Tales from the Paddock: Nürburgring

• Championship fight goes to the wire: Mawson still ahead of Schumacher
• RaceRoom Challenge: Drugovich wins keenly fought battle on the simulator
• Strong showing by the rookies at the Nürburgring

Nürburg: The ADAC High Speed Academy staged another three exciting and eventful races at the Nürburgring last weekend, watched by more than 17,000 spectators during the weekend. With both the main contenders for the championship winning a race each - Joey Mawson (20, Australia, Van Amersfoort Racing) on Sunday and Mick Schumacher (17, Germany, Prema Powerteam) on Saturday - the ADAC Formula 4 title race remains wide open. Mawson (297 points) leads second-placed Schumacher, the son of record F1 championship winner Michael, by a margin of 46 points. Mike David Ortmann (16, Germany, ADAC Berlin-Brandenburg) in third is on 180 points, some distance behind Schumi Junior on 251, but at least had the satisfaction of opening up a gap on fourth-placed Kim-Luis Schramm (19, Germany, US Racing, 158 points). Meanwhile, Thomas Preining (18, Austria, Lechner Racing, 136 points), who celebrated a second victory of the season and of his career at the circuit in the Eifel forest, has been steadily working his way up the table and is now ranked fifth.

A strong impression was made by the rookies who claimed three of the nine available podium finishes and twelve Top Ten finishes from the weekend's three races. Nicklas Nielsen (19, Denmark, Neuhauser Racing, 265) leads the rookie standings by a 38-point margin. The biggest advance was made by Juri Vips (15, Estonia, Prema Powerteam, 205), who won the Best Rookie class twice at the Nürburgring and is now third in this category behind team-mate Juan Manuel Correa (16, USA/Ecuador, 227 points).

In the team standings, Van Amersfoort Racing (340 points) have a narrow lead over Prema Powerteam (332) and US Racing (322), the Kerpen-based outfit owned and managed by Gerhard Ungar and ex-Formula 1 driver Ralf Schumacher. From 19th to 21st August, ADAC Formula 4 will be making its debut at Zandvoort on the Dutch North Sea coast.

Stem Cell and Bone Marrow Awareness: Together with his sponsor TMS and in collaboration with the German bone marrow donor databank DKMS, Jannes Fittje (17, Germany, US Racing) sought to raise awareness among fans at the Nürburgring of the fight against leukaemia. And many heeded the call. ADAC Director of Motorsport and Classic Motoring Lars Soutschka as well as several drivers and team members led the way by example, volunteering for a cell sample to be taken. Inspired by the campaign slogan "Stäbchen rein - Spender sein" (Take a swab test and be a donor), more than 115 people had allowed a sample to be taken by the end of the racing action on Sunday. This exceeded the target set by the organisers. Fittje also publicised the message to the spectators watching the races - prominently displayed on the side of his ADAC Formula 4 racing car was the DKMS logo.

RaceRoom Challenge proves a big hit: The result of the RaceRoom Challenge on Saturday night was a win for Felipe Drugovich (16, Brazil, Neuhauser Racing) ahead of team-mate Nicklas Nielsen (19, Denmark) and Jannes Fittje. Almost the entire field of contestants for this year's junior formula series turned up at the RaceRoom Café on Ring Boulevard at the Nürburgring for a simulator race, which they all took very seriously. "It was a lot of fun," said championship leader Joey Mawson after the event. You can see the virtual race on the RaceRoom YouTube channel at https://youtu.be/9j-gVSWEtjg.

Two wheels instead of four: The two ADAC Sports Foundation protégés Jannes Fittje and Mike David Ortmann got to know the historical circuit in the Eifel mountains from a completely different perspective in the run-up to the race weekend. As members of the Deutsche Post Speed Academy squad, they each put in a stint in the annual 24-hour cycle race around the track - including the famous Nordschleife (North Loop). Their team came 22nd out of a field of 80 with a finishing time of 23:36:12 hours. "A super occasion," said Fittje. Ortmann agreed: "It was really marvellous."

Watching the adults at work: On the last weekend in July, Sophia Flörsch (15, Germany, Motopark), Mick Schumacher and team-mate Kami Laliberté (16, Canada, Van Amersfoort Racing) watched the Grand Prix at the Hockenheimring and also got an idea of what it's like to compete in Formula 1. ADAC Formula 4 patron Sebastian Vettel considers this to be the ideal career preparation. "Having Formula 1 come to Germany is important for the next generation of drivers, because it serves as a great motivation," said the four-time world champion. "I watch the ADAC Formula 4 races on TV whenever I have the opportunity. The youngsters lay on a really exciting display of motor racing. I am curious to see how many of the current crop of ADAC Formula 4 contestants make the step up to Formula 1 in the next few years and eventually compete in the German Grand Prix." The Ferrari driver himself contested ADAC junior formula series in 2003 and 2004.

VIP visitors: Porsche's Head of Motorsport Dr Frank-Steffen Walliser followed with interest the three races of the ADAC High Speed Academy at the Nürburgring this weekend and presented the trophies to the winners afterwards. World Sportscar Champion and ADAC GT Masters team boss Timo Bernhard also handed out trophies on the ADAC Formula 4 podium: not long after the second victory of his team in the ADAC GT Masters, the Porsche works driver honoured the best rookie in the first of the three ADAC Formula 4 races.

Race pundit: Former DTM champion Bruno Spengler was at the Nürburgring primarily to mentor his protégé Louis Gachot (16, GB, US Racing), but he also joined Sport 1 commentator Patrick Simon in the TV commentary box. The Franco-Canadian impressed viewers with his expert and entertaining insights into the action on the track. Also doing a stint on the Sport1 microphone this weekend was ADAC GT Masters driver Markus Winkelhock.

Newcomer: Switzerland's Giacomo Bianchi (16, Jenzer Motorsport) drove his first ever ADAC Formula 4 laps in the Nürburgring fixture. The teenager from Lugano finished two of the three races in 25th position.

Last but not least, a few congratulations: Marylin Niederhauser (Switzerland, Rennsport Roessler) celebrated her 21st birthday on Monday. Juan Manuel Correa was 17 on 9th August, and team-mate Juri Vips turned 16 on 10th August.