Nissany celebrates first Formel ADAC victory

• Roy Nissany wins first of three races in Austria
• Local favourite Thomas Jäger moves up field by twelve positions to finish fifth
• Gustav Malja now just two points behind Marvin Kirchhöfer in championship

Red Bull Ring (Austria) – Race 1

Date: 11 August 2012
Race: 13/24
Weather: cloudy, 18°C
Circuit length: 4.326 km
Pole position: Florian Herzog
Laps: 16
Winner: Roy Nissany
Fastest Lap: Gustav Malja (1:36.728)

Spielberg – Roy Nissany (17, Israel, Mücke Motorsport) won the first of three Formel ADAC races this weekend at the Red Bull Ring. The Israeli celebrated his first victory in the junior series and becomes the seventh different race winner of the season. It is the second triumph of 2012 for his Mücke Motorsport team. „The start to the second half of the season couldn’t have gone better, and hopefully this is the first success of many more to come,“ said Nissany.

He started the race from ninth on the grid and was already up to third on lap two. On the ninth lap, Nissany skilfully overtook race leader Alessio Picariello (18, Belgium, G&J / Schiller Motorsport) on the Remus corner and then sailed away from the rest of the field. Meanwhile in the pursuing group, Gustav Malja (16, Sweden, Neuhauser Racing) prevailed over Picariello and Jason Kremer (17, Bonn, Mücke Motorsport) in a threeway battle that lasted over several laps to claim the runner-up spot. It was his seventh Top Three finish of the season. Picariello completed the podium trio.

Malja is now hot on the heels of ADAC Sports Foundation protégé Marvin Kirchhöfer (18, Leipzig, Lotus) in the overall standings, with a deficit of only two points on the current leader after 13 out of 24 races. Kirchhöfer collided with Kuba Dalewski (16, Poland, Lotus) on the third lap which spelt an early end of the race for the pair of them. For his part in the incident, Kirchhöfer has been handed a drive-through penalty for the next race.

Third-placed Picariello overtook Kremer on Lap 14 to claim his fourth podium of 2012. Kremer had to be content with fourth place. Thomas Jäger (17, Austria, Neuhauser Racing) crossed the finish line in fifth. The Neuhauser Racing driver shares the plaudits as ‘Man of the Race’ with winner Nissany after starting his home race from last place and making up a total of twelve positions.

Beitske Visser (17, Netherlands, Lotus) was the best-placed of the Lotus drivers, finishing sixth. The only woman in the starting field was followed across the line by fellow countryman Indy Dontje (19, Netherlands, Lotus) in seventh. Jeffrey Schmidt (18, Switzerland, Lotus), Hendrik Grapp (18, Berlin, ADAC Berlin-Brandenburg e.V.) and Luca Caspari (16, Meerbusch, Mücke Motorsport) completed the Top Ten points-scoring positions.

Comments from the Top Three drivers

Roy Nissany, Winner:
„That was my first win in Formel ADAC; it’s an incredible moment and the best feeling you can imagine. The start to the second half of the season couldn’t have gone better, and hopefully this is the first success of many more to come. I’ve learned a lot over the first four race weekends and managed to convert this knowledge into a top result. I got off to a great start and immediately moved up to third. On the later laps, I tried to drive a canny race and to exploit every available gap. I’ll be delighted if things carry on like this.“

Gustav Malja, Second:
„All in all, I’m well satisfied with this result. The start of the race didn’t go optimally from my perspective, but the longer it went on, the more competitive I became. Consequently, I was able to move up from sixth to second, which all goes to show that we have a consistently good car and that we are managing our tyres well. It’s always a shame when another driver fails to complete the race, but I’m glad that Marvin Kirchhöfer’s early exit allowed me to close the gap in the championship. I’m just two points behind him now. For the moment though, I’ll be focusing my attention on each race as it comes and only taking real notice of the standings towards the end of the season.“

Alessio Picariello, Third:
„At the start, the car felt great and I was able to take the lead. But as the race went on, the way the car was handling seemed to change and it got harder to post fast lap times. Roy Nissany was clearly quicker than me and managed to get past. As we were scrapping at the front, Gustav Malja closed the gap and also succeeded in overtaking me. Although my tyres weren’t the best by this stage of the race, I still hung on for third. Obviously, a win would have been preferable, but under the circumstances, I’m happy with a podium.“