Double pole for Zendeli – Drugovich starts well ahead of Armstrong and Vips

• Lirim Zendeli goes fastest in qualifying – Second on the grid twice for Drugovich
• Championship leader Armstrong qualifies in P21, Juri Vips in P14
• Title chase reaches its climax this weekend in Hockenheim

Hockenheim: Among the trio of ADAC Formula 4 championship contenders, Felipe Drugovich (17, Brazil, Van Amersfoort Racing) has set the other two – Marcus Armstrong (17, New Zealand, Prema Powerteam) and Juri Vips (17, Estonia, Prema Powerteam) – a tough challenge. In the final qualifying session for the season, the Brazilian secured P2 for the first two races behind double pole-sitter Lirim Zendeli (17, Bochum, ADAC Berlin Brandenburg, Germany), but more importantly, there is a huge gap on the grid between him and his two fiercest rivals from Prema Powerteam. Vips qualified in 14th place, while top-of-the-table Armstrong suffered a number of problems along the way and had to settle for 21st place in the first round.

Zendeli and Drugovich also monopolise the first row for the second race on Saturday afternoon (14:45 CEST). Vips will once again start from 14th place, while Armstrong has to tackle the race from last on the grid. Drugovich thus has a great opportunity to close the gap on the current leader. Going into the weekend, he was 18.5 points behind Armstrong and 17 behind Vips, but three victories would earn him a maximum 75 points.

Lirim Zendeli was ecstatic to have recorded his first double pole in the ADAC Formula 4 series: “After I was four tenths down on Drugovich in free practice, I was assuming he would be unbeatable. But then I put in an absolutely flawless lap. The feeling is even better than at the Nürburgring when I secured my first ever pole position. It’s really tough here, and you have to fight hard for every last millimetre. Everyone pushes right to the end and goes to the limit. I intend to convert this into a win and show what I’m capable of.”

Drugovich was also well satisfied: “Qualifying was good – that was a great start to the weekend. I’m totally focused on myself and on my own performance. What the others do and what results they get is of secondary importance to me.”

Third place on the grid for Race 1 went to Jonathan Aberdein (19, South Africa, Motopark) ahead of Frederik Vesti (15, Denmark, Van Amersfoort Racing) and 2016 Best Rookie champion Nicklas Nielsen (20, Denmark, US Racing). The Dane leads a US Racing trio, the other two members of which are team-mates Kim-Luis Schramm (20, Germany) and Fabio Scherer (18, Switzerland).

Michael Waldherr (20, Germany, Neuhauser Racing) and Artem Petrov (17, Russia, Van Amersfoort Racing) qualified eighth and ninth respectively. Tenth place was originally booked by Sophia Flörsch (16, Germany, ADAC Berlin-Brandenburg e.V.), but following a decision by the sports tribunal of the DMSB, she has been excluded from the first race as a penalty for an incident in free practice during the Oschersleben event in July. Julian Hanses (20, Germany, US Racing) moves up to take her tenth place. In the second race, Flörsch will start from twelfth.

Positions for this second race are decided by the second-best qualifying time posted by each contestant. Jonathan Aberdein, Nicklas Nielsen and Frederik Vesti will line up third, fourth and fifth respectively. Positions six to ten go to Kim-Luis Schramm, Michael Waldherr, Artem Petrov, Fabio Scherer and Julian Hanses.