Oliver Bearman expands his championship lead. Newcomer Alex Dunne is the surprise of the weekend.

The first wins of the season for US Racing driver Tim Tramnitz (16) and Nikita Bedrin (15, Van Amersfoort Racing) from Russia took centre stage in ADAC Formula 4 on Sunday at the Hockenheimring Baden-Württemberg. In the first race of the day, late in the morning, it was Hamburg’s Tramnitz who converted pole position to take victory. The German national anthem was then played to honour the winner for the first time this season. “I am mega happy. My start was not so good, but the car then felt very good,” said a happy Tramnitz. The US Racing team, run by Gerhard Ungar and former Formula 1 driver Ralf Schumacher, also celebrated a further two podium results. ADAC Stiftung Sport driver Tramnitz was joined on the podium by his team-mates Alex Dunne (15, Ireland) and Luke Browning (19, Great Britain) in second and third place respectively.

Reverse grid and plenty of excitement in the afternoon: in the third and final race of the weekend, the top eight from race two lined up in reverse order. On the front row, Bence Valint (16, Hungary, Van Amersfoort Racing) started from pole position, alongside Bedrin. Valint made a poor start and was down in ninth place by the time he completed the opening lap. Dunne was also unfortunate and was forced to retire from the race. At the head of the field, Bedrin assumed the lead ahead of the fast-starting Oliver Bearman (16, Great Britain, Van Amersfoort Racing) and Vlad Lomko (16, Russia, US Racing). What ensued was an exciting race with a number of overtakes. In the end, rookie Bedrin took victory ahead of Bearman and Lomko, who also set the fastest lap of the race (1:42.697 minutes). “I am very happy with the result. It was a tough race. In the end, I was lacking a little bit of speed, but I was able to defend my lead,” said Bedrin. Fourth place went to Tramnitz, ahead of Victor Bernier (17, France, R-ace GP) in fifth. Browning, Valint and Joshua Dufek (16, Switzerland, Van Amersfoort Racing) came home sixth, seventh and eighth.

At the halfway point in the ADAC Formula 4 season, Van Amersfoort Racing driver Bearman holds a commanding lead in the overall standings with 167 points to his name. “I am obviously pleased to be leading at the midway point of the season, but there is still a long way to go. We must continue to get good results, in order to come out on top in the end,” said Bearman. His closest rival is now Tramnitz (118 points), who took advantage of the absence of Prema Powerteam drivers Sebastian Montoya (16, Columbia) and Kirill Smal (16, Russia). In the rookie competition, Bedrin (186 points) defended his lead. Van Amersfoort Racing leads the Team competition, ahead of US Racing.

The next race weekend in the ADAC’s high-speed school takes place from 1st to 3rd October at the Sachsenring.