Lausitzring Preview: Final push in the Formel ADAC

• Just two points separate Top Two in championship
• Home race for Berlin-based team Mücke Motorsport
• Motor racing juniors from ADAC Berlin-Brandenburg e.V. in paddock kart slalom

Lausitzring - The battle for the Formel ADAC championship title will have reached a decisive phase as we go into the third-to-last race weekend of the season at the Lausitzring. Only two points separate the Top Two - Gustav Malja (16, Sweden, Neuhauser Racing) and Marvin Kirchhöfer (18, Leipzig, Lotus) - in the run-up to races 16, 17 and 18. Kirchhöfer led the drivers' championship from the first race in Oschersleben until the previous ADAC Masters Weekend at the Red Bull Ring where Malja got the edge on him.

Malja: "Of course, I want to win the championship, but it's mainly about gaining experience and learning something new in every race. At any rate, I will do everything I can at the Lausitzring to secure more points than Marvin and maintain my lead through to the close of the season."

The sixth race weekend of the season is a home race not just for Berlin-based team Mücke Motorsport but also for Florian Herzog (18, Dresden, Mücke Motorsport) and Hendrik Grapp (18, Berlin, ADAC Berlin-Brandenburg). Grapp: "This home race at the Lausitzring is a great opportunity for me to represent the ADAC Berlin-Brandenburg e.V.. The large stands along the track are really great and I'm sure they'll be filled to capacity during the race weekend."

The circuit: Challenging turns and high g-forces

The 4.534km Lausitzring grand prix circuit, constructed on the site of a former daylight mine and featuring a total of 14 turns (eight left and six right-handers), has an even number of slow and fast sections and is considered to be very demanding on drivers.

Florian Herzog: "The Lausitzring is one of my favourites on the calendar. You must stay focused all the time and not put a foot wrong." High g-forces through the turns at the Lausitzring also put quite a few physical demands on the aspiring drivers from the Formel ADAC Academy. Herzog: "I'm looking forward to Turn One most of all. It's a proper white-knuckle turn that you take virtually blind whilst going downhill. You cog it down a gear and then hit the loud pedal once more. It's an indescribable feeling!"

Kart slalom in the paddock

The Formel ADAC is a training ground for junior drivers and a springboard to higher open-wheel series such as Formula 3. This season's reigning Formel ADAC champion Pascal Wehrlein now competes in the Formula 3 Euro Series; Wehrlein won his first Formula 3 race during the last DTM race weekend at the Nürburgring.

For the second year in a row, junior drivers from ADAC Berlin-Brandenburg e.V. will have the opportunity to demonstrate their skills during the ADAC Masters Weekend at the Lausitzring in a kart slalom within the paddock to take the chance to recommend themselves for a Formel ADAC cockpit.

The ADAC development programme for young drivers has a long history and down the years has given a foothold in motor racing to plenty of future stars; Formula 1 drivers such as Sebastian Vettel, Nico Hülkenberg, Timo Glock and Nico Rosberg and DTM stars Martin Tomczyk and Ralf Schumacher began their successful careers in the various ADAC junior formula series. According to Cora Schumacher, who herself competes during the ADAC Masters Weekend in the MINI TROPHY: "The Formel ADAC is a very good route into motor racing for young, motivated drivers."