The first of three ADAC Formula 4 races on the historic circuit set amid the Eifel hills gets underway on Saturday at 11:05 CEST. Sport1 reports live.

Red Bull Junior Dennis Hauger (16) of Van Amersfoort Racing and current championship leader Théo Pourchaire of US Racing CHRS will contest Rounds 12 and 13 of the 2019 ADAC Formula 4 from pole position at the Nürburgring. In ideal track conditions, the two fought out an intriguing battle on Friday, both in the practice sessions as well as in the two qualis. The Norwegian teenager, who is currently third in the championship, set the fastest lap of Q1 with a time of 01:27.512 minutes. 15 year-old Pourchaire from France clocked the fastest lap of 1:27.216 minutes in the second session.

"I’m really happy about the way qualifying went," said Pourchaire. "P1 and P2 are a great result for me. The battle with Dennis was really tight, which suggests that it’s going to be very exciting tomorrow. I would really like to win for the team, of course, because it’s their home race." Hauger commented: "I am satisfied with my performance today, and I hope to narrow the points gap on Théo. US Racing CHRS are generally very strong here, so it’s going to be difficult."

On Saturday, Pourchaire will start from behind Hauger in second place, while rookie Roman Stanek (15, Czech Republic, US Racing CHRS) will be joined on Row 2 by Gianluca Petecof (16, Brazil, Prema Powerteam). Qualifying fifth was Arthur Leclerc, who is the younger brother of Formula 1 star Charles Leclerc and currently occupies second place behind Pourchaire in the championship. Alessandro Ghiretti (17, France) made it an all-round strong performance for US Racing CHRS, the German outfit managed by Ralf Schumacher and Gerhard Unger, by booking sixth place on the grid in their home race.

The line-up for the 13th race of the campaign on Sunday morning is as follows: Pourchaire starts from pole ahead of Hauger, Ghiretti, Stanek, Leclerc and Oliver Rasmussen (18, Denmark, Prema Powerteam).

US Racing CHRS are intent on extending their lead in all three championships during the course of the Eifel weekend. Pourchaire currently leads the driver’s championship ahead of Leclerc and Hauger, while Stanek tops the Best Rookie table and US Racing CHRS are out ahead in the team standings.

The youngsters of the ADAC High-Speed Academy get down to the serious business of the weekend at 11:05 CEST on Saturday morning when the lights on the Nürburgring gantry go out for the first of three races. The 17 drivers will then compete for vital championship points in Races 2 and 3 on Sunday, starting at 09:50 CEST and 17:00 CEST respectively.

SPORT1 will show the weekend’s ADAC Formula 4 action on TV and online on SPORT1.de. All three races can alternatively be watched via the livestream services of adac.de/motorsport, the Facebook page of the ADAC Formula 4 and youtube.com/adac, complete with German and English commentary.