Race Report

FIA ADAC FORMULA 4
GERMAN CHAMPIONSHIP, Rounds 01/02/03

Circuit: Oschersleben (D), Length 3.696 km, 24^th/25^th/26^th April 2015
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JENZER MOTORSPORT 2015:
Moritz Müller-Crepon (CH), David Kolkmann (D) and Marek Böckmann (D)

Tough Start at Oschersleben

The first of eight race events featuring the new FIA ADAC Formula 4 German Championship took place on the technical track at Oschersleben (D). There were 38 drivers ready to start the much anticipated season with a grid boasting drivers such as Mick Schumacher (son of F1 World Champion Michael), Jonathan Cecotto (son of Motorbike World Champion Johnny), Luca Engstler (son of Procar Series Champion Franz), Harrison Newey (son of F1 car designer Adrian) and many more. The races can be followed live on Sport1 tv.

Qualifying

Friday, 24/04/2015, 15.55 – 16.40, Weather: Sunny, 19°C

Under the series regulations the enormous field is split into two groups, each of which has a 20 minute qualifying session. The fastest lap time per driver is used to set 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 so the winner of Race One starts from 10^th, the 2^nd placed driver starts 9^th, and so on.

Qualifying took place at after two short free practice sessions in the morning, which enabled drivers to prepare for the upcoming race. Moritz was in Group 1 this time, and Marek and David were in action in Group 2. Conditions were good, and Moritz did a good job improving steadily throughout to finish 15^th in his group. Marek on the other hand began slowly and wasn’t able to find quite so much time as might have been expected. He finished 12^th in his group. David was running well and getting faster with every lap when he had an off track moment and simply seemed to lose his rhythm, which left him 17^th in this group.

FIA ADAC Formula 4 German Championship

Race One (30 minutes)

Saturday, 25/04/2015, 12.00, Weather: Cloudy, 19°C

The inaugural start of the new series went well and the huge field got underway but two corners later there was an accident between two of the drivers and the Safety Car had to be deployed immediately. Two more minor incidents meant that the Safety Car had to take over the field twice more with very little in the way of racing laps in between. This meant that any gap a driver managed to establish was promptly lost again, and it was very hard to establish a race rhythm. Marek was very lucky to avoid the accident at the start but because he had to go round the outside to do so, he lost several places that he had managed to gain off the line. However, in what remained of the race he was able to improve his position steadily once more and took the chequered flag in a good 13^th position with the top ten and therefore points well within reach for Race 3. Moritz started just as well and managed to avoid the various incidents, carefully working his way forward to finish the race in 23^rd. David also started well, surviving all three Safety Car phases and managing to gain ground during the few racing laps which were available. He brought the car back home safely in a steady 27^th place. We were very happy to have all our drivers finish their first race safely and without much damage.

FIA ADAC Formula 4 German Championship

Race Two (30 minutes)

Sunday, 26/04/2015, 09.35, Weather: Cloudy, 15°C

It rained overnight, but the track was dry for the race. There was an accident at the start, and the Safety Car immediately took over the field. In the chaos Marek overshot the Chicane and damaged his front wing which meant he had to call in to the pits for a new part, joining in at the back of the field. Marek began a good scrap for positions and didn’t loose his focus despite another Safety car phase. Afterwards he worked his way forward steadily and crossed the finish line in 23^rd. David made a good start too but then lost several places in an overtaking manoeuvre that didn’t quite work. Over the remainder of the race he was able to claw back some lost ground and brought the car back home in 30^th. Moritz didn’t get off the line immediately when the race started and was quite annoyed by that. Just as he managed to settle in again the second Safety Car phase destroyed his rhythm yet again. He was able to improve in the closing stages and he took the chequered flag just behind David in 31^st place.

FIA ADAC Formula 4 German Championship

Race Three (30 minutes)

Sunday, 26/04/2015, 15.20, Weather: Sunny, 19°C

Luckily the weather stayed dry. Young Mick Schumacher started from 2nd place in this race and was able to immediately take advantage of it. In his third race in a Formula car he managed to bring home a convincing first victory and a lot of worldwide attention for the category. Almost inevitably there was an accident at the start and the Safety Car again had to take charge. Marek got a great start and was able to gain two places almost immediately, putting him in a promising 11^th place. At the restart, however, Esmeijer came at him from behind, and the pair clashed; Esmeijer spun off the track and Marek was handed a Drive Through penalty for causing a collision. That dropped him back to 28^th and his chances of a top ten position were lost. Later the Safety Car had to be deployed yet again, and the race finally ended still under the Safety Car. David made a clean start and managed to stay well away from all the incidents, making places when he could to cross the line in 25^th. Moritz also got away well but had the slam the brakes on hard to avoid someone else’s accident. By the time he got started again the whole field had gone. He still managed to work to 26^th place by the finish.

The next race meeting in the ADAC Formula 4 series takes place in 6 weeks’ time, on the week end of 7^th June 2015 at the RedBullRing (A).

Championship Standings

FIA ADAC Formula 4 German 2015 after 3 races out of 24:
1^st Marvin Dienst (D), 58 points; 2^nd Ralf Aron (EST), 45 points; 3^rd Joseph Mawson (AUS), 38 points; 4^th Mattia Drudi (I), 31 points; 5^th Mick Schumacher (D), 27 points; 6^th Joel Eriksson (SWE), 24 points

2015 FIA ADAC FORMEL 4 GERMAN CHAMPIONSHIP - AGENDA

More info:

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