Championship leader Théo Pourchaire and Dennis Hauger have secured pole position for the first two races of the weekend in the ADAC Formula 4 qualifying at the Hockenheimring after going to the wire in an exciting finish. US Racing CHRS’s Pourchaire beat Hauger (Van Amersfoort Racing) in the first stint by a mere 0.003 seconds to secure the best position on the grid for Saturday’s first race at 1.20 pm. Pourchaire’s team-mate and main rival for the championship, Arthur Leclerc, finished third with a two-and-a-half tenths deficit. Estonian driver, Paul Aron (Prema Powerteam), completes the line-up on the second row as best Rookie.

"That was a good start to this race weekend. I got my first pole position during the joint race weekend with Formula 1 at Hockenheim earlier in the season, so it’s great to be back in front," said Pourchaire. "Now let’s see what’s possible in the race!"

Red Bull Junior Hauger turned the tables in the second session, beating Pourchaire by 0.039 seconds. Aron and his Brazilian team-mate Gianluca Petecof finished third and fourth respectively. Leclerc will line up in sixth place for the second race on Sunday at 10.50 am behind the Russian, Michael Belov, from R-ace GP. The Top Eight from the second race will line up in reverse order to start the third race of the weekend at 5.00 pm on Sunday.

With a lead of 53 points on Leclerc in the championship, 16-year-old French teenager Pourchaire holds all the aces on his way to taking the title, as he can wrap things up this weekend at the Hockenheimring ahead of the Sachsenring finale in two weeks’ time.

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.