Kirchhöfer wins closing race in Austria

Marvin Kirchhöfer victorious in third outing at Red Bull Ring
Gustav Malja holds on to championship lead
Local favourite Thomas Jäger gets onto podium at third attempt

Red Bull Ring (Austria) – Race 3

Date: 12 August 2012
Race: 15/24
Weather: sunny, 23°C
Circuit length: 4.326 km
Pole position: FLaps: 15
Winner: Marvin Kirchhöfer Fastest Lap: Marvin Kirchhöfer (1:37.372)

Red Bull Ring – Marvin Kirchhöfer (18, Leipzig, Lotus) salvaged a difficult Formel ADAC weekend at the Red Bull Ring in Austria with a win in the third and final race. It was the fourth victory for the ADAC Sports Foundation protégé in his debut year in the junior series. The 18-year-old has now made nine podium appearances and also ensured the sixth win for Lotus in 2012. “Many thanks to my team – the car ran really well – they have supported me fantastically well after a tough Saturday and boosted me up,” he said.

Kirchhöfer overtook pole-sitter Florian Herzog (18, Dresden, Mücke Motorsport) shortly after the start and, following a safety car deployment on Lap 2, held on to the lead right through to the end of the race. Kirchhöfer was joined on the podium by Jason Kremer (17, Bonn, Mücke Motorsport) and Thomas Jäger (17, Austria, Neuhauser Racing). Austrian driver Jäger started from fifth on the grid and had to battle hard for his second Top Three finish of 2012 against tough opposition from Neuhauser team-mate Gustav Malja (16, Sweden) and two-time race winner Alessio Picariello (18, Belgium, G&J / Schiller-Motorsport). Jäger had narrowly missed out on podiums in Races 1 and 2, finishing fifth on Saturday and fourth on Sunday after staging heroic pursuits on both occasions.

Championship leader Gustav Malja took fourth position, which was good enough to hold off the challenge from the previous incumbent, Marvin Kirchhöfer. The young Swedish driver tops the standings on a score of 185 points from 15 out of 24 races by a slender margin of two points ahead of Kirchhöfer. Jason Kremer is third on 165.

Alessio Picariello, winner of Race 2 at the Austrian venue, finished the third race of the ADAC junior single-seater series in fifth position ahead of Sebastian Balthasar (15, G&J / Schiller-Motorsport); the Cologne-based driver’s P6 result is his best so far in Formel ADAC.

Jeffrey Schmidt (18, Switzerland, Lotus) was involved in a prolonged battle over several laps with team-mate Indy Dontje (19, Netherlands, Lotus), Beitske Visser (17, Netherlands, Lotus) and Kuba Dalewski (16, Poland, Lotus). Ultimately, the Swiss driver prevailed to cross the line in seventh position; Visser and Dalewski failed to complete the race after a collision, while Dontje came home in P10 to claim the final championship point behind Luca Caspari (16, Meerbusch, Mücke Motorsport) and Nicolas Beer (16, Denmark, HS Engineering). Right at the start of the race, Roy Nissany (17, Israel, Mücke Motorsport) and Felix Wieland (15, Rosenheim, HS Engineering) had to retire after a collision.

Comments from the Top Three drivers

Marvin Kirchhöfer, Winner: „It’s just brilliant to notch up another victory. Many thanks to my team – the car ran really well – they have supported me fantastically well after a tough Saturday and boosted me up. I used the first lap to build up a lead on the opposition from the very start. After that, I was able to control the race from the front, pulling away from the field with every lap. So the weekend has drawn to a satisfactory conclusion after a rocky start.“

Jason Kremer, Second: „Of course, I’m pleased with the podium, but as a racing driver I would much rather have finished first. My congratulations go to Marvin Kirchhöfer on his victory, even though I’ve lost a few points to him in the standings. After receiving a penalty in the second race, I paid special attention to the track demarcation lines during Race 3, which can be quite tough, since increasing grip levels mean the cars go faster and it’s easier to come off track.“

Thomas Jäger, Third: „It's a great feeling to finish on the podium at the final home event. Unfortunately, our speed was not quite as good as in the previous two races. If the race had gone on for a few more laps, then my team-mate Gustav Malja would probably have become a threat. We had a brilliant wheel-to-wheel scrap, and that makes racing real fun. I'm so pleased that I was able to finish my home race at the Red Bull Ring with a super result after such a tough weekend.“

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