Serial winner Gutierrez tops the podium six consecutive times.

 

Hockenheim, 20 July 2008. There’s no end to Mexican driver Esteban Gutierrez’s (Josef Kaufmann Racing) winning streak in Formula BMW Europe. At the Hockenheimring the 16-year-old from Monterrey took his sixth race win in a row in this successful junior race series. After eight out of 16 rounds, he now has a tally of 226 points, followed by Adrien Tambay (FR/Eifelland Racing, 180 points) and Marco Wittmann (Josef Kaufmann Racing, 150 points). Gutierrez relegated Eifelland driver Tambay and his team-mate Wittmann to second and third places in both races.

 

The terraces were well occupied as the junior drivers contested their race on Sunday as part of the Hockenheim Formula One Grand Prix support programme. Polesetter Gutierrez managed to stretch the gap to his rivals lap for lap. Tambay, son of the former F1 driver Patrick Tambay, was behind him, followed by Daniel Juncadella (ES/Eurointernational). Juncadella from Spain paid for a minor mistake on lap nine when Wittmann got past him and, despite a close battle all the way to the close, managed to secure the remaining podium place.

 

The next stop for Formula BMW Europe is the Hungarian Grand Prix from 1 to 3 August 2008.

 

1st place Esteban Gutierrez (MX/Josef Kaufmann Racing):
“Two poles, two fastest race laps and two wins – the perfect weekend. Although I have now won six times in a row, I just try to think from one race to the next. I push aside any thoughts of overall victory at the end of the season. During the race I really got into my rhythm and just kept pushing.”

 

2nd place Adrien Tambay (FR/Eifelland Racing):
“It was a much better race than on Saturday. I didn’t make any major mistakes and kept the car at the limit all the time. For the upcoming races in Hungary we need to do some work on making my car even easier to drive. We need greater consistency in the lap times.”

 

3rd place Marco Wittmann (DE/Josef Kaufmann Racing):
“I had a good start. I even thought I could get past Adrien and Daniel. But then during the race I had a bit of trouble with the fast corners. When I was overtaking Daniel our cars touched – fortunately without any serious consequences. I’m really pleased with the keen media interest at my home race. From that point of view, two podium places are great.”

Results 8th round:
1. Esteban Gutierrez (MX/Josef Kaufmann Racing) 23:01.659
2. Adrien Tambay (FR/Eifelland Racing) 23:08.318
3. Marco Wittmann (DE/Josef Kaufmann Racing) 23:12.201
4. Daniel Juncadella (ES/Eurointernational) 23:12.757
5. Kevin Breysse (FR/DAMS Team) 23:18.878
6. Pedro Bianchini (BR/FMS International) 23:20.837
7. Jazeman Jaafar (MY/AM-Holzer Rennsport) 23:22.287
8. Mihai Marinescu (RO/FMS International) 23:24.485
9. Ollie Millroy* (GB/FMS International) 23:25.492
10. Alexander Rossi (US/Eurointernational) 23:25.509
11. William Buller (GB/Fortec Motorsport) 23:25.918
12. Philipp Eng (AT/Mücke Motorsport) 23:26.177
13. Facundo Regalia* (ES/Eurointernational) 23:26.256
14. Rupert Svendsen-Cook (GB/Double R Racing) 23:31.932
15. Henrique Martins* (BR/Eifelland Racing) 23:32.860
16. Thomas Hillsdon* (GB/Motaworld Racing) 23:34.513
17. Jim Pla (FR/DAMS Team) 23:34.843
18. Carlos Huertas (CO/Double R Racing) 23:36.012
19. Tiago Geronimi (BR/Eifelland Racing) 23:38.683
20. Doru Sechelariu (RO/Fortec Motorsport) 23:39.437
21. David Mengesdorf* (DE/Mücke Motorsport) 23:42.605
22. Juan Cevallos (EC/Mücke Motorsport) 23:43.659
23. Joel Volluz (CH/DAMS Team) 23:45.184
24. Ramon Pineiro* (ES/Fortec Motorsport) 23:54.260
25. Asad Rahman* (AE/Motaworld Racing) 24:09.253.
26. Michael Christensen* (DK/Double R Racing) +1 lap
27. Kazeem Manzur* (GB/Josef Kaufmann Racing) DNF.
Not classified: Mathijs Harkema (NL/Motaworld Racing). Fastest race lap: Esteban Gutierrez (MX/Josef Kaufmann Racing) 1:45.269.
* Rookie

 

Standings after 8 out of 16 rounds:
1. Esteban Gutierrez (MX/Josef Kaufmann Racing) 226,
2. Adrien Tambay (FR/Eifelland Racing) 180,
3. Marco Wittmann (DE/Josef Kaufmann Racing) 150,
4. Daniel Juncadella (ES/Eurointernational) 138,
5. Pedro Bianchini (BR/FMS International) 101,
6. Mihai Marinescu (RO/FMS International) 92,
7. Carlos Huertas (Co/Double R Racing) 64,
8. David Mengesdorf* (DE/Mücke Motorsport) 63,
9. Michael Christensen* (DK/Double R Racing) 60,
10. Kevin Breysse (FR/DAMS Team) 53,
11. Jazeman Jaafar (MY/AM-Holzer Rennsport) 51,
11. Rupert Svendsen-Cook (GB/Double R Racing) 42,
13. Doru Sechelariu (RO/Fortec Motorsport) 33,
14. William Buller (GB/Fortec Motorsport) 30,
15. Kazeem Manzur* (GB/Josef Kaufmann Racing) 25,
16. Henrique Martins* (BR/Eifelland Racing) 18,
17. Ramon Pineiro* (ES/Fortec Motorsport) 14,
18. Ollie Millroy* (GB/FMS International) 14,
19. Facundo Regalia* (ITA/Eurointernational) 10,
20. Tiago Geronimi (BR/Eifelland Racing) 9,
21. Mathijs Harkema (NL/Motaworld Racing) 9,
22. Jordan Williams (GB/DAMS Team) 4,
23. Thomas Hillsdon* (GB/Motaworld Racing) 4,
24. Jim Pla (FR/DAMS Team) 2,
25. Juan Cevallos (EC/Mücke Motorsport) 0,
26. Anthony Comas (FR/Mücke Motorsport) 0,
27. Bastian Graber (DE/AM-Holzer Rennsport) 0,
28. Asad Rahman* (AE/Motaworld Racing) 0.

 

Rookie standings:
1. David Mengesdorf* (DE/Mücke Motorsport) 63,
2. Michael Christensen* (DK/Double R Racing) 60,
3. Kazeem Manzur* (GB/Josef Kaufmann Racing) 25,
4. Henrique Martins* (BR/Eifelland Racing) 15,
5. Ramon Pineiro* (ES/Fortec Motorsport) 14,
6. Ollie Millroy* (GB/FMS International) 6,
7. Facundo Regalia* (ITA/Eurointernational) 5,
8. Thomas Hillsdon* (GB/Motaworld Racing) 2,
9. Asad Rahman* (AE/Motaworld Racing) 0.

 

Team standings:
1. Josef Kaufmann Racing 349, 2. Eifelland Racing 178, 3. Fisichella Motor Sport International 175, 4. Double R Racing 162, 5. Eurointernational 123, 6. Fortec Motorsport Ltd. 69, 7. Mücke Motorsport 63, 8. DAMS Team 42, 9. AM-Holzer Rennsport 39, 10. Motaworld Racing 11.

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