Nicolas Beer celebrates maiden Formel ADAC win

• Nicolas Beer celebrates maiden Formel ADAC win
• One-two finish for Neuhauser Racing in Race 3 at the Nürburgring
• Local favourite Fabian Schiller makes good ten positions in best upfield charge of the race
• Alessio Picariello retains championship lead at halfway point in season
• Race winner Beer: "It's just such an incredible feeling."

Nürburgring - Race 3

Date: 04 August 2013
Race: 12/24
Weather: sunny, 26°C
Circuit length: 3.618 km
Pole Position: Nicolas Beer
Laps: 14
Winner: Nicolas Beer
Fastest lap: Nicolas Beer (1:29.984)

Nürburgring - The third of three Formel ADAC races at the Nürburgring produced the only start-to-finish victory of the weekend. Danish youngster Nicolas Beer (17) made full use of pole position to secure a maiden win in the ADAC series for the open wheel racing stars of tomorrow. "My first victory in the Formel ADAC - it's just such an incredible feeling," said the Neuhauser Racing driver after claiming his fifth podium of the 2013 campaign.

Having already secured one podium in the first race on Saturday, Beer took control at the start to secure Neuhauser Racing's premiere win of the season. Team-mate Marvin Dienst's (16) P2 finish made it a one-two for the Austrian team. Mücke Motorsport's Alessio Picariello (19, Belgium), winner of the first two races, rounded off a successful weekend with third place.

Picariello turns the screw on the last few laps

Championship leader Picariello was the main beneficiary of an early safety car period following an accident involving JBR Motorsport & Engineering's Benedikt Gentgen (15) on the third lap. After the race was restarted on Lap 10, there was some exciting high-speed action over the next four laps.

Picariello had already worked his way up from eighth on the grid to fifth before the safety car was deployed; he then overtook Lotus drivers Beitske Visser (18, Netherlands) and Mikkel Jensen (18, Denmark) on the same lap, before challenging Dienst for second place. The 16-year-old rookie kept his nerve despite repeated attempts by Picariello to get past and came home 1.6 second behind his team-mate Beer in second place.

Local favourite Schiller launches into charge upfield

Although Mücke Motorsport's Maximilian Günther (16) missed out on a podium appearance for the first time this weekend, he at least picked up some valuable championship points by finishing fourth. The ADAC Sports Foundation protégé worked his way through the field from seventh on the grid. After the safety car deployment, he first went past Red Bull junior Visser before overtaking Mikkel Jensen on the penultimate lap to snatch fourth place.

Jensen's Lotus team-mate Indy Dontje (20, Netherlands) finished sixth, thereby separating the Danish driver and KUG Motorsport's Ralph Boschung (15, Switzerland). Schiller Motorsport's Fabian Schiller (16) was able to enjoy a positive end to a difficult weekend. After two retirements, the local favourite made an impressive charge through the field, moving up from P18 on the grid to eigth. This weekend's third race was extremely tight, with only seven seconds separating the victorious Beer and tenth-placed Callan O'Keeffe (17, South Africa, Lotus).

Picariello heads for the Red Bull Ring as championship leader

Picariello travels to the fifth race weekend (9th - 11th August) of the 2013 season at the Red Bull Ring in Austria as championship leader. Having won seven out of the twelve races so far, the 19-year-old has amassed a 202-point lead at the top of the table. His Mücke Motorsport team-mate Maximilian Günther is in second place on 124 points, narrowly ahead of Nicolas Beer on 123.

Comments from the Top Three drivers

Nicolas Beer (17, Denmark, Neuhauser Racing), Winner:
"My first victory in the Formel ADAC - it's just such an incredible feeling. My pace was very good at the beginning of the race and I was able to build up a bit of a lead. That's why I wasn't too happy to see the safety car putting in an appearance. But anyway, I showed even better pace after the restart and was able to pull away from the chasing pack once again. I watched my team-mate Marvin Dienst duelling with Alessio Picariello in my rear mirror and hoped that neither would be able to catch me. They weren't able to, and I'm ecstatic about the win."

Marvin Dienst (16, Germany, Neuhauser Racing), Second:
"Finishing second is the perfect way to cap a difficult few days. I'm very pleased with a place on the podium, since we had technical problems with the data evaluation system at the start of the weekend. I had to fight really hard for this result, as Alessio Picariello was putting me under a lot of pressure on the last few laps. He has a lot more experience at the Nürburgring than I do, and he benefited from this. Thankfully, I was able to play to my strengths and managed to keep him behind me. Next up is a home race for my team Neuhauser Racing at the Red Bull Ring, and I'm hoping to be making at least one podium appearance there too."

Alessio Picariello (19, Belgium, Mücke Motorsport), Third:
"That was almost the perfect weekend from my perspective. This P3 finish is important for my championship campaign, but obviously, I would have preferred to win. My pace was pretty good at the start of the race, but the involvement of the safety car had a negative effect on my tyres. At the restart, all the other drivers chose the inside line, which enabled me to go past on the outside. The scrap with Marvin Dienst for second place was a lot of fun, but after the safety car period, I was struggling with overheating tyres and wasn't able to post consistent lap times. My ambition for the Red Bull Ring is to finally do the treble and win all three races on a single weekend."