Kirchhöfer wins opening race at Nürburgring

• Commanding start-to-finish victory for Marvin Kirchhöfer in first of three races in the Eifel
• Kirchhöfer reduces gap in championship
• Championship leader Gustav Malja finishes third

Nürburgring – Race 1

Date: 15 September 2012
Race: 19/24
Weather: cloudy, 16°C
Circuit length: 5.137 km
Pole position: Marvin Kirchhöfer
Laps: 13
Winner: Marvin Kirchhöfer
Fastest Lap: Gustav Malja (2:02.125)

Nürburgring – Marvin Kirchhöfer (18, Leipzig, Lotus) is keeping the title chase alive. The ADAC Sports Foundation protégé won the opening race on the penultimate race weekend of the Formel ADAC at the Nürburgring. Posting the fifth win of his debut season, Kirchhöfer has managed to reduce the gap on championship leader, Gustav Malja (16, Neuhauser Racing) to 15 points. The Swedish driver finished third in the first of the three races but still tops the table on 244 points.

“Everything went just right today. I got off to a great start and then gradually pulled away from the rest of the field,” said Kirchhöfer after his eleventh podium and ninth win of the season for Team Lotus. He crossed the finish line 3.124 seconds ahead of runner-up Hendrik Grapp (18, Berlin, ADAC Berlin-Brandenburg e.V.).

Neuhauser duo in internal scrap

Thomas Jäger (18, Austria, Neuhauser Racing), who started from second on the grid, was involved in a spectacular duel with Neuhauser team-mate Gustav Malja during the final lap of the race. Both drivers skidded onto the run-off zone after a scrap at the exit of the Mercedes-Arena. Malja managed to return to the track in third place but Jäger was dropped back to 15th.

Keenly contested final lap

In a tightly fought last lap of the race, Jeffrey Schmidt (18, Switzerland, Lotus) prevailed over Luca Caspari (16, Meerbusch, Mücke Motorsport) to finish fourth. Indy Dontje (19, NL, Lotus) crossed the line in sixth position. At the start of the race, Alessio Picariello (19, Belgium, G&J / Schiller-Motorsport) found himself in a highly promising third position but was gradually passed down the running order to finish seventh. The Top Ten was completed by Roy Nissany (17, Israel, Mücke Motorsport), Sebastian Balthasar (16, Köln, G&J / Schiller-Motorsport) and Florian Herzog (18, Dresden, Mücke Motorsport).

Comments from the Top Three drivers

Marvin Kirchhöfer, Winner:
„I am absolutely delighted to have achieved my first win at the Nürburgring. Everything went just right today. I got off to a great start and then gradually pulled away from the rest of the field. My objective this weekend has been to attack Gustav Malja, and after this first race, I’m only 15 points behind him in the championship. We’ll have to wait until the grand finale at Hockenheim to see how the competition between the two of us pans out. At the moment, I’m just hoping that the rest of the weekend goes equally well.“

Hendrik Grapp, Second:
„After securing my first win in this series at the Lausitzring, I’m really pleased to be back on the podium at the Nürburgring. The whole package is right and we have a strong car here this weekend. Unfortunately, I lost a couple of positions at the start, but thanks to my speed, I was able to regain them as the race progressed. I was also able to benefit from the fact that other drivers were getting themselves into scraps. We now have to aim to build on this result in the next two races.“

Gustav Malja, Third:
„By finishing third in today’s race, I’ve at least achieved damage limitation. I may have dropped ten championship points in the process, but it could have been a lot more. Right at the start, I lost a few positions when I came off the track after a scrap, and that wasn’t the last incident in the race either. I can understand that my team-mate Thomas Jäger is a bit angry about what happened on the last lap, but in a situation like that, it takes two to tango.“