Marvin Dienst wins rain-affected race in the Nürburgring

li>Second podium for Marvin Dienst in the Eifel
• Ralph Boschung secures podium after going on strong charge
• Maximilian Günther reduces deficit in title battle

Nürburgring. Despite having a tough time in recent weeks, Marvin Dienst (17, Germany, ADAC Berlin-Brandenburg e.V.) is back in the running after an impressive showing in this weekend’s Formel ADAC. The 17-year-old won the second race at the Nürburgring during the sixth race weekend of the 2014 season. After his second place in the opening race in the Eifel, the driver for Mücke Motorsport, who compete under the aegis of ADAC Berlin-Brandenburg e.V., achieved his sixth podium this year. Lotus driver Ralph Boschung (16, Switzerland, Lotus) and reigning championship runner-up Maximilian Günther (17, Germany, ADAC Berlin-Brandenburg e.V.) completed the party on the podium.

“I’m enormously pleased with my victory at the Nürburgring, but it wasn’t as easy as it looked,” said Dienst after his third victory this season. In wet conditions, he crossed the finish line with a lead of 1.1 seconds on Boschung in second place. So far, the Swiss driver has finished at least once on the podium at every one of the race weekends but is still waiting to clinch his maiden win this season.

Dienst inherits lead on restart

Dienst began the race that took place in heavy rain from P2 behind pole-setter Mikkel Jensen (19, Denmark, Neuhauser Racing). After an early safety car period due to a collision between Dennis Marschall (18, Germany, Lotus) and David Kolkmann (17, Germany, JBR Motorsport & Engineering), the race restarted on the fifth lap. On the restart, Jensen stayed in front to begin with but skidded into the gravel bed after locking up in Turn One and fell way back down the field. Dienst inherited the lead but had to defend hard on subsequent laps against attacks by team-mate Günther.

ADAC Sports Foundation protégé Günther ran wide briefly on the eighth lap as he tried to overtake. Boschung, who was placed third at this point, seized the opportunity to push his way into second position. Günther did his best to win back second place, but his Lotus opponent kept his nerve in some terrific scraps. Boschung was rewarded with his eighth podium of the 2014 season after his magnificent charge up the field from P9.

Local driver Schiller finishes sixth again

Joel Eriksson (16, Sweden, Lotus) crossed the finish line in P4. The Lotus rookie had finished on the podium in the first race but was this time around two seconds down on Günther in front. For the second time on the trot, Fabian Schiller (17, Germany, Schiller Motorsport) secured sixth place behind ADAC Sports Foundation protégé Tim Zimmermann (17, Germany, Neuhauser Racing). Schiller is contesting a home race for Schiller Motorsport in the Eifel.
Günther catches up in title race

Winner of the opening race Jensen secured two points in battle for title by finishing seventh. After coming off track early in the race, the Neuhauser Racing driver fell back to P11 but moved up the field by four places on subsequent laps. Jensen on 257 points leads the overall standings ahead of the final race at the Nürburgring (live stream available on Sunday at 13:35 from adac.de/formel-adac). Günther is in second place with 193 points.

Comments from the Top Three

Marvin Dienst (17, Germany, ADAC Berlin-Brandenburg e.V.), Winner:
“I am enormously pleased with my victory at the Nürburgring, but it wasn’t as easy as it looked. I had to defend the lead hard after Mikkel’s slide off track. My team-mate Maximilian in particular piled on the pressure. However, I’ve been racing long enough to be able to size up the situation. I knew that I simply needed to maintain my speed and not make any errors. Today, I was just as quick in the dry as in the wet. Let’s wait and see what’s possible tomorrow.”

Ralph Boschung (16, Switzerland, Lotus), Second:
“This podium is most unexpected for me and is therefore all the nicer. I felt very dissatisfied at my retirement in the first race. But the rain then came to my rescue, since I really like driving in the wet. Of course, experience played a role, as I can judge where to brake later, which means that I can then get down to business with more confidence. The scrap with Maximilian Günther for second place was especially good fun. It was hard but always fair. We’re experienced enough to avoid colliding with each other. It was good, clean racing. After I had overtaken him, I just wanted to secure second place to the finish line.”

Maximilian Günther (17, Germany, ADAC Berlin-Brandenburg e.V.), Third:
“I’m very happy to be back on the podium at last. The start of the race went very well. I quickly moved up into P2 and put pressure on my team-mate Marvin. There was no danger from behind to start with, and I gained a small lead. I then made the decision to go all out for the win and take the risk. Unfortunately, that didn’t pay off. The scrap with Ralph for P2 was really great, but towards the end, defending position was more important than the battle for P2. I’ve now gained a couple of points towards the championship. At the moment, I am focusing on each race as it comes and will take another look at the standings at the end of the weekend.”