Andrea Kimi Antonelli (Prema Racing) kicked off the final weekend of the ADAC Formula 4 weekend with two top times at the Nürburgring. The 16-year-old Italian top the timings in both free practice sessions. Antonelli’s time of 2:09.750 minutes was the fastest lap of the day at the former Formula 1 circuit.
The young drivers opened the ADAC Racing Weekend at the Nürburgring as early as 08:05 this morning. The weather in the Eifel region of Germany lived up to its reputation: temperatures around 10 degrees Celsius, a wet Grand Prix circuit, and fog made for challenging conditions. Antonelli coped best with the conditions and laid down a marker with the fastest lap time of 2:16.194 minutes. However, the drivers did not have much time on track, as poor visibility forced race control to suspend the session with 15 minutes. At this point, Taylor Barnard (18/GBR/PHM Racing) lay second (+2.768 seconds). The best-placed rookie was Australian James Wharton (16/Prema Racing) in third place (+3.512 seconds). McLaren Junior Ugo Ugochukwu (15/USA/Prema Racing) was fourth fastest (+4.197 seconds), with Rafael Camara (17/Prema Racing) from Brazil completing the top five (+5.694 seconds).
Antonelli was once again unbeatable in the second session of the day. The championship leader improved on his time from the morning, despite the onset of rain, and posted a time of 2:09.750 minutes. Behind him, the best of the rest was team-mate Camara, who was also the fastest rookie (+1.682 seconds). 16-year-old Nikita Bedrin’s (ITA/PHM Racing) fastest lap of the 5.148-kilometre Grand Prix circuit was enough to go third fastest (+2.257 seconds).The best-placed German was ADAC Stiftung Sport driver Valentin Kluss (15/Bad Mergentheim/PHM Racing), who guided his 180-hp Formula 4 car to fourth place (+2.607 seconds). Barnard was fifth fastest on Friday afternoon (+2.741 seconds).
The anticipation in ADAC Formula 4 is set to rise in the afternoon: qualifying starts at 16:10, when the grid positions for the first two races on Saturday (09:55 and 16:25) will be determined. Live timing is available at adac.de/formel4.
