Title favourite Mikkel Jensen wins first race at Nürburgring

• Pole, win, fastest lap: Perfect start for Mikkel Jensen in the Eifel
• Jensen continues to extend championship lead with sixth win of season
• Jensen: “I’m aiming to secure the next victory this afternoon in the Eifel.”

Nürburgring. Mikkel Jensen (19, Denmark, Neuhauser Racing) got off to a perfect start at the sixth race weekend of the 2014 Formel ADAC season at the Nürburgring. The championship leader won the first of three races in the Eifel from pole position. Jensen crossed the finish line with a lead of 2.4 seconds on Marvin Dienst (17, Germany, ADAC Berlin-Brandenburg e.V.) in second place. Joel Eriksson (16, Sweden, Lotus) rounded off the podium party in third position, so drivers from three different countries and three different teams finished on the podium.

“There are a lot of spectators and fans here. It was great to even see some Danish flags in the stands – that gave me an extra boost,” said Neuhauser Racing youngster Jensen after his sixth win of the season. For the fifth time this year, the Danish driver secured the win in the weekend’s first race. In addition, he posted the fastest race lap for the seventh time this season.

Lap seven is the clincher

Jensen laid the basis for success on a decisive seventh lap. After the start, he initially had to let Eriksson take P1 but stayed close to the Lotus rookie. At the end of the sixth lap, Eriksson, Jensen and Dienst had a brilliant three-way battle for the lead, but Jensen finally won through in Turn One. Dienst then took the opportunity to overtake Eriksson in the second turn. The driver for Mücke Motorsport, who compete under the aegis of ADAC Berlin-Brandenburg e.V., subsequently defended second place to take the chequered flag.

Dienst achieved his fifth podium finish of the season after having a tough time in recent weeks. Eriksson achieved his fourth podium in his first year in the ADAC high-speed academy. The 16-year-old Swedish teenager is the most successful series newcomer after ADAC Sports Foundation protégé Tim Zimmermann (17, Germany, Neuhauser Racing).

Sixth place for local driver Fabian Schiller

Zimmermann crossed the finish line in fourth place. The Neuhauser Racing driver had begun the race from sixth position on the grid. On the tenth lap, he won through against Dennis Marschall (18, Germany, Lotus) in Turn One to secure fourth place. His deficit on the top three at the time was already too large to do anything more meaningful. Fabian Schiller (17, Germany, Schiller Motorsport) finished sixth behind ADAC Sports Foundation protégé Marschall. Schiller lives just 80 kilometers from the Nürburgring and is contesting a home race for his Siegburg-based team, Schiller Motorsport.

Title contender Maximilian Günther (17, Germany, ADAC Berlin-Brandenburg e.V.) had to be content with seventh place. The reigning Formel ADAC vice-champion got off the line well from P4 on the grid and initially improved to take third place. However, he was unable to defend his position on the subsequent laps and dropped back down the field.

Jensen extends overall lead

Jensen further extended his overall lead in the standings. He heads the rankings on 251 points after sixteen of a total of twenty-four races this season. He has a lead of 73 points on second-placed Günther. Jensen is again on pole in Saturday’s second race (livestream available from adac.de/formel-adac, commencing at 4:40 pm).

Comments from the Top Three

Mikkel Jensen (19, Denmark, Neuhauser Racing), Winner:
“I’m very pleased with my victory at the Nürburgring. There are a lot of spectators and fans here. It was great to even see some Danish flags in the stands – that gave me an extra boost. I unfortunately lost one place at the start. I hadn’t expected the track to be so damp and my wheels spun. In the first half of the race, I couldn’t get my tyres to work properly, so I stayed behind Joel Eriksson. When they finally improved, I overtook, extending my lead by a small amount. From that moment on, I eased off the throttle and nursed the tyres for the next two races. I’m aiming to secure the next victory this afternoon in the Eifel.”

Marvin Dienst (17, Germany, ADAC Berlin-Brandenburg e.V.), Second:
“I’m pleased to finally finish on the podium again after having a tough time. I had a very good start to the season, but poor results mid-year led to me having some doubts. Now I have proven that I have not forgotten how to race. I couldn’t quite match the speed of the front-runners over the first few laps, but I easily caught up, as Mikkel and Joel scrapped for the lead. However, I did not expect to close so quickly and seized my chance on the start/finish straight. At times, victory was even within my grasp, but the points for second place were more important to me ultimately, so I took no risk. It would be great to finish in second place again in the second race this afternoon, for sure.”

Joel Eriksson (16, Sweden, Lotus), Third:
“The Nürburgring is a true classic and I’m very pleased to finish on the podium here. My start was very good and I immediately passed Mikkel Jensen. From then on, I controlled the race from the front and my speed was good, but I had some problems with grip towards the middle of the race, which enabled my opponents to catch and eventually overtake me. We had a great three-way battle on the start/finish line, and I won through briefly. Of course, I would like to have clinched the win. However, in the end, I focused on controlling my race to take third place at the finish line and secure some championship points.”