Hockenheim, 18th July 2008. Mexican driver Esteban Gutierrez (Josef Kaufmann Racing) once again showed his calibre during qualifying for
Formula BMW Europe in Hockenheim. The 16-year-old secured pole position for the championship’s 7th race on Saturday (17.40-18.10 hrs). His immediate rivals in the battle for crucial points were also on good form: Daniel Juncadella (ES/Eurointernational) will be starting from second place and Adrien Tambay (FR/Eifelland Racing) from third. The best German driver was Marco Wittmann (DE/Josef Kaufmann Racing) from Markt Erlbach in Franconia, who came fourth to take his place in the second row of the grid. The 28-strong field of drivers hailing from 16 countries will be contesting two races as part of the support programme of the Formula One Grand Prix at Hockenheim.

 

7th race.
Polesetter: Esteban Gutierrez (MX/Josef Kaufmann Racing).
“Right now I feel incredibly confident, and that always pays off when I’m out on the track. Of course past successes play a role, and I’ve got four wins under my belt. In order to hit the pace at the right moment in qualifying, I do special concentration exercises beforehand. Our team is working really brilliantly at the moment. All three cars are among the front runners.”

 

7th race.
Best rookie: Kazeem Manzur (GB/Josef Kaufmann Racing).
“I’m thrilled to be going into the 7th race as best rookie. 6th place on the grid is a good starting position. Our late qualifying meant there was a lot of rubber on the track. I managed pretty well, but I nearly did even better: on the last lap I was very fast in the first two sectors, but then I was held up by another driver and couldn’t improve my time further.”

 

Grid positions 7th race:
1. Esteban Gutierrez (MX/Josef Kaufmann Racing) 1:45.009
2. Daniel Juncadella (ES/Eurointernational) 1:45.194
3. Adrien Tambay (FR/Eifelland Racing) 1:45.253
4. Marco Wittmann (DE/Josef Kaufmann Racing) 1:45.458
5. Pedro Bianchini (BR/FMS International) 1:45.799
6. Kazeem Manzur* (GB/Josef Kaufmann Racing) 1:45.854
7. Jazeman Jaafar (MY/AM-Holzer Rennsport) 1:45.870
8. David Mengesdorf* (DE/Mücke Motorsport) 1:45.897
9. Ramon Pineiro* (ES/Fortec Motorsport) 1:45.901

 

10. Alexander Rossi (US/Eurointernational) 1:45.958
11. Mihai Marinescu (RO/FMS International) 1:45.983
12. Kevin Breysse (FR/DAMS Team) 1:45.991
13. Ollie Millroy* (GB/FMS International) 1:46.048
14. Tiago Geronimi (BR/Eifelland Racing) 1:46.056
15. Joel Volluz (CH/DAMS Team) 1:46.136
16. Facundo Regalia* (ES/Eurointernational) 1:46.143
17. Michael Christensen* (DK/Double R Racing) 1:46.189
18. Rupert Svendsen-Cook (GB/Double R Racing) 1:46.240
19. William Buller (GB/Fortec Motorsport) 1:46.285
20. Doru Sechelariu (RO/Fortec Motorsport) 1:46.315
21. Jim Pla (FR/DAMS Team) 1:46.384
22. Philipp Eng (AT/Mücke Motorsport) 1:46.385
23. Mathijs Harkema (NL/Motaworld Racing) 1:46.413
24. Thomas Hillsdon* (GB/Motaworld Racing) 1:46.492
25. Carlos Huertas (CO/Double R Racing) 1:46.587
26. Henrique Martins* (BR/Eifelland Racing) 1:46.590
27. Juan Cevallos (EC/Mücke Motorsport) 1:47.782
28. Asad Rahman* (AE/Motaworld Racing) 1:49.986.

 

Provisional results:
Drivers Mengesdorf (DE), Bianchini (BR) and Pineiro (ES) will forfeit their fastest qualifying lap on Saturday due to an infringement of the rules: in qualifying the drivers came off the track with all four wheels. The final grid line-up for races 7 and 8 will be posted on Saturday.

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