Win for Mikkel Jensen in Race 1 – championship within his grasp

• Mikkel Jensen first winner at Sachsenring: Early title decision in prospect
• Fastest race lap again: Jensen enters Formel ADAC record books
• Jensen: “I definitely want seal the title with a win.”

Hohenstein-Ernstthal. Mikkel Jensen (19, Denmark, Neuhauser Racing) is well on his way to clinching the championship win in the Formel ADAC ahead of time. The Danish driver won the first of three races at the Sachsenring. After taking a start/finish victory, the Neuhauser Racing driver could now lift the title in the second race on Saturday afternoon. The two rookies, Joel Eriksson (16, Sweden, Lotus) and Tim Zimmermann (18, Germany, Neuhauser Racing) completed the podium party. Both Neuhauser Racing drivers finished on the podium – Jensen and ADAC Sports Foundation protégé Zimmermann.

“The car was fast, and in the dry, I normally don’t make many mistakes. In the second race, I now have the opportunity to wrap up the championship ahead of time,” said Jensen after his eighth win. The 19-year-old is on 297 points and leads the overall standings with four races to go before the close of the season. His main rival for the title, Maximilian Günther (17, Germany, ADAC Berlin-Brandenburg e.V.), was unable to do better than fifth place and is in second place in the championship standings with 211 points.

Unchallenged win

Jensen’s victory at the well established Sachsenring track was never under any threat. He got away to a good start from pole position, quickly drawing away from the rest of the field with Eriksson in pursuit. Jensen again kept his nerve on the re-start after a safety car period and defended the lead well. The safety car period was caused by Dennis Marschall (18, Germany, Lotus) spinning off track after a slight contact with Igor Walilko (17, Poland, JBR Motorsport & Engineering). While Walilko was able to continue the race, Marschall, who had started from P3 on the grid, was forced to retire.

The die was cast on the sixth lap in the fight for victory. Eriksson put pressure on Jensen in the lead but ran wide briefly while exiting Turn 11, which cost the young Swede a lot of time. He was unable to make up the deficit on subsequent laps, and Jensen crossed the finish line 3.3 seconds up on Eriksson, who finished on the podium for the fifth time in his debut season in the Formel ADAC.

Historic success

Jensen achieved an historic success on Lap 14 on his way to victory. The Neuhauser Racing driver posted the fastest race lap for the ninth time this year. Jensen now joins Richie Stanaway and Gustav Malja at the head of the list of all-time greats in this category in the ADAC high-speed academy.

Neuhauser Racing made a good start to the seventh race weekend of the season, as Zimmermann finished in third place. The most successful series newcomer benefited from Marschall’s early retirement to ultimately place third. Zimmermann successfully fended off successive attempts to overtake by his pursuer Walilko, achieving his eighth podium.

Best result for JBR Motorsport & Engineering in home fixture

Walilko missed going into the top three by a whisker but took fourth place, securing his best result in the ADAC junior series. He gave JBR Motorsport & Engineering from nearby Kirchheim their finest result ever in their home fixture. Earlier, the Polish driver had achieved his most successful result in a qualifying session by placing fifth on the grid.

After a tough qualifying, reigning championship runner-up Günther was intent on damage limitation by finishing fifth. The ADAC Sports Foundation protégé moved up three positions in the course of the 18-lap race. On the final lap, Günther won through in a scrap with Schiller Motorsport youngster Fabian Schiller (17, Germany, Schiller Motorsport). Kim Luis Schramm (17, Germany, ADAC Berlin-Brandenburg e.V.) and Swiss teenager Ralph Boschung (16, Switzerland, Lotus) completed the top eight.

Jensen is again on pole in the second race on Saturday afternoon (live stream available at: www.adac.de/formel-adac, from 16:05 onwards). Lotus driver Eriksson booked the number two spot.

Comments from the Top Three

Mikkel Jensen (19, Denmark, Neuhauser Racing), Winner:
“This victory was a hard fought one. I had to really keep the pressure up until two laps from the end to make sure of the race win. It was a very tight situation with Joel, especially just after the start. I took Turn 7 very carefully in order to work out the grip conditions. He navigated the corner a lot better than me and was then right on my tail. But I immediately began to apply the pressure again, and I benefited from an error he made. At that moment, I knew that the victory was in the bag unless something extraordinary happened. The car was fast, and in the dry, I normally don’t make many mistakes. In the second race, I now have the opportunity to wrap up the championship ahead of time. It will be at the back of my mind, but it isn’t going to affect my race. I definitely want seal the title with a win.”

Joel Eriksson (16, Sweden, Lotus), Second:
“Unfortunately, I didn’t get the start I wanted. I was aiming to pull level with Mikkel and then overtake him on the first corner. But it didn’t get really tight until after the re-start. I took the last corner better and was right behind him. From that moment on, I was pressuring him. I knew that we had the better speed and that, if I was able to overtake him, I would be able to pull away. Unfortunately, I got too close on the penultimate corner, lost the air flow over my front wing and came off the track. This excursion caused slight damage to my car, and after that, I was unable to attack Mikkel any more. This afternoon, I have another chance to win, and with the speed of our car, that’s a definite possibility.”

Tim Zimmermann (18, Germany, Neuhauser Racing), Third:
“I got off to a pretty good start and was able to overtake another car on the outside. I had already planned to do this before the race, and the move went very smoothly. After the safety car period, I came under some pressure. Unlike most of the other drivers, I had gone through qualifying without changing my tyres. I then used the fresh set in the race. That made the car a bit difficult to drive for the first few laps. However, once the tyres were working properly, I was able to open a gap to the cars behind. From the halfway point, I nursed the tyres and concentrated on holding onto third position.”