Mick Wishofer dominates rookie championship in the ADAC Formula 4

• Wishofer finishes in the points for first time during season finale
• The 17-year-old took eleven wins in the rookie classification from 21 races
• Team Principal Walter Lechner: "Mick is a grafter and works really hard"

Hockenheim: Mick Wishofer saved his best race for the grand finale of the ADAC Formula 4. The new Rookie champion finished in the points for the first time in the very last race. P10 was the well deserved reward to round off a long and successful debut season for the 17-year-old, who races with Austria's Lechner Racing team. "It's what we've been working towards. I'm very happy that things worked out," said the young Austrian.

And so, his first year in a formula racing car has come directly to a successful conclusion with his first title, which was no big surprise for Team Principal Walter Lechner. "Mick works very hard, is really fit and well motivated," said Lechner's boss: "He was the favourite to win the rookie championship from the outset and has delivered. He works very purposefully. Working with him is just great."

Mick Wishofer won the junior classification in eleven of 21 races. He twice finished on the podium at Oschersleben and the Nürburgring, achieving podiums in both rounds and then finally managed to score his first point in the overall standings in the last race at the Hockenheimring.

"His strength is that he is well focused. We scored some decent points in the races, gained plenty of places and often got close to the Top Ten," said Walter Lechner, referring to his protégé, who would like to remain in the ADAC Formula 4 in 2018. Wishofer: "I will take advice from my father and my mentors after the season. I can be well satisfied with my season in view of the number of test days I had beforehand."

Wishofer is a member of the Lechner Racing School as have been many of those in motor racing before him, who subsequently went on to do great things, like Austrian ex-Formula 1 drivers Alex Wurz and Christian Klien. At the school, the 17-year-old has an opportunity to develop as a driver and has also acquired a solid technical background thanks to the dedicated support of Robert and Walter Lechner.

Wishofer: "I live in Vienna but go to school in Lower Austria where I attend a sports centre for top athletes, to which the Austrian Olympic training centre is also affiliated. I also go to school there and have the best possible conditions, in which to train for my sport. ADAC TCR Germany driver Max Hofer is also there, plus someone else, who is a kart driver. We are the motorsport contingent, and there are plenty of skiers and footballers there as well. Being among so many athletes makes it easy to swap ideas."

He hopes to make a career in motorsport, and his idol is, without doubt, the biggest Austrian racing driver in history. "My idol is Niki Lauda," says the rookie champion, who spent many years in karting and became champion of the "Austria Rotax Max Challenge" in 2016.

Wishofer puts a lot of time into realising his ambition of making a life in motor racing. Daily fitness training is just as much a part of his routine as intensive preparation for races. He wants to leave nothing to chance - he knows that he can only make it to the top with hard work.

The Lechner brothers are also sure of Wishofer's talent. Walter Lechner: "We did so little testing with Mick before the season and have had only a modest budget. We want Austrians in our team, and he has shown that he's got talent in his first year. It would be nice if we could continue our work."