Catching-up race and rookie points in Hockenheim

Last weekend, the Hockenheimring was the location of the season finale of the ADAC Formula 4. Junior Yannik Brandt started there too and was able to show a great final performance and enter the top ten on the rookie list of rankings.

“I still remember my debut as if it was yesterday”, Yannik Brandt looks back on the season beginning in Oschersleben. Since then, the newbie experienced exciting races at the ADAC Formula 4 and travelled to the finale in Hockenheim with high expectations: “My goal is to end up in the top ten once. I’ve been really close a couple of times, now I hope I’ll achieve it in the finale.”

After the free trainings, the Swiss resident was in a good mood. Yannik quickly found his rhythm and started confidently into qualifying. But he stayed far behind his possibilities on the overall 30^th place. “That wasn’t good. Unfortunately I’m now going to have to start at the repechage”, the 15-year-old reported. In this, he achieved a good start and even led the field. Race control detected him jumping the gun though and the Lechner Racing Team’s protégé received a drive through penalty. In the end he only came in 13^th.

From the back of the field, it was then difficult to find his way forward during the first race. Yannik overtook a couple of cars on the first few meters. His catching-up race was stopped early on though: An opponent drove into the rear of his Formula 4 race car and Yannik lost his tail plane. “That was really annoying. I got a new tail plane in the pit, but it had a material defect and broke off after less than a lap. Thereby my race was completely finished then”, the youngster summed up.

During the second race, the weather caused some excitement. The field consisting of 37 drivers started with dry conditions and Yannik directly gained a couple of positions. Sudden rain caused an interruption of the race though. After restart, the German established himself as one of the best rookies again and fought his way forward from 27^th to 15^th position despite further safety car phases. “Despite the little race time I was able to get forward really well. I’ve especially felt comfortable on the wet track”, the Lechner Racing Team’s driver summed up.

For the big finale on Sunday, the sun came out again. In best weather and with numerous spectators, Yannik showed an outstanding performance once again and fought thrilling duels for positions. In the end, he ended his debut year on the ninth place of the overall list of rankings and summed things up completely positively: “I’ve really gained lots of experiences this year. The cooperation with my team and the engineers was a lot of fun. I’ve become faster with every race and caught up with the midfield during the second half of the year. Now I’m going to use the winter to prepare for 2017 and want to fully attack again then. I’d like to thank my family, my team and my partners for their impressive support this year”, Yannik said concludingly.