Photo: ADAC Procar Media

Peter Rikli wins rain-aborted second race at the Nürburgring

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Swiss driver Peter Rikli took another win at the Nürburgring in the ADAC Procar Series, securing two wins from two starts as the European Touring Car Cup regular joined the field for the first time this season, while Yury Krauchuk ended Alexander Rambow’s season-long winning streak in the Division 2 class.

Rikli had secured pole position in his Super 2000 specification Honda Civic FD, run in the series’ Divison 1 class, setting a time half a second clear of Joachim Schirra’s MINI John Cooper Works, with Rikli’s team-mate Dario Pergolini third on the grid.

Alexander Rambow, already confirmed as the Divison 2 champion two race meetings early after a dominant season, would start from pole in his class in the ETH Tuning-run Peugeot 207 Sport, while Steve Kirsch had taken pole in the MINI Challenge Division 3 class.

Rikli led from the start, while team-mate Pergolini was an early retirement due to a mechanical problem with his Civic, which handed Franjo Kovac third place in the class.

In Division 2, there was a close fight for second place in the early stages, with Andreas Rinke in the Citroën Saxo fighting Ralf Glatzel in the Ford Fiesta, both running behind Rambow’s Peugeot. However, contact between Glatzel and Rinke saw them both drop down the order and promote Belarussian driver Yury Grauchuk to second, which became first when Rambow opted to pit for new tyres when the rain began to fall.

With the race suspended behind the safety car before eventually being red flagged, it was the wrong call for Rambow, and Grauchuk took his first victory of the season, ending Rambow’s flawless streak, who had won the first 13 races in a row.

In Division 3, the victory went to Steve Kirsch, who after heading into the race four points behind Thomas Tekaat, now heads to the season finale at the Sachsenring with a 16 point lead, with Tekaat having withdrawn from the championship ahead of this weekend, and so in principle has the Division 3 title in the bag with 20 points remaining, and third placed Kai Jordan 30 points behind.

In Division 1, Heikko Hammel continues to the lead the standings in his Wolf Racing Ford Fiesta 1.6T, but with Reinhard Nehls having scored as many points over the weekend, the gap of nine points between them remains, with 20 to be had in three weeks’ time.

The final round of the 2014 ADAC Procar Series takes place at the Sachsenring on September 20th-21st.