Elias Adestam and Ellis Spiezia claims back-to-back victories in NXT Gen Cup at Oschersleben
Just as in the premiere at Falkenberg, Elias Adestam and Ellis Spiezia won one race each, as the 100% electric junior championship NXT Gen Cup held its first race weekend outside Sweden at Oschersleben in Germany.
Race one saw the 17 car strong field, with drivers from six different countries, race in wet conditions for the first time.
It was championship leader and pole sitter Ellis Spiezia who got the best launch, leading from the start. Linus Granfors soon passed Spiezia to take the lead, but only briefly as his car came to a halt with a faulty sensor, which caused a safety car.
In the restart after the safety car, Elias Adestam were quickly up behind Ellis Spiezia. With a push-to-passed saved to the last lap, Adestam passed the American racer to take his second victory of the season.
I feel very happy of course, but it was not easy and without the safety cars we would have no chance. I thought that Ellis would have another push-to pass, but he did not. So when I got along him and passed, I knew that I was going to win. It was a shame the Linus broke down when he was leading, I really feel bad for him because we are good friends and that was very unfortunate, said Elias Adestam.
We thought it was going to be more wet than it was, but it was a dry line in the middle. In the end, we protected the second place, rather than fighting for the win and risking getting taken out or falling to the back and not scoring any championship points, said Ellis Spiezia.
Dane Victor Nielsen crossed the line to claim third in the first race at Oschersleben.
I got a pretty bad start and dropped back to sixth. I then thought that I was just going to do my own race. It worked out, I got up to fifth, and then the safety car came out, and I used my push-to-pass to take third in the restart. Of course I want to win, but I take this, said Victor Nielsen.
Sebastian Kinnmark started the dry second race from the reversed grid pole position, but it was Alexzander Kristiansson who got the best start and jumped Kinnmark off the line.
The safety car was deployed as British driver Katie Turner got stuck in the gravel trap after locking her rear brakes, meaning the field got packed together with Alexzander Kristiansson in front.
With a masterly use of push-to-pass, Ellis Spiezia passed two cars at the restart to claim the lead and build a small gap to Jonathan Engström, now in second place. Spiezia took the checkered flag as race winner, just as he did in Falkenberg.
Jonathan Engström and Alexzander Kristiansson claimed their first NXT Gen Cup podiums as second and third.
I had some technical problems in the qualifying that put us 10th, so to come back as second in this race is really good. The car felt amazing, it is a really fun track. It could not be been better, said Jonathan Engström.
It feels really good to be on the podium. A revenge from my home race in Falkenberg when I was third when the car stopped. A good weekend with some great battles on track, said Alexzander Kristiansson.
Race 1 winner Elias Adestam made a mistake going into turn one, dropping to the back of the field. The Swedish star made up some positions during the race to finish ninth.
Championship contender Linus Granfors started from the back in Race 2, and climbed 10 positions to take sixth.
With pole position, one win and another podium, Ellis Spiezia extended his championship lead to a solid 32 points margin over Elias Adestam leaving Oschersleben.
There are so few rounds in this championship, so consistency is key. Yes, I would have liked maximum points with the win in Race 1. But in terms of the championship, this was a really strong round for us. We expected the German rounds to be strong for us, to really bring the gap as far forward as we could. Having that at the end of the year, when it really comes down to it at tracks I dont know, to stack up a lead like this is really good, said Ellis Spiezia.
Siri Hökfelt finished the weekend as the best female driver with 10th and 11th in the races, holding 11th place in the championship after the first German round.