Alessio Picariello wins Race 1 at the Nürburgring

• Sixth win of the season for championship leader Alessio Picariello
• ADAC Sports Foundation protégé Maximilian Günther also on the podium
• Picariello: “My strategy worked out superbly”

Nürburgring – Race 1

Date: 03 August 2013
Race: 10/24
Weather: sunny, 24°C
Circuit length: 3.618 km
Pole: Maximilian Günther
Laps: 17
Winner: Alessio Picariello
Fastest lap: Alessio Picariello (1:29.202)

Nürburgring – Following the summer break, Alessio Picariello (19) from Belgium has further consolidated his grip on the Formel ADAC championship. The Mücke Motorsport driver won the first of the three races this weekend at the Nürburgring in assured fashion, notching up his sixth victory of the current campaign. “Although I wasn’t involved in too many scraps during the race, it still wasn’t easy. My plan to take the lead right at the start came off superbly,” said a jubilant Picariello. This was also the seventh win in ten races for his Berlin-based outfit.

Starting from second on the grid, Picariello overtook pole-setter Maximilian Günther (16, Germany, Mücke Motorsport) going into the first turn. The 19-year-old crossed the line just under six seconds ahead of second-placed Nicolas Beer (17, Denmark, Neuhauser Racing). For fifteen laps, the Danish driver occupied third place, closing in on ADAC Sports Foundation protégé Günther all the time. With a slick pass on Turn One, Beer prevented a Mücke Motorsport one-two and at the same time claimed his fourth podium finish in the ADAC ‘High Speed Academy’.

Fifth podium finish for rookie Günther

Although Günther was unable to convert his first pole position into a victory, he at least managed to achieve the fifth podium of his début season in the Formel ADAC with a third-place finish. This means the 16-year-old has been the most successful of the fourteen series newcomers so far during the current campaign.

Günther had to stay fully focused right until the last lap in order to hold onto his spot on the podium. Starting from sixth on the grid, Ralph Boschung (15, Switzerland, KUG Motorsport) managed to get within striking distance of the Mücke driver, but was unable to find a way past. So despite his charge up through the field, the KUG Motorsport driver just missed out on a podium spot; however, the Swiss driver crossed the line with a comfortable advantage over Schiller Motorsport’s Jason Kremer (18).

Respectable performance from local favourite Kremer

Jason Kremer from nearby Bonn will certainly have been hoping for a better result in front of his home fans but nonetheless put in a highly creditable challenge on the Eifel circuit. The ADAC Sports Foundation protégé had a close but fairly fought duel over several laps with Hendrik Grapp (19, Germany, Mücke Motorsport) and Marvin Dienst (16, Germany, Neuhauser Racing), ultimately emerging with the upper hand.

Grapp and Dienst were followed over the line by Dutch driver Indy Dontje (20) whose eighth-place finish was the best among the squad entered by reigning team champions Lotus. Team-mate Beitske Visser (18, Netherlands), who had claimed the top podium spot in her last outing at the Sachsenring, had to settle for ninth on this occasion. The Red Bull Junior started from fourth but fell back on the first few laps and eventually lost touch with the leading group.

Picariello reigns supreme

With ten races already having been completed, Picariello continues to top the championship standings. The Belgian has now extended his points tally to 169. Kremer is second on 106 points, with Beer in third place on 104.

Günther will once again start from pole position in Race 2 which takes place at 10.45am on Sunday morning and will be streamed live on www.adac.de/motorsport. He will be sharing the front row with team-mate Picariello. Beer and Visser occupy positions three and four.

Comments from the Top Three drivers

Alessio Picariello (19, Belgium, Mücke Motorsport), Winner:
“I am very happy with my victory at the Nürburgring and my improved performance in dry conditions. Although I wasn’t involved in too many scraps during the race, it still wasn’t easy. My plan to take the lead right at the start came off superbly. After that, I pressed hard for a few laps with the aim of building up a lead. This worked out well with the result that Maximilian was no longer able to use my slipstream. I then concentrated on keeping my tyres in good condition for the race on Sunday. Even so, I still managed to keep increasing my lead. The upcoming races definitely won’t be easy, as Maximilian has been building up his experience in the meantime.”

Nicolas Beer (17, Denmark, Neuhauser Racing), Second:
“Although I was unable to win today’s race, I'm still very happy with the runner-up spot. At the beginning of the race, Alessio and Maximilian were really fast. I was on used tyres, so wasn't able to attack early on. Towards the end of the race, my pace improved significantly and I overtook Maximilian. This result takes me one further step up the championship ladder. At the moment, the gap to Alessio is just too big. We’ve still got four race weekends ahead of us, and there is no question of me giving up. Who knows? Maybe I could be celebrating my first win of the season on Sunday.”

Maximilian Günther (16, Germany, Mücke Motorsport), Third:
“I’m highly satisfied with third place. During the race, I was struggling with problems in the balance of the car. These were getting worse all the time, but fortunately I managed to keep them within limits. I got the maximum that was possible out of today’s race, so I’m pleased to have got onto the podium at all. I had a bit of wheel spin at the start, and despite reacting quickly to it, I wasn’t able to hang on to first position. Right up to the end of the race, I was optimistic about finishing in P2, but Nicolas Beer pulled off a smart overtaking manoeuvre and got past. I stayed on his tail but wasn’t able to stage a counterattack. We’re now working on the car in preparation for the second race, and I’m really optimistic about making better use of pole position next time.”