- Third victory of season for Schumacher ahead of Mawson and Fittje
- Local favourite Ortmann in fourth position
- Third of three races at the Lausitzring takes place on Sunday
Klettwitz: Mick Schumacher (17, Germany, Prema Powerteam) has now also won the
second of the three ADAC Formula 4 races at the Lausitzring this weekend, his third win of
the season. Starting from pole position, the son of German record F1 championship winner
Michael Schumacher ran out winner ahead of current championship leader Joey Mawson
(20, Australia, Van Amersfoort Racing) and Jannes Fittje (16, Germany, US Racing). With
just under three and a half minutes left, the race was halted prematurely after several
safety car deployments. The result is still provisional because of ongoing investigations by
the stewards. “With two wins from two races, you clearly couldn’t wish for more, so
obviously I’m pleased about that,” said Schumacher. “But I would also have liked to do a
little more driving in race mode.”
Local favourite Mike David Ortmann (16, Germany, ADAC Berlin-Brandenburg e.V.) came
fourth ahead of Fittje’s team-mate Kim-Luis Schramm (18, Germany). In sixth place was
Lirim Zendeli (16, Germany, ADAC Berlin-Brandenburg e.V.), who consequently picked up
the best rookie trophy. Thomas Preining (17, Austria, Lechner Racing) finished seventh
ahead of Felipe Drugovich (15, Brazil, Neuhauser Racing). Juan Manuel Correa (16,
USA/Ecuador, Prema Powerteam) and Fabio Scherer (16, Switzerland, Jenzer Motorsport)
completed the Top Ten.
Having started the race from P1 to P3 respectively, Schumacher, Mawson and Fittje
successfully defended their positions on the first few corners. While Zendeli fell back
slightly, Ortmann moved up from seventh to fourth. At the end of the first lap, the safety car
was sent out following contact on the track between Kevin Kratz (19, Germany, Jenzer
Motorsport) and Andreas Estner (15, Germany, RS Competition).
The restart was followed by two further safety car deployments, the first of which was
triggered by a collision between Yannick Brandt (15, Germany, Lechner Racing) and Toni
Wolf (16, Austria, KUG Motorsport), and a second one between Louis Gachot (16, Great
Britain, US Racing) and Michael Waldherr (19, Germany, Lechner Racing). Eventually the
race director decided to halt proceedings altogether.
The third race of the ADAC Formula 4 weekend starts tomorrow afternoon at 17:55 local
time when, once again, the contestants will be competing for valuable championship
points. The action will be streamed live on www.adac.de/formel-4 and www.sport1.de.
Leonard Hoogenboom (16, Netherlands, RS Competition) will start from pole position
ahead of local hero Mike Ortmann and Kim-Luis Schramm.
Further comments on the ADAC Formula 4 race:
Joey Mawson (second, Van Amersfoort Racing): “Unfortunately, we didn’t get as much
driving in today as we would have wished. This weekend, we’re aiming to score as many
points as possible, because Mick is getting a bit closer.”
Jannes Fittje (third, US Racing): “I’m satisfied, but it wasn’t good that the race was
interrupted so often. If the race had run normally, I might have been in with a chance of
second place or even victory. But we were quick, and we’ll try our luck again tomorrow.”
Lirim Zendeli (Best Rookie, ADAC Berlin-Brandenburg e.V.): “I’m definitely happy about that.
The pace is there. On the first two weekends, I was unable to prove that. It was important to
get off to a good start today. I managed to do that. If you start from near the front, there’s
not much that can happen to you. But anyway, I’ve fulfilled one ambition today, namely to
stand on the top rung of the podium. Because of the penalty I incurred in Race 1, I have to
start the third race on Sunday from 21st on the grid. At the Sachsenring, I moved up from
35th place to eleventh. I hope it works out that way tomorrow as well.”