Stars of tomorrow on the home straight: Title decision on its way

• Penultimate race weekend of the season at Sachsenring
• Championship clincher in the offing: Mikkel Jensen could win title before season’s end
• Home fixture for JBR Motorsport & Engineering from Kirchheim

Hohenstein-Ernstthal. Formel ADAC is heading for the home straight, as the 2014 season draws to a close. This coming weekend (September 19th-21st), the ADAC high-speed academy will guest at the Sachsenring for the penultimate race fixture of the year. This well established track has become the one that sorts out the winners and losers in the championship stakes as far as the junior series is concerned. Since 2008, eleven different drivers have become winners at this roller-coaster of a track, and five of them subsequently went on to secure the Formel ADAC title at the end of the season.

This year, it might be the turn of Mikkel Jensen (19, DEN, Neuhauser Racing) to follow in the footsteps of his successful predecessors. The Dane leads the championship standings and could clinch the title win in the second race at the Sachsenring. The Neuhauser Racing driver has a lead in the overall standings of 71 points on his closest rival Maximilian Günther (17, Germany, ADAC Berlin-Brandenburg e.V.) in the run-up to the penultimate race weekend of the season.

Jensen: “You can never say that the championship is in the bag until it’s a mathematical certainty, but I feel very positive and confident as I head to the Sachsenring. The title is the main objective.” The 19-year-old has won seven races so far in his second Formel ADAC season and has secured twelve podiums.

Championship within reach

Jensen and Günther have fought a close battle for the overall lead for a long time. However, the Danish youngster has drawn away from his rival after strong performances recently. Now the great dream is within his grasp. Jensen: “I’ve enjoyed the close-fought scrap with Maximilian very much, but the larger my lead, the better it is for me. I would like to win more races, but the gap certainly provides a degree of security.”

ADAC Sports Foundation protégé Günther has not yet written off the title but is realistic in his approach to the task in view of the deficit. “Of course, the championship is important to me, but I do not count the individual points,” said the reigning championship runner-up. “I take each race as it comes and do my best. We’ll do the maths at the end. And let’s be honest, I can’t do more than win races, anyway.”

The title rivals have fond memories of the Sachsenring. Both of them finished on the podium last year at the 3.645 km circuit. Jensen: “The track is very special. There’s hardly another circuit on the calendar where you feel the speed in the car as much as here. The track’s flat kerbs are a special feature, because it was originally designed for motorcycle racing, but we can also use them to good effect in our single-seater cars.”

Home fixture for JBR Motorsport & Engineering

This is a special weekend for Kirchheim-based team, JBR Motorsport & Engineering, who are contesting a home fixture at the Sachsenring. Team headquarters are located just an hour’s drive away from the circuit that hosts the eni Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland each year. David Kolkmann is already looking forward to his first open-wheel races at the 3.645 km track. The 17-year-old driver said: “The Sachsenring is really special. The circuit is not only fast but also quite tricky. There are a few blind turns where you can’t see the exit. It feels really strange and takes some getting used to.”

Kolkmann and Polish team-mate Igor Waliko (17, Poland, JBR Motorsport & Engineering) have used test drives to familiarise themselves with the circuit’s many challenges. Apart from gradients of as much as 13 degrees, the Sachsenring has another special feature – there are only four right turns but ten right-handers in total. Kolkmann explains: “Since the majority of turns at the Sachsenring are left-handers, setup has to be adjusted accordingly, which does not make it easy to nail the few right turns that exist. Good skill as a driver is required.” His goal for the races 19, 20 and 21: “I intend to finish in the points, for sure. Things have been on the up for me recently, and I would like to continue that trend at my team’s home fixture, JBR Motorsport & Engineering.”