Formula BMW Germany - Rounds 13 & 14 - Nürburgring - Race
Races 13 + 14, 18-20 August 2006, Nürburgring.
Maiden wins for Ragginger and de Bruijn.
Nürburg. Fluctuating weather conditions added an extra edge to the Formula BMW
Germany entertainment at the Nürburgring. At lunchtime on Sunday, the team
engineers were talking about a wet-weather set-up, but come the start of the
race at 3.45 p.m. the 22 drivers were confronted by a drying track. Martin
Ragginger (AUT/Eifelland Racing) emerged from the pack to claim his first win
in the championship ahead of Nick de Bruijn (NLD/Josef Kaufmann Racing) and
Christian Vietoris (Gönnersdorf/Josef Kaufmann Racing). Saturday's race had
seen de Bruijn clinch his maiden Formula BMW victory from Vietoris and
Ragginger.
The result forced Vietoris to put his title celebrations on ice, and the
Gönnersdorf driver had to be content with a pair of podium finishes from the
weekend's races. "I'd love to have wrapped up the title here with a win, but
sadly it wasn't to be," lamented the 17-year-old. By contrast, the two winners
of the 13th and 14th races of the series - on a weekend which saw 116,000 fans
flock to the Nürburgring - were on top of the world. "It's great to get the
win. I'm lost for words," beamed Ragginger following the podium ceremony. The
finish could not come soon enough for the Austrian: "It was like driving on
chewing gum over the final laps. I was desperate to seal the victory."
The first-place man from Saturday's race was also delighted with his
achievement. "Now I want to repeat this success at Zandvoort. The rest of the
field had better get ready for a fight," warned de Bruijn. The next races in
the Formula BMW Germany will take place in two weeks' time (1-3 September) at
Zandvoort in the Netherlands. The latest first-time winners provided additional
evidence of the competitiveness of the series. The 14 races so far have thrown
up six different winners.
Vietoris - on 217 points - heads Mäki (140) and de Bruijn (110) in the overall
classification. With only 80 points still up for grabs, just three points
separate Vietoris from the title. It's a tight battle at the top of the Rookie
standings, meanwhile, with Jens Klingmann (Leimen/Eifelland Racing, 217) one
point ahead of Philipp Eng (AUT/ADAC Berlin-Brandenburg, 216), and Maximilian
Wissel (Hörstein/GU-Racing Motorsportteam, 148) in third. Wissel was Sunday's
"comeback king", powering from 13th on the grid to eighth - and a share in the
points - at the finish line.
Press contact: Anne Schildmacher,
Mobile: +49-170-3436286, as@9pm-media.com
Further information on Formula BMW Germany can be found at
www.press.bmw.com, www.adac.de/motorsport
Race 14, placings: 1. Martin Ragginger (AUT/Eifelland Racing) 22:00.839, 2.
Nick de Bruijn (NLD/Josef Kaufmann Racing) 22:03.716, 3. Christian Vietoris
(Gönnersdorf/Josef Kaufmann Racing) 22:04.553, 4. Mika Mäki (FIN/Eifelland
Racing) 22:05.370, 5. Philipp Eng (AUT/ADAC Berlin-Brandenburg) 22:05.989, 6.
Jens Klingmann (Leimen/Eifelland Racing) 22:06.205, 7. Dominik Wasem
(Seiboldsdorf/AM-Holzer Rennsport GmbH) 22:08.115, 8. Maximilian Wissel
(Hörstein/GU-Racing Motorsportteam) 22:09.634, 9. Marco Holzer
(Bobingen/AM-Holzer Rennsport GmbH) 22:10.349, 10. Christian Engelhart
(Kösching/ADAC Berlin-Brandenburg) 22: 14.343, 11. Josef Král (CZE/Micánek
Motorsport - Brno) 22:14.588, 12. Stefano Coletti (MCO/ADAC Berlin-Brandenburg)
22:15.746, 13. Tobias Hegewald (Waldbreitbach/ ADAC Mittelrhein) 22:16.333, 14.
Jens Höing (Berlin/GU-Racing Motorsportteam) 22:19.365, 15. Fabio Leimer
(CHE/Team Rosberg) 22:21.467, 16. Daniel Campos Hull (ESP/Josef Kaufmann
Racing) 22:23.706, 17. Christian Zacherl (Munich/AM-Holzer Rennsport)
22:38.014, 18. Yoshitaka Kuroda (JPN/ADAC Berlin-Brandenburg) 22:41.816, 19.
Bernd Herndlhofer (AUT/GU-Racing Motorsportteam) 22:46.682, 20. Andrei Harnagea
(GU-Racing Motorsportteam) + 1 lap. Not classified: Oskar Paegle (RUS/Eifelland
Racing), Sergio Perez Mendoza (MEX/ADAC Berlin-Brandenburg). Pole position:
Mäki. Fastest lap: de Bruijn 1:33.195 min. Track length: 50.806 km (14 laps).
Race 14, Rookie placings: 1. Eng, 2. Klingmann, 3. Wissel, 4. Leimer, 5.
Zacherl, 6. Harnagea.
Championship standings after 14 out of 18 races: 1. Vietoris (Gönnersdorf/Josef
Kaufmann Racing, 217), 2. Mäki (FIN/Eifelland Racing, 140), 3. de Bruijn
(NLD/Josef Kaufmann Racing, 110), 4. Klingmann (Leimen/Eifelland Racing, 106),
5. Coletti (MCO/ADAC Berlin-Brandenburg, 103), 6. Holzer (Bobingen/ AM-Holzer
Rennsport GmbH, 96), 7. Perez Mendoza (MEX/ADAC Berlin-Brandenburg, 78), 8. Eng
(AUT/ADAC Berlin-Brandenburg, 63), 9. Ragginger (AUT/Eifelland Racing, 56), 10.
Wasem (Seiboldsdorf/AM-Holzer Rennsport GmbH, 53), 11. Wissel (Hörstein/GU-
Racing Motorsportteam, 35), 12. Král (CZE/Micánek Motorsport - Brno, 21), 13.
Hegewald (Waldbreitbach/ADAC Mittelrhein, 20), 14. Schwägli (CHE/Team Kath
Racing, 9), 15. Höing (Berlin/GU-Racing Motorsportteam, 9), 16. Kronenberger
(Friedrichshafen/ Josef Kaufmann Racing, 8), 17. Leimer (CHE/Team Rosberg, 4),
18. Zacherl (Munich/AM-Holzer Rennsport GmbH, 3), 19. Kuroda (JPN/ADAC
Berlin-Brandenburg, 2), 20. Engelhart (Kösching/ADAC Berlin-Brandenburg).
Rookie standings: 1. Klingmann (217), 2. Eng (216), 3. Wissel (148), 4. Leimer
(116), 5. Zacherl (113), 6. Kronenberger (92), 7. Harnagea (63), 8. Paegle
(58), 9. Saavedra (12).
Team standings (based on the results of the two best drivers per team in each
race, top 4): 1. Josef Kaufmann Racing (330), 2. Eifelland Racing (246), 3.
ASL-Mücke Motorsport (234), 4. AM-Holzer Rennsport GmbH (143