Joey Mawson (19, AUS, Van Amersfoort Racing) has responded in just the right way after a difficult weekend at the etropolis Motorsport Arena Oschersleben. The Australian won the third of three ADAC Formula 4 races staged in the context of the DTM. With this fourth win of the season, the third-placed contender has ensured that he can still have a say in the destination of the title. ADAC Sports Foundation protégé Tim Zimmermann (19, DEU, Neuhauser Racing) finished second ahead of Marek Böckmann (18, DEU, Jenzer Motorsport) who recorded his first podium finish in the ADAC High Speed Academy.
"This victory is a good way to round off an otherwise mediocre weekend," said Mawson. The 19-year-old laid the foundation for success on the first corner after the start. Following a braking mistake by pole-setter Jannes Fittje (16, DEU, Motopark), Mawson squeezed past on the inside from fourth place to take the lead. He subsequently pulled out a comfortable gap on the rest of the field and eventually crossed the finish line 8.7 seconds ahead of runner-up Zimmermann.
The Neuhauser Racing youngster likewise made an excellent start, working his way up from fifth on the grid to second position. In slightly damp track conditions, Zimmermann clinched his third podium of the season in confident fashion. Böckmann had a tougher fight on his hands to secure his maiden podium. On the closing laps, he successfully defended his position against the pursuing Marvin Dienst (18, DEU, HTP Junior Team) who improved by five places during the course of the race.
Dienst on track to win the title
After finishing second in the two races on Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning, the current championship leader missed out on the Top Three for the first time this weekend. Nonetheless, Dienst was able to extend his lead in the standings over the opponent who poses the biggest threat to his title aspirations, Joel Eriksson (17, SWE, Motopark). Having won the first two races at Oschersleben, the Swedish hopeful had to content himself with ninth on Sunday afternoon. Dienst now has 310 points on the board. With three races left, he is 30 points ahead of Eriksson. Race winner Mawson is third overall on 256 points, which means that he too has a chance of being crowned champion in the grand finale to the 2015 championship at the Hockenheimring (2nd - 4th October).
Ortmann surges to lead in the rookie classification
Robert Shwartzman (15, RUS, kfzteile24 Mücke Motorsport) finished fifth, followed by Janneau Esmeijer (18, NED, HTP Junior Team) in sixth. The Dutch teenager made good seven places in the course of the 15 laps. A similar charge up field was staged by seventh-placed Mike Ortmann (15, DEU, kfzteile24 Mücke Motorsport). Starting from 14th on the grid, the 15-year-old steered clear of trouble to pick up the trophy for best-placed rookie.
In doing so, Ortmann also recaptured the lead in the rookie championship from his kfzteile24 Mücke Motorsport team-mate David Beckmann. Ortmann now leads this classification for drivers with no prior auto racing experience on 292 points, closely followed by Beckmann in second place on 290 points.
Mick Schumacher (16, DEU, Van Amersfoort Racing) has 240 points, which means he is still in contention for the rookie championship. The son of record Formula 1 championship winner Michael Schumacher had a successful weekend at Oschersleben watched by 66,000 fans, coming fourth in the first race and making it onto the podium in Race 2. In the third race, he was on course for a points finish when a collision on the penultimate lap forced him to retire.
Comments from the podium
Joey Mawson (19, AUS, Van Amersfoort Racing), Winner:
"This victory is a good way to round off an otherwise mediocre weekend. The drizzle that rarely let up made conditions very tricky in the third race, but I got off to a great start and jumped straight into the lead. I had pulled out a relatively big gap by the halfway stage, and at the time, I was almost certain that all I had to do to win was to keep the car on the track. I'm now heading to the finale at Hockenheim with quite a large points deficit, but I'll do everything I can to secure more podiums there and possibly even wins."
Tim Zimmermann (19, DEU, Neuhauser Racing), Second:
"I immediately moved up from fifth into second place at the start, all within the space of two corners. Some drivers were more cautious than others when it began to rain a little, so the field became strung out, which I used to my advantage. I posted very fast times but realised after a few laps that Joey would not be beaten today. I'm very pleased with this podium. At the same time, it makes me a bit sad that things are now just getting going again so late in the season. As a team, we are definitely on the right track, and I hope that I can finally secure my first win of the season at Hockenheim."
Marek Böckmann (18, DEU, Jenzer Motorsport), Third:
"My first ADAC Formula 4 podium! I'm incredibly happy and can barely wipe the grin off my face. I got off to a great start and was even up to P1 for a short time. But then Joey outbraked me to go past, and I came marginally off track, which also allowed Tim to overtake. My plan was to stay close behind the pair of them and to keep the gap constant on the cars behind. That worked out really well until Marvin came up behind. I couldn't shake him off, and he was putting me under a lot of pressure. I hugged the corners and closed off any gaps; I also spread myself out and put my foot down early. It's wonderful that it worked out so well and that I finished the race in third place."
Mike Ortmann (15, DEU, kfzteile24 Mücke Motorsport), best-placed rookie:
"This victory in the rookie standings has enabled me to retake the class lead. I'm really happy and totally satisfied. I was struggling with the speed of my car at the start of the weekend, but everything went perfectly in the third race. It was a bit slippery because of the light rain, and I was perhaps not aggressive enough at times. Still, it's not a bad achievement at all to move up from 14th on the grid to seventh place."