Fabian Schiller wins second race at Slovakia Ring

• Fabian Schiller wins through against title favourite Mikkel Jensen
• Jensen extends championship lead
• Schiller after second victory of season: “Just reward for all our hard work.”

Slovakia Ring. Fabian Schiller (17, Germany, Schiller Motorsport) won a thrilling second Formel ADAC race at the Slovakia Ring. The Schiller Motorsport driver had to fight hard to the finish line for his second victory of the season. The 17-year-old crossed the line with a lead of 0.553 seconds on second-placed Mikkel Jensen (19, Denmark, Neuhauser Racing). Ralph Boschung (16, Switzerland, Lotus) completed the podium party in third place.

“This is my most beautiful victory so far. We had some tough races in the first half of the season, and it was about time to finally return to the top,” said a delighted Schiller about his third podium of the 2014 season.

Schiller keeps his nerve

He took P1 on the third lap, having started from grid position two, when the pole-setter and championship leader Jensen ran wide briefly in Turn 3. That also allowed Boschung to slip through, who then headed off in pursuit of Schiller. Neuhauser Racing driver Jensen remained close behind the leading duo. With four laps to go, the Danish driver made a successful move to retake second position. Posting the fastest lap of the race, Jensen went on a charge, but Schiller kept his nerve to the end.

Jensen continues his successful weekend in Slovakia. After winning the first race, he went on to secure his second podium, his tenth overall, in the 14th race of the season. At the same time, the 19-year-old extended his lead in the overall standings.

Jensen extends overall lead

Title rival Maximilian Günther (17, Germany, ADAC Berlin-Brandenburg e.V.) just missed the podium in fourth place. Ahead of the final race at the Slovakia Ring (live stream at: adac.de/formel-adac, from 2:30 pm onwards), Jensen on 226 points heads the championship standings. He has a lead of 58 points on reigning vice-champion Günther.

JBR Motorsport & Engineering driver Igor Walilko (16, Poland, JBR Motorsport & Engineering) crossed the finish line in fifth place behind the ADAC Sports Foundation protégé. During the race, the Polish driver moved four positions up the field to make this race weekend the most successful for his team to date.

Joel Eriksson (16, Sweden, Lotus) retained the upper hand in the inter Lotus scrap for sixth place with Dennis Marschall (17, Germany, Lotus). After a long battle that lasted a number of laps, the Swedish rookie won through in the closing stages of the race by making a skilful move on ADAC Sports Foundation protégé Marschall. Kim Luis Schramm (17, Germany, ADAC Berlin-Brandenburg e.V.) completed the top eight. He will be in pole position for the start of the third race.

Comments from the top three

Fabian Schiller (17, Germany, Schiller Motorsport), Winner:
“This is my most beautiful victory so far. We had some tough races in the first half of the season, and it was about time to finally return to the top. We significantly improved the car over the summer break. Moreover, I worked myself hard during this time. This victory is our just reward for everything we’ve put in. I could have overtaken Mikkel right at the start but decided to stay behind him and so, take advantage of slipstreaming which plays a crucial role here. When I started to put pressure on him, he went straight on, and I took the lead. I subsequently extended my lead, so that the others could not use my slipstream. In this way, I was able to drive a controlled race to the finish line.”

Mikkel Jensen (19, Denmark, Neuhauser Racing), Second:
“I started from pole position and wanted to win the race, naturally. Unfortunately, I made a small mistake in Turn Three that cost me the lead. I was using yesterday’s brake settings but grip conditions were different today. I was a bit too aggressive, my front wheels locked up and I drove straight on. I then waited three laps for Ralph to pass Fabian. When nothing happened, I had to launch an attack myself. When I finally overtook Ralph, Fabian was too far away to make a move on him as well. I might have pulled it off, had the race lasted another two laps.”

Ralph Boschung (16, Switzerland, Lotus), Third:
“I’m very pleased with this podium. We made some changes to the car compared to Saturday and the improvement was immediately noticeable. Unfortunately, I had a little contact with Tim Zimmermann in the race. I closed on him running a little too fast and he shut the door. I had nowhere to go. I couldn’t use emergency braking either, as there were other cars behind me. I had a great scrap with Mikkel Jensen as the race progressed. I knew he that he was much faster than me on the straight. However, so as not to risk losing us too much time in the tussle and allow those in pursuit to catch us up, I did not defend with any real determination and let him go.”