Picariello cruises to race one victory at Nurburgring

Photo: ADAC Formel Masters

Despite missing out on pole position, championship leader Alessio Picariello encountered little trouble in securing his sixth win of the ADAC Formel Masters season in race one at Nurburgring.

Starting from the front row, the Belgian got the jump on poleman Maximilian Gunther and was leading the race into turn one. He wouldn’t relinquish the lead at any point after that, driving a spectacular race on the way to increasing his championship lead.

Picariello was helped out by an intense fight for second place that unfolded over the last few laps. As Gunther eventually slowed down, Nicolas Beer used the opportunity to approach him and deprive Mucke of a 1-2 finish. Ralph Boschung also got involved in the fight, but finished narrowly behind third-placed Gunther.

Jason Kremer held onto fifth, despite coming under immense pressure from Hendrik Grapp and Mikkel Jensen in the beginning of the race. Eventually, going three-wide into turn one, he managed to outsmart the opposition, braking early and seeing both Grapp and Jensen go wide. The ensuing battle between the two saw Kremer build up a gap, which he managed to hold on to until the very end of the race.

Grapp ended the race in sixth, ahead of Neuhauser’s Marvin Dienst. Indy Dontje and Beitske Visser followed, with Visser having been previously involved in an incident with Jensen that put the latter out of the points. Stefan Riener completed the top ten.

Race results