The race weekend in the Eifel will have a special significance for Timo Scheider. 20 years ago at the Nürburgring, he completed his first laps as a budding young Formula driver. Now, the two-time DTM Champion is standing on the other side of the pit wall as principal of his own team. For many years now, Scheider has been helping to foster the talent of the next generation of German drivers, and ADAC Formula 4 provides the perfect platform. Scheider's outfit certainly won't have a long way to travel for the fifth race weekend of the 2015 campaign: the team is based in the small town of Polch, just a 30-minute drive from the Nürburgring.
New team-mate for Mick Schumacher
Someone else with an Eifel connection is Mick Schumacher (16, CH, Van Amersfoort Racing) whose father Michael Schumacher grew up around an hour's drive away in Kerpen. The son of the record Formula 1 championship winner will be joined by a new team-mate at Van Amersfoort Racing, namely Kami Laliberté (15) from Canada.
In Joey Mawson (19, AUS), the Dutch team has a major contender for the 2015 ADAC Formula 4 title: the Australian is currently second in the championship standings. His deficit on leader Joel Eriksson (17, SWE, Motopark) is just four points. Mawson almost took the championship lead during the last race weekend at the Lausitzring. Mawson was beaten at the last moment in the final race by eventual winner Marvin Dienst and crossed the finish line in third place.
"Obviously, I wanted to start the summer break as half-time champion," said Mawson, "But I've secured a lot of points in a short time. I'm now even more motivated to launch the next attack on the lead. I intend to take advantage of the very next opportunity in the three races at the Nürburgring. The title fight will certainly be an exciting affair."
Eriksson aims to make history
So it was that Eriksson went down in ADAC Formula 4 history as the first half-time champion. The Motopark driver is highly motivated after his strong performance in the first half of the season. The 17-year-old has won five of the previous twelve races. "It's an incredible feeling to head the championship after the first half of the season," said Eriksson. "This is the first year of the ADAC Formula 4, and I really hope to make history at the end of the season and win the championship title itself after becoming 'half-time' champion."
Double home race for Kremer
The young talents will step hard on the throttle around the short version of the Nürburgring circuit for races 13, 14 and 15 of the season. There will be more laps on the sprint track which is 3,629 km long, ensuring that the spectators at the event will see the drivers more often as a result.
A small circle of title contenders has now emerged in the large field of starters. Swedish teenager Joel Eriksson (17, SWE, Motopark), Joey Mawson (19, AUS, Van Amersfoort Racing) from Australia and Marvin Dienst (18, GER, HTP Juniorteam) currently have the best chances of achieving championship success.
Jason Kremer (20, Germany, Team Timo Scheider) is fully familiar with the Nürburgring and the sprint track in particular. The 20-year-old from nearby Bonn is a member of the Team Timo Scheider squad and is therefore preparing for a home fixture in two senses of the word. Kremer is heading to his home race in the Eifel with some happy memories. "The Nürburgring is always the highlight of my year," said Kremer. "I've already won both single-seater and touring car races there. I can spend the night at home and so, feel particularly at ease at the Nürburgring. Plus, family and friends will be there to cheer me on from the stands, which makes it even nicer. A success on this legendary track is something very special."
Kremer went down in history as the most experienced driver in the Formel ADAC, the precursor series to ADAC Formula 4, achieving a total of 18 podiums in 72 races, and has big plans for the race with Team Timo Scheider on home turf: "As a completely new team, it takes a certain amount of time to get established in a strong race series like this. Everything should now fall into place at the Nürburgring. That's why I'm hoping for a podium and maybe even a win. It won't be easy, but I'm certain that we'll do it sooner or later."
SPORT1 will broadcast all races on free-to-air TV
Fans can watch all three ADAC Formula 4 races from the Nürburgring live on free-to-air TV. TV partner SPORT1 will feature the first two races on Saturday August 15th at 11:55 and 16:30. SPORT1 will also broadcast Sunday's third race at 15:30 pm on free-to-air TV. All 24 races of the ADAC Formula 4 are also available as live streams on www.SPORT1.de and adac.de/motorsport.