Armstrong to start from pole again in Race 2
The seventh race of the season has produced a seventh winner. New Zealand’s Marcus Armstrong (16, Prema Powerteam) consolidated a strong performance in the morning’s qualifying session to celebrate a maiden ADAC Formula 4 victory at the Red Bull Ring near Spielberg in Austria. Starting from pole position, Armstrong beat off competition from Michael Waldherr (20, Germany) in a car fielded by Austrian outfit Neuhauser Racing and 2016 Best Rookie Nicklas Nielsen (20, Denmark, US Racing).
“I thought right from the start that we could win a race here,” said Armstrong afterwards. “That was a good example of what can be achieved through hard work. This weekend has been excellent so far, which is great for all of us.”
“It’s a great feeling to be celebrating this victory with my team. I’m obviously dreaming of the title, but at the moment, only winning counts for me. Our car was so fast, I couldn’t even see what was going on behind me.”
Juri Vips (16, Estonia, Prema Powerteam) extended his overall championship lead by finishing fourth behind Nielsen. Completing the Top Ten were Kami Laliberté (17, Canada, Van Amersfoort Racing), Lorenzo Colombo (16, Italy, Bhaitech Racing), Lirim Zendeli (17, Germany, ADAC Berlin-Brandenburg eV), Kim-Luis Schramm (19, Germany, US Racing), Kush Maini (16, India, Jenzer Motorsport) and David Malukas (15, USA, Motopark). Mick Wishofer (17, Austria, Lechner Racing), who finished 15th, was Best Rookie on the day.
The first race was stopped on the opening lap following a collision between several cars, which resulted in seven retirements. It was restarted behind the safety car and reduced to 20 minutes in length. Showing nerves of steel, Armstrong asserted his claim to the top spot on the restart while his rivals scrapped hard behind him.
The safety car came back out again after Jonathan Aberdein (19, South Africa, Motopark) and Felipe Drugovich (17, Brazil, Van Amersfoort Racing) went into the gravel during one such tussle and rookie Tom Beckhäuser (18, Czech Republic, ADAC Berlin-Brandenburg e.V.) couldn’t keep his car on track.
Armstrong did not let the interruption put him off his stride and comfortably secured his maiden ADAC Formula 4 win on the restart. The New Zealander will also start the second race on Sunday morning at 10.05am from pole position.
David Malukas will be on pole for the third race on Sunday afternoon at 4.30pm, in which the Top Ten from Race 1 start in reverse order. Armstrong, as the winner, will line up in P10 and Malukas, who finished tenth, will be on pole. SPORT1 and SPORT1+ will broadcast all of this weekend’s races live and as recordings. As usual, a live stream will also be available at www.SPORT1.de and www.adac-motorsport.de.
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