First win of season for Maxi at Oschersleben
What a mega feeling!
Plenty of excitement right up until the very last second, as the young Formel ADAC trainees treated spectators in the etropolis Motorsport Arena to some spectacular motor racing this Sunday morning. Maximilian Günther (16, Germany, ADAC Berlin-Brandenburg e.V.) won the second race at the season opener in Oschersleben. The reigning vice-champion had a lead of 0.356 seconds on second-placed Mikkel Jensen (19, Denmark, Neuhauser Racing) at the finish line. Günther’s team-mate Marvin Dienst (17, Germany, ADAC Berlin-Brandenburg e.V.) completed the podium party in the second of three races this weekend.
“I’m over the moon after this hard-fought victory. What a mega feeling,” said Günther, who received the winner’s trophy on the podium from reigning World Rally Champion Sébastien Ogier. The 16-year-old finished on the podium for the second time this weekend after his second place in the opening race of the season.
Thrilling fight for victory
Günther has had to fight hard for this third win in his second year in the ADAC high-speed academy. Jensen, who won the first race on Saturday, kept piling on the pressure right up to the finish line. Günther made an excellent start from pole position. His main pursuer, Jensen, was initially kept busy defending his second place against Dienst.
Danish youngster Jensen kept up his momentum to claw back ground during the initial third segment of the race but still had a deficit of more than two seconds on Günther. However, the Neuhauser Racing driver gave chase, sensing the chance of a win. During the final eight laps, Günther had to defend himself against numerous attacks from Jensen storming along to his rear, but kept his nerve to secure his first win of the season.
After his first win of the season Maxi said: “I’m over the moon after this hard-fought victory. What a mega feeling. We deliberately arranged things in the race, so that I would pull away at the start. It worked perfectly up to a certain point, but then Mikkel kept gaining on me, making for a very tricky situation, as he was a bit faster than me. I struggled with oversteer, which got better then worse in turn. As Mikkel drew closer, I looked at where he might launch an attack and tried to gain plenty of momentum coming out of these turns in particular. My strategy worked brilliantly and I have my first win in the bag. Here in Oschersleben, it looks like Mikkel will be my main challenger for the title, but there are still many races left to be run and I expect to see more drivers at the front of the field.”
Foto: ADAC Formel Masters