Formula BMW ADAC Championship - Rounds 15 and 16 - Nürburgring - Race

Buemi takes over championship lead. Nürburg. This weekend at the
Nürburgring, the spotlight turned on 16-year-old Sébastien
Buemi (CHE/ADAC Berlin-Brandenburg). The Swiss driver won both the 15th
and the 16th race to move into the lead in the Formula BMW ADAC
Championship. On Saturday Buemi beat Tim Sandtler (Bochum/ AM-Holzer
Rennsport) and Nicolas Hülkenberg (Emmerich/Josef Kaufmann
Racing). On Sunday, he was the first to take the chequered flag ahead
of his cousin Natacha Gachnang (CHE/Josef Kaufmann Racing) and Nick de
Bruijn (NLD/Josef Kaufmann Racing). "I managed to win on the
Nürburgring for the first time, and twice in a row. Now I can
sniff the championship in the air," said Buemi. As the Mücke
Motorsport driver and 17-year-old Gachnang held the trophies aloft for
the photographers, he was beaming from ear to ear. "For us it's
the greatest family success we've ever achieved," stated the only
female participant in the 25-strong field of competitors. Buemi had
previously won the third championship race on the Eurospeedway Lausitz,
but Gachnang had "only" finished third. Thanks to his two
race wins this weekend, Buemi drew level with Hülkenberg in the
championship rankings: both have six wins under their belt so far this
season. Another driver happy with his performance was Sunday's
third-placed finisher: "We were driving in difficult
conditions," reported de Bruijn. "At the start of the race it
was dry, then with two laps to go it suddenly started raining
heavily." The Dutchman climbed onto the podium for the third time
this season. "I'm already looking forward to my home race in
Zandvoort. My house is just half an hour away from the circuit. I want
to finish in the top three there as well." Zandvoort in Holland is
the next stop-off point for the Formula BMW ADAC Championship on the
weekend of 26th to 28th August. After finishing third and fourth on the
tradition-steeped race track in the Eifel, Hülkenberg was forced
to cede the top slot in the championship standings to his rival Buemi.
The Swiss driver now has 235 points, putting him in the lead over
Hülkenberg (229) and João Urbano (POR/ADAC
Berlin-Brandenburg,128). In the Rookie Championship, Hülkenberg
had already secured an early title on the Norisring. After 16 out of 20
races, the 17-year-old has a tally of 294 points, followed by de Bruijn
(170) and Martin Ragginger (AUT/ADAC Berlin-Brandenburg, 151). The
best recovery performances were delivered by rookie drivers Sergio Perez
Mendoza (MEX/4speed Media) and Johnny Cecotto jun. (Munich/Mamerow
Racing). Mendoza started from 24th on the grid and finished in ninth
place. Cecotto entered the race from 19th place and made it into the
points by finishing tenth. Race 16, placings: 1. Sébastien
Buemi (CHE/ADAC Berlin-Brandenburg) 23:27.242, 2. Natacha Gachnang
(CHE/Josef Kaufmann Racing) 23:31.562, 3. Nick de Bruijn (NLD/Josef
Kaufmann Racing) 23:32.587, 4. Nicolas Hülkenberg (Emmerich/Josef
Kaufmann Racing) 23:33.083, 5. Jonathan Summerton (USA/Team Rosberg)
23:36.978, 6. Martin Ragginger (AUT/ADAC Berlin-Brandenburg) 23:38.966,
7. Marco Idili (NLD/HBR Motorsport) 23.42.067, 8. Tim Sandtler
(Bochum/AM-Holzer Rennsport) 23:43.039, 9. Sergio Perez Mendoza
(MEX/4speed Media) 23:50.166, 10. Johnny Cecotto jun. (Munich/Mamerow
Racing) 23:50.397, 11. Mika Mäki (FIN/Mika Mäki) 23:50.813,
12. Chris van der Drift (NLD/Team Rosberg) 23:50.929, 13. Andzej
Dzikevic (LTU/ADAC Berlin-Brandenburg) 23:52.065, 14. Dominik Wasem
(Seiboldsdorf/HBR Motorsport) 23:52.760, 15. Tobias Hegewald
(Waldbreitbach/ADAC Berlin-Brandenburg) 23:55.514, 16. Christian
Vietoris (Lissendorf/MLX-Eifelland Racing) 23:57.863, 17. João
Urbano (POR/ADAC Berlin-Brandenburg) 23:59.007, 18. Marco Holzer
(Bobingen/AM-Holzer Rennsport) 23:59.363, 19. Fabio Onidi (ITA/Eifelland
Racing) 23:59.641, 20. Markus Niemelä (FIN/Team Rosberg) 24:02.915.
DNF: Jiri Micanek jun (CZE/Czech National Team), Stefano Coletti
(MCO/Eifelland Racing), Jens Höing (Berlin/Team Rosberg), Henri
Karjalainen (FIN/Team Rosberg), Harald Schlegelmilch (LVA/AM-Holzer
Rennsport). Pole position: Buemi. Fastest race lap: Buemi 1:37.222 min.
Circuit length: 50.806 km (14 laps). Race 16, Rookie placings
(newcomers to the Formula series): 1. de Bruijn (NLD/Josef Kaufmann
Racing), 2. Hülkenberg (Emmerich/Josef Kaufmann Racing), 3.
Ragginger (AUT/ADAC Berlin-Brandenburg), 4. Idili (NLD/ HBR
Motorsport), 5. Perez Mendoza (MEX/4speed Media), 6. Cecotto jun.
(Munich/Mamerow Racing), 7. Mäki (FIN/Mika Mäki), 8. Hegewald
(Waldbreitbach/ADAC Berlin-Brandenburg), 9. Vietoris
(Lissendorf/MLX-Eifelland Racing). Nicht gewertet: Coletti
(MCO/Eifelland Racing), Höing (Berlin/Team Rosberg).
Championship standings after 16 out of 20 races: 1. Buemi (235), 2.
Hülkenberg (229), 3. Urbano (128), 4. van der Drift (125), 5. de
Bruijn (87), 6. Gachnang (79), 7. Sandtler (58), 8. Niemelä (55),
9. Ragginger (45), 10. Summerton (44), 11. Mäki (41), 12. Holzer
(40), 13. Onidi (39), 14. Perez Mendoza (37), 15. Leuchter (16), 16.
Coletti (12), 17. Idili (9), 18. Vietoris (5), 19. Cecotto (3), 20.
Höing (2), 21. Hegewald (2), 22. Dzikevic (2), 23. Karjalainen
(2), 24. Schlegelmilch (1). Rookie standings: 1. Hülkenberg
(294), 2. de Bruijn (170), 3. Ragginger (151), 4. Mäki (121), 5.
Perez Mendoza (119), 6. Coletti (90), 7. Idili (87), 8. Hegewald (84),
9. Vietoris (65), 10. Cecotto jun. (52), 11. Höing (43).