Thomas Jäger secures first win in the Formel ADAC

• First victory for Austrian driver Thomas Jäger: “An unexpected win.”
• Third-placed Kuba Dalewski moves up ten positions from 13th on the grid
• Drivers from three different nations on the podium

Motorsport Arena Oschersleben – Race 2
Date: 1 April 2012
Race: 2/24
Weather: Cloudy, 4°C
Circuit length: 3.696 km
Pole position: Jeffrey Schmidt
Laps: 17
Winner: Thomas Jäger
Fastest Lap: Marvin Kirchhöfer (1:30.194)

Oschersleben - Thomas Jäger (17, AUT, Neuhauser Racing) secured his first victory in the second of three races of the junior series, the Formel ADAC at the Motorsport Arena Oschersleben.

The 17-year-old Austrian from Neuhauser Racing, who was in third place with two laps to go, made good use of a collision between the lead pair, Jeffrey Schmidt (18, SUI, Lotus) and Marvin Kirchhöfer (17, Leipzig, Lotus) on lap 15. Up until that point, the two Lotus teammates had fought an exciting scrap for the lead. “There were only two laps to go, so I focused on not throwing away this unexpected victory”, said Jäger.

Clemente Picariello (18, BEL, G & J / Schiller Motorsport) achieved his best result so far in the Formel ADAC with second place. Kuba Dalewski (17, POL, Lotus) completed the international line-up in third position. The first Polish driver contesting the Formel ADAC gained ten places in the race, moving from grid position 13 to a podium.

Gustav Malja (16, SWE, Mücke Motorsport) and the only female on the grid, Beitske Visser (17, NL, Lotus), finished fourth and fifth after 17 race laps. ADAC Sports Foundation junior, Jason Kremer (17, Bonn, Mücke Motorsport) repeated his spectacular charge from Saturday. The youngster from Mücke Motorsport made good five positions during the race to finish the second of three races in sixth place. Already in the first race Kremer had moved up seven places from ninth to second.

Pole-setter Jeffrey Schmidt got cleanly away from the grid and was able to defend his lead. But the biggest winner off the line was Saturday’s victor Marvin Kirchhöfer who eased past Jäger and Picariello to mount a pursuit of his team-mate, a chase that was to culminate in the collision shortly before the end of the race.

Comments from the Top 3 drivers

Thomas Jäger, Winner:
“I suddenly found myself in the lead when Jeffrey Schmidt and Marvin Kirchhöfer collided. There were only two laps to go, so I focused on not throwing away this unexpected victory. During the race itself, I had maintained pace with the two leaders, but unfortunately I kept losing downforce through the turns. I was about to launch another attack on the straight, but that proved unnecessary after the collision and I was able to drive to a comfortable victory.”

Clemente Picariello, second:
“That’s a great result as far as I am concerned. I hadn’t been counting on this going into the race. I was having problems getting up to speed on the straights and had to be careful on every lap that the chasing bunch didn’t get past. I managed to hold them off and, thanks to the two leaders taking each other out of the race, I found myself handed the runner-up spot.”

Kuba Dalewski, third:
“The start of the race wasn’t easy for me, as I had to work my way through a densely packed field. I didn’t have the pace in the earlier laps of the race because we had adjusted the setup for the final stage. The strategy paid off, because the car just got better as the race went on. Being so far behind the leaders, I certainly hadn’t reckoned on a podium today, but thanks to the collision between the two Lotus drivers, I somehow managed to finish in the Top Three. Not a bad result from 13th on the grid!”