ADAC Experience Day at the Lausitzring: Young drivers gain first experience of formula racing

• Formula taster day for 25 young drivers from four different countries
• ADAC Sports Foundation protégés Marvin Kirchhöfer and Jason Kremer act as instructors
• All seven Formel ADAC teams took part in the Experience Day

Lausitzring – Just one day after the sixth race weekend of the season at the Lausitzring and the bark of the 145bhp engines of the Formel ADAC racing cars powered by Volkswagen is heard once again at the circuit, as 25 young karting drivers from Germany, Austria, Denmark and Bulgaria get their first taste of open-wheel racing at the third Formel ADAC Experience Day.

Most of the participants, both male and female, aged between 14 and 19 had already made their way to the track well before the race weekend in order to have a look around and make initial contact with the teams. The taster began on Monday morning with a seat fitting, followed by theory lessons and then by practice in clutch control and changing gear. In the afternoon, the young drivers took to the road in three groups behind a pace car around the short version of the track.

ADAC Sports Foundation protégés as instructors

Two ADAC Sports Foundation drivers took their places in the cockpit as instructors, namely, Marvin Kirchhöfer and Jason Kremer, who are currently second and third in the Formel ADAC championship. “We are here to give the teenagers support and assistance,” said Kremer, who participated in the Experience Day two years ago. “Every young kart driver dreams of taking the wheel of a single-seater car, and so, the Formel ADAC Experience Day is a great event for young aspiring drivers looking to gain some initial experience.”

All seven Formel ADAC teams were on hand to meet future drivers and provided at least one racing car for participants and instructors. Franck Lucke, team manager for Mücke Motorsport: “We were at the first Experience Day and have taken part ever since. It’s good for young karting drivers to get a feel for how an open-wheel racing car behaves. These boys and girls are the formula racing drivers of tomorrow and consequently deserve our full attention. We do our level best to give participants a thorough introduction to single-seater motor racing.”

First contact with formula motor racing

In the previous two years, a number of drivers in the current Formel ADAC grid line-up have taken part in the Experience Day, including local driver Hendrik Grapp, rookie Felix Wieland and the Dutch girl Beitske Visser. She is the only female driver in the field and has secured two wins this year in her debut season, the latest on Sunday at the Lausitzring, where, just one year ago, she first got acquainted with a Formel ADAC racing car on Experience Day.

Felix Wieland said: “The Experience Day enables young drivers to get their first racing experience in a single-seater car and is a good route into formula racing.” The Formel ADAC academy’s inaugural Experience Day was held in August 2010, and the ADAC has invited hopeful young drivers to an information day at the Lausitzring every year since then.

ADAC brings young motor racing drivers on

The ADAC Masters Weekend at the Lausitzring is a good example of exactly what the ADAC is all about in supporting ambitious young drivers. The weekend encompassed not just racing in the Formel ADAC and the ATS Formel-3-Cup, but for the second year in a row, there was also kart slaloming in the paddock for aspiring young motor racing drivers from the ADAC Berlin-Brandenburg e.V..

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. Mercedes-Benz DTM driver Ralf Schumacher is a patron of the ADAC Kart Masters and actively supports the young drivers of the world’s second-largest car club.