourth position, missing his second podium finish this weekend by a small margin. Marvin Dienst 16, Germany, Neuhauser Racing) took fifth from Grapp.

Indy Dontje (20, Netherlands, Lotus) moved up six places in the course of 15 laps to finish the race in seventh position.

Rookie Ralph Boschung (15, Switzerland, KUG Motorsport) made a spectacular charge up the field: The Swiss teenager fought his way through the field from start position 17 and came home in eighth place. But after the race, he was handed a 30-second time penalty for posting a sector best time under the yellow flag and was relegated to P11. Numerous drivers gained as a result: Red Bull Junior O'Keeffe, for example, moved up to eighth position.
Alessio Picariello leads the overall standings after two of three races at Oschersleben with 50 points. As on Saturday at the season-opener, two Mücke-drivers – Picariello and Günther – secured podiums for the home team.

Comments from the Top Three drivers

Alessio Picariello (19, Belgium, Mücke Motorsport), Winner:
„So far, it's been a perfect opening weekend for me – two pole positions that I translated into two wins – I am very pleased. The second race was a little bit more difficult for me because my strategy did not work out as planned. I usually warm up the tyres very quickly and wanted to use that to my advantage in the initial stages and extend my lead. The Safety Car put paid to that idea and I had to really defend my position to the very end. I’m starting this afternoon’s final race from eighth place on the grid, so will have to go steady in the mid-field to avoid an accident. Hopefully, another podium is within my grasp.“

Jason Kremer (19, Germany, Schiller Motorsport), Second:
„I am very happy with second place. I went up into P2 at the start and remained in contact with Alessio Picariello for the rest of the race. The scrap with him was a lot of fun – just like last year. Towards the end of the race, I was able to put pressure on him but was a bit too far away for an attack. Consequently, I didn’t want to take any risks and put my second place in jeopardy. A few more laps and an attack might have been possible.“

Maximilian Günther (15, Germany, Mücke Motorsport), Third:
„I’m over the moon to finish on the podium in my second race as a rookie. The race was great and I got into a good rhythm after the first lap. The front-runners were going a bit faster than me, so I decided to drive steadily to a third-place finish. A big thank you to my team for their hard work over the winter – we’ve now got our reward. In the third race, I’m starting from sixth place on the grid and hope that from there I can move up a position or two.“