Taylor Barnard (PHM Racing) set the fastest time of the opening free practice session in ADAC Formula 4. The Brit took 1:37.461 to lap the 4.259-kilometre Circuit Zandvoort. In the second session of the day, the best time of 1:36.170 minutes came courtesy of Brazilian Rafael Camara (17/Prema Racing).
18-year-old Barnard had previously kicked off the second race weekend of the season, at the Hockenheimring Baden-Württemberg, with the fastest practice lap. And he was on unbeatable form again in the opening exchanges of the event in the Netherlands, lapping the current Formula 1 circuit more than half a second faster than Andrea Kimi Antonelli (15/ITA/Prema Racing) in FP1. Nikita Bedrin (16/ITA/PHM Racing) was third fastest (+0.549 seconds). The fastest rookie, 0.581 seconds back, was James Wharton (15/AUS/Prema Racing).
While the sky was still overcast in the morning, it had cleared by the afternoon’s second practice session on the North Sea coast, while the temperature climbed to 21 degrees Celsius. The track conditions improved significantly for the young stars of tomorrow, allowing Camara to beat the previous fastest time by 1.3 seconds. Antonelli ended the session in second place behind his team-mate (+0.080 seconds). They were followed by Bedrin (+0.210 seconds) and Barnard (+0.227 seconds). Bad Mergentheim’s Valentin Kluss (15/PHM Racing) ended his first two sessions in the ADAC’s junior series in 12th and 13th place.
Qualifying in for race one in the ADAC’s high-speed school gets underway at 08:15 on Saturday morning. The grid positions for race two will then be determined at 08:35. The battle for pole position at the dune circuit can be followed in livestream at adac.de/motorsport. For Van Amersfoort Racing, the third round of the ADAC Formula 4 season is a particularly special one: Frits van Amersfoort’s outfit is based in the Dutch town of Zeewolde, roughly 80 kilometres east of Zandvoort. Maya Weug (18/NED/Iron Dames) can also look forward to plenty of support from the fans at her home event.
