Kiwi Richie Stanaway (18) driving for the Ma-Con Motorsport Team in the German Formula ADAC Masters championship, experienced his first DNF in the seven round (21 races) championship at the Lausiz Eurospeedway on the weekend when his car suffered an electrical failure while he was dicing for the lead in the third of the three races.
However, as he had won the previous two races, the DNF has not threatened his substantial overall championship lead, which has two rounds (six races) to go.
Stanaway had been significantly fastest in all three practice sessions, but qualifying was held in pouring rain which brought out numerous yellow and red flags and Stanaway was able to get in just one clear lap which put him in second place on the grid.
By the time of the first race, the track was beginning to dry, and as it did so, Stanaway quickly moved into the lead after dropping back to third after the start, passing his team-mate, William Vermont, after a good dice and took the win by over six seconds, extending his championship points lead by 8 points.
Stanaway started from pole position for the second race, opening a good lead until a crash brought out the safety car for five laps. Once the race was re-started, Stanaway pulled away and won by a comfortable 10 seconds to take his ninth win out of 14 races, his team-mate Vermont finishing second on the track after a race-long battle with Patrick Schranner. However, Vermont later received a penalty for setting a personal best sector time under the yellow flag which dropped him back to ninth, putting Schranner up to second.
Race 3 was looking to be another good race for Richie, but unfortunately after the electronics failed, it caused his first DNF of the championship and the first time he had been off the podium all year. Despite this, Richie has now led the most distance, won more races and had more podiums than any other driver in the history of the series. The race was won by Schranner from Tweraser.
“While it was disappointing not to finish the last race, the first two races were sensational and there was nothing I could have done about what happened in the final race. I have to say a huge thanks to my Ma-Con team who did a great job all weekend,” said Stanaway.
Points: Stanaway 255, Schranner 202, Farmbacher 145, Pascal 116, Vermont 104.
Next round: August 28-9 Nurburgring.
