Tauranga’s  Richie Stanaway (18), racing in the ADAC Formula Masters Championship in Germany for the Ma-Con team, experienced a frustrating weekend at the fourth round of the championship at the Assen TT circuit, despite taking a win and two seconds in the three races.

In qualifying in wet conditions, his engine was plagued by an electrical problem meaning the car wouldn’t go above idle. The problem was suspected to have been resolved prior to the first race  although it came back during the formation lap and Richie was lucky to make the start of the race. Starting from the rear of the grid, he charged through the field to finish second, manually using his on-off switch several times a lap to temporarily resest the electronics in his engine and in the meantime set the fastest lap of the race by almost half a second.

However, in the second race, with the problem now resolved, he quickly moved into the lead from the start and won the race by over eight seconds, setting the fastest lap-time.

Starting from the front of the grid in the third race, Richie suffered with a balance issue and wasn’t able to carry the race pace over from race two, but still managed to take second place for the final race of the weekend.

“This weekend it was great to salvage three podium places after our problems early on, and it’s nice to continue our strong run in the championship,” said Stanaway.

Despite his problems, Stanaway continues to lead the ADAC Formula Masters Championship by 60 points, going into the fifth round at the Lausitz Eurospeedway on August 14-15.

Points: Stanaway 215, Schranner 155, Farmcacher 121, Wehrlein 108.

Next round: August 13-15 Lausitz Eurospeedway.

ADAC Formula Masters Championship

1 – April 10-13 Oschersleben

2 – May 7-9 Sachsenring

3 – May 28-30 Hockenheim

4 – July 16-18 TT circuit Assen

5 – August 14-15 Eurospeedway Lausitz

6 – August 27-29 Nurburgring

7 – October 2-3 Oschersleben

For further information:  

Richie Stanaway Mob: 0049 1522 398 4487 or Robin Curtis Mob: 0274 864 794

www.richiestanaway.com