Race Report

FIA ADAC FORMULA 4
GERMAN CHAMPIONSHIP, Rounds 13/14/15

Circuit: RedBull Ring (A), Length 4,326 km, 22^nd/23^rd/24^th July 2016
www.projekt-spielberg.at

JENZER MOTORSPORT 2016:
Jan-Erik Meikup (EST), Fabio Scherer (CH), Kevin Kratz (D), Job van Uitert (NL) and Diego Ciantini (ARG)

CIANTINI BEST OF THE BUNCH AT THE RED BULL RING

The fourth of eight race events featuring the FIA ADAC Formula 4 German Championship took place at the challenging Red Bull Ring at Zeltweg (A). 35 drivers had entered this event. The races can be followed live on Sport1 tv and on the official website under Live Streaming.

Qualifying

Friday, 22/07/2016, 15.40 – 16.25, Weather: Sunny, 31°C

This year the series regulations allow the splitting of the large field into two groups, with each group having a 20-minute qualifying session. The fastest lap time for each driver sets the grid for Race One and the second fastest lap time is used to set the starting positions for Race Two. The grid for Race Three is determined by the results of Race One, with the first ten finishers starting in reverse order.

The qualifying session followed after two free practice sessions which were run on a dry track on Friday morning. Temperatures began to rise, and by the time qualifying started they were well above 30°C.
In both Group A and Group B there were several drivers who had their best lap times disallowed for not respecting track limits. The penalised drivers included all of our drivers except Kevin.

FIA ADAC Formula 4 German Championship

Race One (30 minutes)

Saturday, 23/07/2016, 14.45, Weather: Sunny, 31°C

It was very hot, and thunderstorms were forecast but the track remained dry. Diego got a good start and hung onto his 14^th place. Immediately a fierce fight for positions started, and Diego soon lost a place. However a few laps later he had gained it back. Fabio also made a good start and soon made up several positions. He was battling with Aberdein when the two clashed and Fabio’s car ended up airborne. It flipped over but landed on all four wheels as it came to a halt. Luckily Fabio was unhurt and got out of the car immediately, running for cover. Inevitably the Safety Car had to be deployed. Kevin was 27^th at this point. At the restart he was ready and was able to improve his position to go 23^rd. However a new Safety Car phase followed, and Kevin improved to 22^nd. This was also the position he came home in. Job, who had been handed a 10 place grid penalty for an engine change post-qualifying, collided with his team-mate Jan-Erik soon after the start. Jan-Erik was able to continue but Job had to call in to the pit lane for a new front wing, although he was then able to continue the race a lap down. Job was classified 31^st in the end. Jan-Erik made up place after place during the race and had also made up places at each of the two restarts, finally crossing the line in 25^th. Diego was battling constantly during the race and fiercely defended his position. After the first Safety Car Phase he even got up to 12^th, but at the second restart he had to give way to Laaksonen. That meant he crossed the finish line after a very hard fought race in a good 13^th.

FIA ADAC Formula 4 German Championship

Race Two (30 minutes)

Sunday, 24/07/2016, 09.50, Weather: Cloudy, 27°C

Shortly after the start there were several accidents and the Safety Car had to take over. Fabio had already improved to 14^th, but at the restart fell back to 17^th. Kevin had moved forward steadily and now overtook Fabio. However, Fabio wanted to counter the attack, got onto the grass and fell back further. Kevin was now 15^th, and Fabio managed to regain those places to appear just behind Kevin again. Diego had also moved steadily up the order and was right behind the pair of them. After several laps Diego attacked and slipped past Fabio. Fabio again tried to fight back but there wasn’t really enough space and they clashed. Diego flew off track, but was able to continue and was classified 30^th in the end while Fabio fell back to 20^th. Job moved up to 22^nd and held steady for several laps, but then fell back again, recovered again and finished the race in 23^rd. Jan-Erik got off to a good start and was making progress until he was involved in an incident and lost several places, ending the race in 31^st. Finally Kevin could look back at a very good race after coming home in 15^th.

FIA ADAC Formula 4 German Championship

Race Three (30 minutes)

Sunday, 24/07/2016, 13.45, Weather: Sunny, 26°C

Diego started from a promising 13^th and was already up to 9^th by the end of the first lap. Not long after he was up to 7^th when several accidents happened and the Safety Car had to be deployed. He’d planned to go on the attack after the restart but ran wide and fell back to 20^th. He recovered to make a good run and was able to recover to 12^th again, but three laps before the end he spun and ended his race with an accident which was a real pity! Fabio drove well and managed to move up the order steadily. He also managed to gain several places at the restart, and he claimed a nice finish in 15^th. Kevin was less fortunate. Shortly after the start he was hit and had his rear tyre slit open. He drove back to the pit lane to have the tyre changed, but it obviously cost him a lot of time. Kevin was classified 29^th in the end. Jan-Erik was also involved in an incident after the start and had to have his front wing replaced in the pit lane. That cost him a lot of time and he ended up taking the flag in 27^th. To make it three of a kind, Job also lost his front wing and also had to pit to get a new one. His pit stop coincided with the Safety Car phase so he didn’t lose that much time. He rejoined the race again and put in a good recovery drive that saw him finish the race in a useful 17^th.

The next race meeting in the ADAC Formula 4 series takes place in 2 weeks’ time, on the weekend of 7^th August 2016 at the Nürburgring (D).

Championship Standings

FIA ADAC Formula 4 German 2016 after 15 races out of 24:
1^st Joey Mawson (AUS), 254 points; 2^nd Mick Schumacher, 208 points; 3^rd Mike Ortmann (D), 157 points; 4^th Kim Luis Schramm (D), 150 points; 5^th Jannes Fittje (D), 112 points; 6^th Thomas Preining (A), 101 points; 15^th Fabio Scherer (CH), 26 points; 22^nd Jan-Erik Meikup (EST), 6 points; 23^rd Job van Uitert (NL), 5 points

2016 FIA ADAC FORMEL 4 GERMAN CHAMPIONSHIP - CALENDAR

More info:

• www.adac-motorsport.de/adac-formel-4/de/