Marcus Armstrong (16, Prema Powerteam) took his second win of the season in the ADAC Formula 4 round at Oschersleben and then finished runner up to Brazilian Felipe Drugovich (17, Van Amersfoort Racing) in the second of three races.
The Kiwi won the tenth race of the ADAC Formula 4 season at Oschersleben from South African Jonathan Aberdein (19, Motopark) and Drugovich.
“What a great start to the weekend! We’re now consistently finishing on the podium and heading for the very front of the field,” said Armstrong, who took his maiden win in the ADAC Formula 4 in Austria previous weekend.” Prema did a fantastic job and I was in control the whole time, which felt really great.”
Starting from P2 on the grid, Armstrong went into the lead over the first few metres, having gained the advantage on pole-sitter Kami Laliberté (17, Canada, Van Amersfoort Racing), who messed up his start and took a while to get going. Aberdein and Drugovich slotted into place behind the 16-year-old New Zealander.
The three in the lead drew away from their rivals as the race progressed. Fabio Scherer was on his own behind the front-runners, followed by a group in pursuit some way further back led by Juri Vips. The drivers scrapped hard for position with, for example, Frederik Vesti making a brilliant move on Michael Waldherr. Shortly before the end, David Malukas even overtook Vips, who finished fifth. Pole-sitter Laliberté placed twelfth at the finish line.
Race 2 -The Brazilian takes his third win of season at Oschersleben
The Brazilian Felipe Drugovich has secured his third win of the season in the ADAC Formula 4. The 17-year-old won at Oschersleben from Marcus Armstrong and Fabio Scherer putting him in the lead in the overall standings with 142 points after the eleventh of 21 races this season, narrowly beating Juri Vips (16, Estonia, Prema Powerteam) on 135 points and Armstrong with 133.
Drugovich got away to a perfect start and was already leading by 1.3 secs by the end of the first lap. Only New Zealand’s Armstrong, who won this morning’s first race, was able to keep up with the Brazilian. A group headed by Scherer followed behind them.
Drugovich initially extended his lead to over two seconds, but his cushion was gradually beginning to shrink by the end of the race. Nevertheless, he kept his nerve, stayed in P1, and was ultimately rewarded with success. Swiss driver Scherer defended his third place by coming home behind the lead pair of drivers, achieving a podium for the second time this year.
“That was a good race,” commented Armstrong. “I didn’t take too many risks and am pleased to have finished in the points. There was very little pressure on me from behind, so I was able to control things reasonably calmly.”
The fourth ADAC Formula 4 race weekend will finish with the third race on Sunday, starting at 11.05am. SPORT1 and SPORT1+ will broadcast the race live on TV, and live streams will also be available on the Internet at www.SPORT1.de, www.adac.de/Motorsport and on Facebook. The result of the first race decided the order on the grid for this race with the Top Ten lining up in reverse order. Consequently, Michael Waldherr will be in pole position, and race winner Armstrong will start from P10.
The ADAC Formula 4 is taking place at Oschersleben alongside the ADAC TCR Germany as part of the support programme for the TCR International Series, and the Motorsport Arena will be celebrating its 20th anniversary with a big party. Cult East German rock band ‘City’ will give a concert on Saturday evening in the infield of the circuit.
Comments