Formula BMW ADAC Championship - Rounds 5 and 6 - Spa-Francorchamps - Race
First win for Chris van der Drift.
Spa. The challenges of the race track at Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium are also
reflected in the diverse placings of the Formula BMW ADAC Championship. On
Saturday, Sébastien Buemi (CHE/ADAC Berlin-Brandenburg) won ahead of Marco
Holzer (Bobingen/AM-Holzer Rennsport) and Chris van der Drift (NLD/Team
Rosberg). On Sunday, van der Drift was first to cross the finish line, leaving
Nicolas Hülkenberg (Emmerich/Josef Kaufmann Racing) and Jonathan Summerton
(USA/Team Rosberg) in his wake.
"Today is the best day of my racing career," said a thrilled van der Drift, who
has finally taken his first win in his second season. Born in New Zealand, he
came to Germany last year after a karting career in order to gather his first
experience inside a Formula car. The 19-year-old instantly won the Rookie
Championship, and felt so much at home in Holland with his family that this
year he is racing under the Dutch flag. With 58 points after the sixth race of
the championship, van der Drift is currently third in the drivers' standings
behind Hülkenberg (100) and Buemi (75).
"I'm glad I was at least able to collect some important points this weekend,"
said Hülkenberg of his fourth-placed finish on Saturday and second place on
Sunday, when he benefited from Buemi's retirement. The Swiss driver was taken
off the track on the first lap by his Mücke team-mate João Urbano (POR/ADAC
Berlin-Brandenburg). Urbano managed to continue his race and worked his way up
from the middle of the field into fifth place. American driver Summerton,
meanwhile, drove into the points for Team Rosberg. "It's my first podium place
in Germany, and of course I'm absolutely delighted," said the 17-year-old from
Florida, who had already contested a season in Formula BMW USA last year.
Natacha Gachnang (CHE/Josef Kaufmann Racing) put in some sensational
catching-up work. Having started from 25th after an accident during qualifying,
the 17-year-old Swiss crossed the finishing line in eighth place. The field was
short of one driver this weekend: Jiri Micanek jr. (CZE/Czech National Team)
was out of action following an appendix operation.
Races seven and eight of the Formula BMW ADAC Championship will be held on 27th
and 28th May 2005 as part of the support programme of the Formula One race at
the Nürburgring.
Race 6, placings:
1. Chris van der Drift (NLD/Team Rosberg) 20:23.036, 2. Nicolas Hülkenberg
(Emmerich/Josef Kaufmann Racing) 20:23.849, 3. Jonathan Summerton (USA/Team
Rosberg) 20:24.667, 4. Martin Ragginger (AUT/ADAC Berlin-Brandenburg)
20:29.826, 5. João Urbano (POR/ADAC Berlin-Brandenburg) 20:33.915, 6. Stefano
Coletti (MCO/Eifelland Racing) 20:37.379, 7. Tim Sandtler (Bochum/Mamerow
Racing) 20:37.980, 8. Natacha Gachnang (CHE/Josef Kaufmann Racing) 20:39.417,
9. Tobias Hegewald (Waldbreitbach/ADAC Berlin-Brandenburg) 20:40.194, 10.
Andzej Dzikevic (LTU/ADAC Berlin-Brandenburg) 20:40.572, 11. Jens Höing
(Berlin/Team Rosberg) 20:48.315, 12. Henri Karjalainen (FIN/Team Rosberg)
20:50.140, 13. Marco Holzer (Bobingen/AM-Holzer Rennsport) 20:52.130, 14.
Harald Schlegelmilch (LVA/AM-Holzer Rennsport) 20:53.529, 15. Johnny Cecotto
jun. (Munich/Team Lauderbach Motorsport) 20:59.901, 16. Dominik Wasem
(Seiboldsdorf/HBR Motorsport) 21:00.112, 17. Christian Vietoris
(Lissendorf/MLX-Eifelland Racing) 21:03.818, 18. Benjamin Leuchter
(Duisburg/Team Lauderbach Motorsport) 21:04.866, 19. Marco Idili (NLD/HBR
Motorsport) + 2 Runden.
DNF: Markus Niemelä (FIN/Team Rosberg) 23:38.911, Fabio Onidi (ITA/Eifelland
Racing) 23:40.271, Mika Mäki (FIN/Mika Mäki) 24:05.614, Nick de Bruijn
(NLD/Josef Kaufmann Racing) 23:47.651, Sébastien Buemi (CHE/ADAC
Berlin-Brandenburg).
Fastest race lap: Chris van der Drift 2:30.983 min
Circuit length: 6.973 kilometres
Race 6, Rookie placings (newcomers to the Formula series):
1. Nicolas Hülkenberg (Emmerich/Josef Kaufmann Racing), 2. Martin Ragginger
(AUT/ADAC Berlin-Brandenburg), 3. Stefano Coletti (MCO/Eifelland Racing), 4.
Tobias Hegewald (Waldbreitbach/ADAC Berlin-Brandenburg), 5. Jens Höing
(Berlin/Team Rosberg), 6. Johnny Cecotto jun. (Munich/Team Lauderbach
Motorsport), 7. Christian Vietoris (Lissendorf/MLX-Eifelland Racing), 8. Marco
Idili (NLD/HBR Motorsport).
DNF: Mika Mäki (FIN/Mika Mäki), Nick de Bruijn (NLD/Josef Kaufmann Racing).
DNS: Sergio Perez Mendoza (MEX/4speed Media).
Championship standings after 6 out of 20 races: 1. Nicolas Hülkenberg (100), 2.
Sébastien Buemi (75), 3. Chris van der Drift (58), 4. Nick de Bruijn (34), 5.
João Urbano (30), 6. Sergio Perez Mendoza (29), 7. Marco Holzer (28), 8.
Natacha Gachnang (24), 9. Martin Ragginger (23), 10. Jonathan Summerton (18),
11. Benjamin Leuchter (16), 12. Markus Niemelä (15), 13. Fabio Onidi (13), 14.
Stefano Coletti (12), 15. Tim Sandtler (4). 16. Mika Mäki (3), 17. Tobias
Hegewald (2), 18. Dzikevic (1), 19. Henri Karjalainen (1).
Rookie standings: 1. Hülkenberg (120), 2. Ragginger (59), 3. de Bruijn (57), 4.
Coletti (55), 5. Perez Mendoza (52), 6. Hegewald (38), 7. Mäki (26), 8.
Vietoris (22), 9. Idili (18), 10. Cecotto jun. (16), 11. Höing (15).
