In ADAC Formula 4 qualifying at the Sachsenring, championship leader Theo Pourchaire (US Racing CHRS) put himself in the best possible position on the grid by securing pole for Race 1 and 2. The Frenchman beat off competition from Michael Belov and Gregoire Saucy (both R-ace GP) in Q1. Pourchaire then finished again in front of Belov and Gianluca Petecof (Prema Powerteam) in Q2. Pourchaire's closest rival in the battle for the title, Norway's Dennis Hauger (Van Amersfoort Racing), had to settle for fourth place twice.

"I'm mega happy. That was a perfect start to the weekend and of course, it's very important for the team and me that I managed to secure pole position twice," said a delighted Pourchaire: "In the races, I want to focus completely on myself, keep pushing and take the points, and then it won't matter what the others do. Being on pole here is maybe even more important than at other tracks, because overtaking here is quite tricky."

Conditions were very variable throughout the day, so qualifying took place on a wet circuit. Pourchaire acquitted extremely well of himself but had to fend off a strong Belov in particular. They were involved in a hard-fought scrap, but the young Frenchman managed to sneak in front twice. In Q1, they were separated by 0.044 seconds while in Q2, the gap was a mere 0.030 seconds. Hauger, who celebrated an historic triple victory at the Hockenheimring and comes to the Sachsenring with a deficit of just one point on Pourchaire, was very slow to get going in both sessions.

Things turned out even worse for Arthur Leclerc (US Racing CHRS) from Monaco. The brother of Formula 1 driver Charles Leclerc, who still has a realistic chance of lifting the title with a deficit of 28 points, will only be fifth and seventh on the grid in Saturday's races. Estonian teenager, Paul Aron (Prema Powerteam), who qualified ninth and eighth was best Rookie. Rookie champion, Roman Stanek (US Racing CHRS), will start out from grid slots ten and thirteen.

The first of three races during this final weekend of the ADAC High-Speed Academy season will kick off at 11.05 am on Saturday. Race 2 is at 5.15 pm, to be followed by the final big push for the title on Sunday at 9.25 am. SPORT1 will broadcast the ADAC Formula 4 races on TV on Saturday and Sunday and online at SPORT1.de. Racing can also be followed as live stream at adac.de/motorsport, on the Facebook page of the ADAC Formula 4 and at youtube.com/adac with a choice of German or English commentary.