The engines barked once more as the long break finally came to an end. After 293 days of waiting, ADAC Formula 4 teams and drivers returned to the race track on Saturday. During official testing at the Lausitzring, the young talents from the ADAC High-Speed Academy were let off the leash and posted their laps in a manner only to be expected. After the four sessions, it was 16-year-old British driver Jonny Edgar from Dutch outfit, Van Amersfoort Racing, who succeeded in posting best time of the day. He covered the track in a time of 1:23.031 minutes and was 0.171 seconds faster than American team-mate, Jak Crawford.

Third and fourth place went to Finnish teenager Elias Seppänen (+0.249) and Tim Tramnitz (+0.446) from Germany, who represent current team champions, US Racing. Joshua Dürksen from ADAC Berlin-Brandenburg eV came home just behind them; He was third in last year's Rookie rankings.

The sun was already shining brightly at the Lausitzring when the lights switched to green for the first time at 8:00 a.m. Once again this year, the field full of new talents and famous teams immediately got down to work. After all, they had to find their rhythm once more after a break lasting almost ten months. The morning session quickly featured a scrap between Red Bull Juniors, Crawford and Edgar. The two Van Amersfoort pilots set the pace in the first two sessions. 15-year-old Crawford got the upper hand initially, and, with a lead of just over a tenth of a second, consigned Edgar, who is already 16, to second place. The British driver then struck back to narrowly win through at the end of the day's second session.

However, US Racing's turn came in the third session. The Kerpen-based outfit has won the team championship these past two years but now has a completely revised line-up which includes German hopeful, 15-year-old Tramnitz. He took best time, sneaking just ahead of his team-mates, Oliver Bearman (GB) and Seppänen. Three tenths of a second covered no less than seven drivers during the midday session. To wrap things up, though, Van Amersfoort Racing and their Anglo-American pairing again dominated the action, even though it should be said that after the first day of testing, the close gaps between cars left us eager to get the season started.

Another three 45-minute sessions are set to follow on Sunday when cars will be perfectly tuned to suit the track. The new season will kick off at the Lausitzring in two weeks' time, from July 31st to August 2nd, in conjunction with the ADAC GT Masters.