Felipe Drugovich secures first ADAC Formula 4 pole of the year

• Danish driver Nielsen on pole for second race
• SPORT1 will cover the races from the Motorsport Arena live

Munich: Felipe Drugovich (16, Brazil, Van Amersfoort Racing) has secured the first pole position of the year in the ADAC Formula 4. At the season opener in Oschersleben, the Brazilian posted the fastest lap in qualifying of 1:25.746 minutes, consigning current rookie champion Nicklas Nielsen (20, Denmark, US Racing) to second place. The first race of the third season in the ADAC's high-speed academy will get under way on Saturday at noon. SPORT1 and SPORT1+ will cover the event. The race can be viewed online as a livestream at adac.de/motorsport and sport1.de.

“We're obviously dead chuffed. We've done the business. Things went well in the run-up to this meeting, and everything went extremely well today,” said Drugovich after his maiden Pole Position in ADAC Formula 4. “I've improved compared to last year and have come on as a driver. I now know what I have to do – we aim to win tomorrow, for sure!”

Qualifying on Friday was exciting until the very end. The lead changed hands several times between Sophia Flörsch (16, Grünwald, ADAC Berlin Brandenburg), Drugovich-Nielsen until Drugovich posted his best time which no one was able to beat. Fabio Scherer (17, Switzerland, US Racing) also led for a time. He finished fifth in the end behind Juri Vips (16, Estonia, Prema Powerteam) but in front of Jonathan Aberdein (19, South Africa, Motopark). Kami Laliberté (17, Canada, Van Amersfoort Racing), Juan Manuel Correa (17, USA, Ecuador, Prema Powerteam) and Marcus Armstrong (16, New Zealand, Prema Powerteam) completed the Top Ten. Belgian teenager Charles Weerts (16, Motopark) finished 17th and was best rookie.

Nicklas Nielsen will tackle the second race on Saturday (15.45 clock, live on SPORT1) from pole position in front of Drugovich. The second-best times from qualifying decide grid positions for this round, and once again, the top trio proved unbeatable. Scherer, Vips, Laliberté, Armstrong, Correa, Aberdein and Zendeli slotted into place behind them.

Sophia Flörsch initially qualified third for the first of second race, but was relegated to the back of the grid for both races as her car failed technical inspection after qualifying.

The grid slots for the third race are determined by the result of the first round. The Top Ten will line up on Sunday (11.45 clock, live at SPORT1+) in reverse order – the tenth-placed driver on pole position and the winner in P10.