14-year-old from Bruckmühl finishes an outstanding second by 0.003 seconds at motorsport talent scouting event at the Red Bull Ring.
Spielberg(A), 16.10.2012: Motorsport youngster Benjamin Mazatis (Bruckmühl) has qualified for one of the coveted cockpits in the entry-level formula racing series organised by BMW Motorsport with an outstanding performance at the Formula BMW Talent Cup Shoot-Out at the Red Bull Ring in Austria.
Despite being the youngest participant in the shoot-out with 15 riders from nine nations at the age of 14, Mazatis narrowly missed out on a sensation with a very small gap of just 0.003 seconds to the 18-year-old winner.
In four practice runs in sunny conditions on Monday, the talented young motorsport driver astounded the assembled competition with the fastest times of the day. Heavy continuous rain on Tuesday then brought extremely difficult conditions for the talented youngsters, but Mazatis was also at the top of the results lists here.
The actual shoot-out began in the afternoon and only the fastest seven drivers in the first qualifying session made it through to the final round for the prize money of EUR 33,000.00 for the 2013 BMW Talent Cup.
Drivers repeatedly skidded off the track in the wet conditions and Benjamin Mazati's time chase was permanently slowed down by numerous caution periods and cancellations. Literally in the final seconds of the first qualifying session, the 14-year-old crossed the finish line once again and achieved the third fastest time in the entire field with an extremely strong mental performance.
The nervousness before the final elimination was almost unbearable, but Mazatis impressed once again with an impressive coolness for a 14-year-old.
After just a few laps, it was clear that „Benni“ and an 18-year-old karting champion from the Netherlands would probably decide the prize money between them. Despite the age difference, the high school student from Bruckmühl took the lead on the sixth lap and was able to hold on to it until two laps before the end. The fast Dutchman countered virtually on the finish line, but although the qualifying session was now over, it was not yet clear who had ultimately won. BMW Motorsport also awarded an age bonus and the Dutchman was ultimately crowned the winner of the shoot-out with a narrow lead of just 0.003 seconds.
Benjamin Mazatis will decide in the coming weeks whether he will enter the Formula BMW Talent Cup 2013 despite missing out on the prize money.
With Formula BMW, BMW Motorsport can look back on two decades of a proven training concept that has produced two-time Formula 1 world champion Sebastian Vettel as well as numerous other Formula 1 drivers (including Nico Rosberg, Nico Hülkenberg, Timo Glock, Ralf Schumacher...) in addition to globally successful touring and sports car drivers.