Rounds 11 and 12 - Oschersleben - Season's fourth win for Sébastien Buemi.
At the race weekend in Oschersleben, the two championship favourites, Nicolas Hülkenberg (Emmerich/Josef Kaufmann Racing) and Sébastien Buemi (CHE/ADAC Berlin-Brandenburg), delivered a compelling performance before a crowd of 88,000. On Saturday, Hülkenberg prevailed over Buemi and João Urbano (POR/ADAC Berlin-Brandenburg), while Sunday saw Buemi win ahead of Urbano and Nick de Bruijn (NLD/Josef Kaufmann Racing), with Hülkenberg finishing fourth. "One win and a second place! I'm really happy," was Buemi's response.
Following this triumph in the championship battle, the Swiss driver - a mere 16 years old - edged closer to Hülkenberg, whose lead had now shrunk by ten points. On Saturday, Hülkenberg secured his fifth win of the season, while Sunday had Buemi crossing the line in first place for the fourth time. In the race for the title Hülkenberg leads with 187 points ahead of Buemi (172), Chris van der Drift (NLD/Team Rosberg, 111 points) and Urbano (110). "I thought I would catch up with Chris this weekend, but he still has a slim one-point lead over me," said Urbano summing up the results from his perspective.
But the happiest man on the podium was de Bruijn of the Netherlands. After his second-placed finish back in race number four, he had not made it into the top three again prior to this weekend. "Finally! I've already taken a big swig out of the champagne bottle. My team and my family will also be getting some. The bottle has to be emptied, otherwise it brings bad luck," explained the 18-year-old high-school pupil after the twelfth race of the season. With his half-empty but carefully packed bottle, de Bruijn set out after the race on his homeward journey back to his family in Holland.
Trailing de Bruijn and Hülkenberg, 17-year-old Marco Idili (NLD/HBR Motorsport) took third place in the Rookie classification for newcomers to the Formula series. In the overall classifications, the Dutch driver who lives in North Rhine-Westphalia made it into the points with a ninth-placed finish. For the junior driver sponsored by the ADAC and BMW it was the best result since race number seven on the Nürburgring.
Buemi came up trumps on Sunday with a start-finish victory that saw him carve out a lead of 3.7 seconds. "Now I'm already looking forward to the Norisring. There's always a fantastic atmosphere among the crowds there," said the Mücke driver. The next race in the Formula BMW ADAC Championship takes place in three weeks' time (15th-17th July) on Nuremberg's city circuit.
Race 12, placings:
1. Sébastien Buemi (CHE/ADAC Berlin-Brandenburg) 20:55.112, 2. João Urbano (POR/ADAC Berlin-Brandenburg) 20:58.864, 3. Nick de Bruijn (NLD/Josef Kaufmann Racing) 21:04.000, 4. Nicolas Hülkenberg (Emmerich/Josef Kaufmann Racing) 21:04.105, 5. Chris van der Drift (NLD/Team Rosberg) 21:09.190, 6. Markus Niemelä (FIN/Team Rosberg) 21:09.826, 7. Jonathan Summerton (USA/Team Rosberg) 21:10.325, 8. Tim Sandtler (Bochum/ AM-Holzer Rennsport) 21:12.523, 9. Marco Idili (NLD/HBR Motorsport) 21:14.544, 10. Andzej Dzikevic (LTU/ADAC Berlin-Brandenburg) 21:18.848, 11. Natacha Gachnang (CHE/Josef Kaufmann Racing) 21:19.148, 12. Martin Ragginger (AUT/ADAC Berlin-Brandenburg) 21:19.456, 13. Mika Mäki (FIN/Mika Mäki) 21:24.111, 14. Sergio Perez Mendoza (MEX/4speed Media) 21:24.716, 15. Henri Karjalainen (FIN/Team Rosberg) 21:26.585, 16. Tobias Hegewald (Waldbreitbach/ADAC Berlin-Brandenburg) 21:27.244, 17. Marco Holzer (Bobingen/AM-Holzer Rennsport) 21:27.257, 18. Christian Vietoris (Lissendorf/MLX-Eifelland Racing) 21:28.003, 19. Dominik Wasem (Seiboldsdorf/HBR Motorsport) 21:31.290, 20. Jens Höing (Berlin/Team Rosberg) 21:38.874, 21. Harald Schlegelmilch (LVA/AM-Holzer Rennsport) 21:39.293, 22. Fabio Onidi (ITA/Eifelland Racing) 21:39.519, 23. Johnny Cecotto jun. (Munich/Team Lauderbach Motorsport) 21:41.984, 24. Jiri Micanek (Czech National Team) 12 out of 14 laps. DNF: Stefano Coletti (MCO/Eifelland Racing), Robert Baughey (THA/Team Lauderbach Motorsport). Pole position: Buemi. Fastest race lap: Buemi 1:28.610 min. Circuit length: 51.338 km (14 laps)
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Race 12, Rookie placings (newcomers to the Formula series):1. de Bruijn (NLD/Josef Kaufmann Racing), 2. Hülkenberg (Emmerich/Josef Kaufmann Racing), 3. Idili (NLD/ HBR Motorsport), 4. Ragginger (AUT/ADAC Berlin-Brandenburg), 5. Mäki (FIN/Mika Mäki), 6. Perez Mendoza (MEX/4speed Media), 7. Hegewald (Waldbreitbach/ADAC Berlin-Brandenburg), 8. Vietoris (Lissendorf/MLX-Eifelland Racing), 9. Höing (Berlin/Team Rosberg), 10. Cecotto jun. (München/ Team Lauderbach Motorsport). DNF: Coletti (MCO/Eifelland Racing).
Championship standings after 12 out of 20 races: 1. Hülkenberg (187), 2. Buemi (172), 3. van der Drift (111), 4. Urbano (110), 5. de Bruijn (62), 6. Niemelä (43), 7. Gachnang (41), 8. Sandtler (37), 9. Ragginger (37), 10. Perez Mendoza (35), 11. Onidi (33), 12. Holzer (31), 13. Summerton (22), 14. Leuchter (16), 15. Coletti (12), 16. Mäki (9), 17. Vietoris (4), 18. Idili (4), 19. Hegewald (2), 20. Dzikevic (2), 21. Karjalainen (2).
Rookie standings: 1. Hülkenberg (235), 2. Ragginger (127), 3. de Bruijn (123), 4. Perez Mendoza (97), 5. Mäki (82), 6. Coletti (80), 7. Idili (60), 8. Hegewald (59), 9. Vietoris (50), 10. Cecotto jun. (25), 11. Höing (19).
