Prema Powerteam returned with a bang to the ADAC Formula 4 stage in a truly thrilling quali, and championship leader Jonny Edgar also had something to cheer about. The famous Italian outfit did not take part in the season opener at the Lausitzring two weeks ago but secured the Pirelli Pole Position Award for the first race at the Nürburgring thanks to Gabriele Mini. Van Amersfoort driver Edgar, who finished eighth in the first qualifying, made an impressive charge in the second segment and took the Pirelli Pole Position Award for Race 2.

Two races will take place tomorrow at 11 am and 4 pm while Race 3 will be on Sunday morning at 10.30 am. The best eight drivers from the second race will start that race in reverse order. SPORT1 will broadcast all races live this weekend. Racing can also be watched online as live stream with German or English commentary at SPORT1.de, youtube.com/adac and adac.de/motorsport.

Drivers were fighting for thousandths of a second at an early stage in Q1. It was nip and tuck as the lead changed hands several times, but ultimately, it was not the favourite, Edgar, or Jak Crawford, who secured the Pirelli Pole Position Award for Race 1, but 16-year-old Italian rookie, Mini. He went to the top of the timesheets with a 1:27.832 and, leading by 0.095 seconds, consigned the American, Crawford (Van Amersfoort Racing), to second place. Mini was presented with a top-quality Montblanc case as a small reward for his success in the Pirelli Pole Position Award which the ADAC Formula 4 tyre supplier is sponsoring for the first time at the Nürburgring.

The Swede, Dino Beganovic, rounded off Prema’s strong performance, coming home a mere 22 thousandths of a second behind Crawford. The Finn, Elias Seppänen (US Racing), who won the third round at the season opener, will start the first race of the weekend from fourth on the grid.

Joshua Dürksen from Berlin-based ADAC Berlin-Brandenburg eV and the Russian, Vladislav Lomko (US Racing), will head up the third row. The Colombian Sebastian Montoya, son of ex-Formula 1 driver and two-time Indy 500 winner Juan Pablo Montoya, will share Row 4 with Edgar, the overall leader in the standings. A quick look at the timesheets will leave you in no doubt as to just how competitive the field of the ADAC High-Speed Academy has become – just 0.234 seconds separated Mini in first place from Oliver Bearman (US Racing) in P9.

Driven by his disappointment from the first segment, Edgar set the pace right from the start in the second run-through and steadily improved on his time until the opposition had nothing more to offer. His 1:27.515 gave him best time on the day, secured pole position for Race 2 and brought him success in the Pirelli Pole Position Award. Seppänen followed in second place with a deficit of 0.143 seconds. Mini and Crawford will start alongside one another again in Race 2 but from the second row. Beganovic, ADAC Sports Foundation protégé, Germany’s Tim Tramnitz (US Racing) and Francesco Pizzi from Van Amersfoort Racing will line up behind them. The Russian Vladislav Lomko (US Racing), Montoya and the French Victor Bernie (R-ace GP) complete the Top Ten.