Kiwi driver Richie Stanaway dominated the 2010 ADAC Formula Masters, winning 12 of the first 18 races and going on to claim overall victory in the German single seater championship with a round to spare. We look back at the third round at Hockenheim……
Stanaway stuns ‘em again
Kiwi Richie Stanaway (18), from Tauranga, turned in another stunning performance at the third round of the 2010 ADAC Masters Championship at the Hockenring circuit in Germany when he again won all three races, extending his lead in the championship by 65 points.
Richie had an additional challenge when he struggled in testing and his team found a worn part in the rear drivetrain which was causing bad oversteer. With that problem fixed in time for qualifying, he managed to qualify in fourth place due to the lack of time for quality testing
Richie made a great start and was in the lead by the hairpin, but then a couple of late-braking cars ran him wide, which meant he dropped a couple of places. Then he was hit from behind and lost another position. What followed was what Richie describes as ‘one of the exciting races of my career’ as he pushed to the maximum, driving on the edge for the rest of the race to take the win. Richie’s points lead was also enhanced when both Patrick Schranner (second in the championship) and Pascal Wehrlein (third in the championship) were given drive-through penalties for excessively driving outside the white lines on the track.
The second race was run in wet conditions and Stanaway, starting from pole position after winning the previous race, made a good start and gradually pulled away to take his second win.
Race three was run in dry conditions, and with his Ma-Con car running and handling very well, Richie was able to open a good lead, driving away to win by 11 seconds.
“That was a very satisfying meeting. Once we sorted out the problem in testing, the car ran perfectly in all weather conditions and I have to thank my Ma-Con Motorsport team for all their good work,” said Stanaway.
The next (fourth) round of the six-round championship is at the Assen Circuit from July 16-18.
Points:
Stanaway 165,
Schranner (Ger) 100,
Fambacher (Ger) 85,
Wehrlein (Ger) 77, V
ermont (Fra) 63,
Tweraser (Aut) 52.
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