ADAC Formula 4 at Oschersleben: Austria’s Preining celebrates maiden pole

• Championship leader Joey Mawson starts from pole in Race 2
• Mick Schumacher in second place for first two races
• Drivers steel themselves for changeable weather

Oschersleben: Thomas Preining (17, Austria, Lechner Racing) and Joey Mawson (20, Australia, Van Amersfoort Racing) start from pole position in rounds ten and eleven of the 2016 ADAC Formula 4 in the Motorsport Arena Oschersleben. On a dry track, 17-year-old Preining set a best time of 1:26.398 minutes in qualifying for the first race. “My first lap wasn’t all that good, as I made a couple of errors,” said Preining. “But on the second lap, everything went just right, and fortunately that was good enough. I wouldn’t say that we were in need of a lucky break, because it was down to our own efforts that we are right up there at the front. We can be proud of that as a team.”

Joining him on the front row in the first of the three ADAC Formula 4 races in Saxony-Anhalt is Mick Schumacher (17, Germany, Prema Powerteam) who set a time of 1:46.555 mins, making him the fastest driver in Group B. Whereas the first batch of drivers contested their qualifying session in the dry, those in Group B had to contend with heavy rain. Now all of them have to prepare for changeable conditions in the races themselves. “The weather at Oschersleben is unpredictable,” says Mawson. Pole-setter Preining concurs: “The weather forecasts all say something different. But I’m not going to worry about that, because we are fast and competitive in all conditions.” SPORT1 will be showing the first of the three ADAC Formula 4 races on Saturday live, starting at 17:00.

Tense battle for championship lead

Mawson, who is a mere three points ahead of Schumacher in the standings, will start from third place in Saturday’s race after posting a lap time of 1:26.449 mins. “We had a very good day today,” said the Australian. “This track suits us. Too bad it wasn’t quite good enough for pole position.” Starting from P4 is Simo Laaksonen (17, Finland, Motopark, 1:46.586). The third row has been booked by Felipe Drugovich (16, Brazil, Neuhauser Racing, 1:26.830), who is currently placed second in the Rookie standings, and by Jonathan Aberdein (18, South Africa, Motopark, 1:47.086).

Mawson and Schumacher on front row for Race 2

The starting positions for the second race on Sunday (live coverage commences 09:30 on SPORT1 live) are determined by the second-best lap times of the session. Joey Mawson’s lap of 1:26.451 placed him in pole. Next were Mick Schumacher (1:46.850) and Thomas Preining (1:26.797) ahead of Simo Laaksonen (1:47.266). Lirim Zendeli (16, Germany, ADAC Berlin-Brandenburg e.V.) qualified in fifth place with a time of 1:26.932 mins. Joining him on the third row is team-mate Mike David Ortmann (16, Germany). The ADAC Sports Foundation protégé’s second-fastest lap time was 1:47.293 minutes.

The grid for the third race on Sunday (live coverage on SPORT1 from 17:00) is determined by the result of Race 1. The Top Ten then start in reverse order.