French teenager, 16-year-old Victor Bernier comfortably set best time in the first ADAC Formula 4 practice session at the DEKRA Lausitzring. Driving for R-ace GP, he posted a lap time of 2:10.408 minutes on the long version of the circuit in very wet conditions, making him 0.646 seconds faster than Elias Seppänen from Finland. Russia's Kirill Smal was third, 0.850 seconds behind his team-mate and in front of ADAC Sports Foundation protégé Tim Tramnitz, who has a good chance of clinching the title of Best Rookie this weekend.

The two championship favourites Jonny Edgar and Jak Crawford held back as the penultimate race weekend of the season got underway. Crawford finished fifth, over two seconds down on Bernier, while his Van Amersfoort team-mate Edgar was ninth. The session was red-flagged briefly. Han Cenyu from China was the cause. Cenyu is making his debut in the ADAC High-Speed Academy this weekend and also drives for Van Amersfoort Racing.

The second ADAC Formula 4 practice session at the Lausitzring begins at 11:05 CEST. The two qualifying sessions will then follow this afternoon. The three races will take place on Saturday (12 noon) and Sunday (09:00 and 12:30 CEST).