The debut season for the new ADAC Formula 4 series is entering the home straight at the etropolis Motorsport Arena Oschersleben. This is the first time the ADAC High Speed Academy has shared a race venue with the DTM. On Friday, the 35 motor racing stars of tomorrow went out on track for the first free practice session as the weekend officially got underway. In cool but dry conditions, Janneau Esmeijer (18, NED, HTP Junior Team) got off to the best of starts. The HTP Junior Team driver set a fastest lap time of 1:27.292 minutes.

Esmeijer was picking up where he left off in the season opener at Oschersleben in April when he secured the first pole position in the history of ADAC Formula 4. Also getting the weekend off to a flying start was Esmeijer's team-mate Marvin Dienst. The current championship leader clocked the second-fastest time of the session. At 1:27.578 minutes, he was 0.286 seconds adrift of Esmeijer.

Oschersleben has been fertile ground in the past for main title contender Dienst. The 18-year-old won two out of three races on the debut weekend of ADAC Formula 4 at the track near Magdeburg, thereby establishing an early lead in the championship. His closest pursuer in the title chase, second-placed Joel Eriksson (17, SWE, Motopark) also performed strongly in FP1. He set a third-fastest lap time of 1:27.802 minutes in what constitutes a home fixture for his Motopark team. Behind fourth-placed Marek Böckmann (18, DEU, Jenzer Motorsport) came Joey Mawson (19, AUS, Van Amersfoort Racing) as the third of the leading trio in Friday´s Top Five.

Giorgio Maggi (17, CH, Race Performance), ADAC Sports Foundation protégé Tim Zimmermann (19, DEU, Neuhauser Racing) and Benjamin Bailly (25, BEL, RS Competition) completed the Top Eight. Bailly from Belgium is contesting his first ADAC Formula 4 race weekend as a member of the RS Competition squad. The second free practice session commences at 16:20 CEST. Qualifying will take place at 14:40 on Saturday.