Photo: ADAC/Gruppe C Photography
Sauber Junior duo Theo Pourchaire and Arthur Leclerc claimed pole for the two ADAC Formula 4 races supporting the German Grand Prix at Hockenheim.
Pourchaire edged Leclerc – racing on the same bill as brother Charles for the first time – by 0.013 seconds to top the first of the two qualifying sessions, denying his US Racing team-mate with a late effort of 1m41.380s.
Niklas Krutten, who is tied with Pourchaire at the top of the standings after the opening two rounds, claimed third for Van Amersfoort Racing ahead of another US Racing/Sauber Junior driver Roman Stanek.
Italian F4 title rivals Dennis Hauger and Gianluca Petecof will share the third row of the grid for race one.
Red Bull junior Hauger had set the pace in practice on Friday morning and fought for pole in the second qualifying session, but ended up 0.03s short of Leclerc’s 1m40.940s.
Pourchaire took third with Stanek again fourth, with Krutten and Prema-run Ferrari protege Petecof rounding out the top six.
The fourth Sauber Junior driver Alessandro Ghiretti starts seventh for race one alongside Red Bull’s Jonny Edgar, with the Prema pairing of Oliver Rasmussen and Paul Aron completing the top 10.
Mercedes F1 junior Aron took eighth in second qualifying behind Mucke’s Joshua Durksen, with Ido Cohen and Ghiretti on row five.
Qualifying round-up
Race 1 grid
1 Theo Pourchaire US Racing 1m41.380s
2 Arthur Leclerc US Racing +0.013s
3 Niklas Krutten Van Amersfoort Racing +0.167s
4 Roman Stanek US Racing +0.183s
5 Dennis Hauger Van Amersfoort Racing +0.239s
6 Gianluca Petecof Prema +0.447s
7 Alessandro Ghiretti US Racing +0.601s
8 Jonny Edgar Jenzer Motorsport +0.656s
9 Oliver Rasmussen Prema +0.675s
10 Paul Aron Prema +0.708s
Race 2 grid
1 Leclerc 1m40.940s
2 Hauger +0.030s
3 Pourchaire +0.102s
4 Stanek +0.308s
5 Krutten +0.351s
6 Petecof +0.480s
7 Joshua Durksen Mucke Motosport +0.486s
8 Aron +0.498s
9 Ido Cohen Van Amersfoort Racing +0.648s
10 Ghiretti +0.697s