Double pole for Mikkel Jensen at the Red Bull Ring

• Front-row lock-out for Neuhauser Racing at home fixture in Austria
• Second on grid: Neuhauser rookie Tim Zimmermann with personal best qualifying result
• Championship leader Jensen: “My goal: To convert both poles into wins.”

Spielberg – Heading at full throttle to the half-way stage. Formel ADAC is contesting the fourth of eight race weekends to be staged during the 2014 season at the Red Bull Ring. With an eye to determining who will become ‘half-time champion’, it was up to the 16 young drivers to secure good grid positions in qualifying for this weekend’s three races. Mikkel Jensen (19, Denmark, Neuhauser Racing) succeeded best in this home fixture for his team, Neuhauser Racing. The championship leader posted the fastest lap time of 1:36.229 minutes and will be on pole in the first race (live stream available Saturday, 2:25 pm, at: www.adac.de/formel-adac).

Jensen will also start from pole position in the second race on Sunday morning at 9:55am as the second-fastest lap times in qualifying are the deciding factor here. The Danish teenager had to fight hard for his first double pole in the ADAC High-Speed Academy. In the most exciting qualifying session of the year so far, Jensen scrapped for thousandths of a second with team-mate Tim Zimmermann (17, Germany, Neuhauser Racing), who placed second, achieving a position on the front row for the first time.

Inter-team tussle for thousandths of a second

At times, the two Neuhauser Racing drivers were separated by just 0.003 seconds. With a personal best time of 1:36.510 minutes and a deficit of 0.281 seconds on the pole-setter, ADAC Sports Foundation protégé Zimmermann ensured a front-row lock-out for the team from Zell am Ziller.

Ralph Boschung (16, Switzerland, Lotus) finished in third position behind the two Neuhauser Racing drivers. The Lotus driver had led the timesheets at the beginning of the 30-minute qualifying session but had to admit defeat by the narrowest of margins. In the end, the Swiss youngster was only three thousandths of a second away from securing second place. Fabian Schiller (17, Germany, Schiller Motorsport) completes the second row in the tenth race of the season.

Jensen with good chances of securing ‘half-time championship’

Title contender Maximilian Günther (16, Germany, ADAC Berlin-Brandenburg e.V.) had a tough qualifying at the 4.326 km circuit to which Formula 1 returns at the end of June after an eleven-year break. Günther, currently second in the standings, was unable to do better than P5 on the grid. In the overall standings, ADAC Sports Foundation protégé Günther is two points behind the leader, Jensen, who now has a good chance of winning the ‘half-time championship’.

Local favourite Kamper back in Formel ADAC

Series newcomer Joel Eriksson (16, Sweden, Lotus) and the two Mücke Motorsport drivers Kim Luis Schramm (16, Germany, ADAC Berlin-Brandenburg e.V.) and Marvin Dienst (17, Germany, ADAC Berlin-Brandenburg e.V.) completed the Top Eight. Local driver Corinna Kamper (19, Austria, HS Engineering), the only woman in the field, secured 14th place on her return to the ADAC junior series.

Once again this year, the ADAC is providing a live stream for fans unable to watch the three races in person at the Red Bull Ring. The free service is available on the official ADAC Motorsport website at: www.adac.de/formel-adac.

Mikkel Jensen (19, Denmark, Neuhauser Racing), Pole, Races 1 and 2:
“I’m enormously pleased with my double pole, especially because it’s the home fixture for my team, Neuhauser Racing. However, I’m not too happy with the qualifying. I made some mistakes compared to practice on Friday. It was only on my last attempt that everything went really well, fortunately. I asked the team not to give me any information regarding my lap times during qualifying, so I didn’t know just how close it was. As far as the championship is concerned, it’s good, of course that my main rival Maximilian Günther is not directly behind me, but I have to focus on my own races. My goal is clear, to convert both poles into wins.”