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12.08.2012 - ADAC Formel Masters
Start/finish victory for Picariello at the Red Bull Ring
- Second season win for Alessio Picariello
- Gustav Malja now leads in the championship
- Local favourite Thomas Jäger goes on another spectacular charge
Red Bull Ring (Austria) - Race 2
Date: 12 August 2012Race: 14/24
Weather: sunny, 17°C
Circuit length: 4,326 kilometres
Pole position: Alessio Picariello
Laps: 16
Winner: Alessio Picariello
Fastest lap: Jason Kremer (1:36.338)
Spielberg - Alessio Picariello (18, BEL, G & J / Schiller Motorsport) won the second of three Formel ADAC races this weekend at the Red Bull Ring in Austria. It was his second victory and fifth podium finish in the junior series; the Belgian driver came home in the top three at Saturday's first race. Picariello achieved his debut win and the first success in Formel ADAC for his team G & J / Schiller Motorsport during the previous race weekend at the Nürburgring. "I could have increased my pace by a couple of tenths if necessary, which makes me very optimistic for the final race of the weekend," he said.
At no time was Picariello's victory under threat. The Belgian driver drew away from the field right at the start, covering 16 laps to finish in P1 with a lead of eight seconds on runner-up Gustav Malja (16, SWE, Neuhauser Racing). Malja produced another strong performance. The Swedish youngster started from tenth place but fought his way through the field up into second place during the second half of the race.
Malja now takes the lead in the Formel ADAC drivers' standings after securing his eighth podium of the season. With 178 points, the Neuhauser Racing driver is 14 points up on previous leader Marvin Kirchhöfer (18, Leipzig, Lotus), who finished ninth in Race 2, relinquishing the top spot in the rankings for the first time this season. The Lotus driver had caused a collision during the first race with team-mate Kuba Dalewski (16, POL, Lotus) that resulted in last place on the grid and an additional drive-through penalty in Race 2.
Dalewski also finished on the podium, taking third place, during this second weekend of Formel ADAC races to be held outside of Germany this year. Dalewski, the first Polish youngster to drive in Formel ADAC, benefited from two retrospective penalties for Indy Dontje (19, NED, Lotus) and Hendrik Grapp (18, Berlin, ADAC Berlin-Brandenburg eV). On the final lap, the young drivers had been in P3 and 4 respectively, but received a drive-through penalty for leaving the track four times in total, which was converted into a 30-second time penalty after the race, resulting in positions 13 and 14 for the two of them.
Thomas Jäger (17, AUT, Neuhauser Racing) finished an interesting race in fourth place. The local youngster began the race from 15th place on the grid, moving up eleven positions by the finish. He achieved a similar feat in Race 1 on Saturday when he went up twelve places to come home in P5. Jeffrey Schmidt (18, SUI, Lotus) took a leaf out of Jäger's book and also went on a charge, ending his race in P5 after starting in 14th place. Nicolas Beer (16, DK, HS Engineering) benefited as a result of the many drive-through penalties incurred by fellow competitors to secure sixth place, his best result to date in Formel ADAC.
Jason Kremer (17, Bonn, Mücke Motorsport), who is third in the championship, secured six points by finishing seventh and gained yet more ground on Kirchhöfer in the championship standings. After 14 of 24 races, Kremer is just 13 points down on the second-placed driver.
Comments from the Top Three drivers
Alessio Picariello, Winner:"A start-finish victory is a great result. It wasn't made easy for me on the first lap, though. Jason Kremer was close behind me, piling on the pressure. He dropped back due to a penalty, and then I was able to open a lead on the rest of the field. Subsequently, I tried to drive a controlled race and nurse my tyres - there's a third race still to come. However, I could have increased my pace by a couple of tenths if necessary, which makes me very optimistic for the final race of the weekend."
Gustav Malja, Second:
"I now head the championship table for the first time, which is an incredible feeling. But most of all, I want to defend my lead through to the end of the season. Once again, my speed increased during the course of the race and that's important, because the race is not decided in the early stages. I think we have a very good strategy, since we go easy on the tyres right at the beginning, meaning I'm in a position to attack at the end, when the other drivers' pace tails off. "
Kuba Dalewski, Third:
"It was a nice surprise when my race engineer told me that I'd achieved a podium - I thought I was fifth. It was very difficult today not to go off the track and I myself was close to being handed a penalty. Also, it was not easy to apply pressure and stay within the boundaries, especially since I constantly had to defend my position."
