Last weekend, BWT Mücke Motorsport contested the sixth Space in the ADAC Formula 4 at the Lausitzring with Joshua Dürksen, Josef Knopp and Erick Zuniga. The season opener has already taken place on the circuit in Brandenburg, but on a different route layout. This time the 4 570 kilometer long variant was used.
The weather conditions demanded a high level of driving skills from the participants. The pilots had to prove themselves on wet surfaces in almost all sessions. The BWT Mücke Motorsport drivers showed on Friday that they could adjust to the difficult track conditions. After seventh place in the first free coaching, Dürksen used the experience he gained to improve to fourth in the second free coaching. His spotlight was the second function in qualifying for the first race. Knopp also succeeded in increasing performance with the findings from the first free coaching. He finished ninth in the second coaching session. Erick Zuniga, who only played his fourth match in the “Highspeedschule des ADAC” at the Lausitzring, improved from twelfth place in the first coaching to tenth place in the second qualifying.
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At the first race on Saturday, Dürksen did not get an ideal start. On the way into the first corner, he had to let two competitors go first. The 17 – year-old was determined to make up for the lost positions, which was no easy task. In order to overtake the opponents, he had to leave the drying ideal line again and again. Nevertheless, Dürksen already took the lead in the third lap. He confidently led the field for a long time before he made a small mistake in the last third of the race, which threw him back to fourth function.
In the second race of the weekend Dürksen started from the seventh function and again convinced with a strong start phase. On a mostly dry track, he improved to fifth function in the first two laps. Then a collision between two vehicles ahead forced him to stop briefly, which cost valuable time. Dürksen fell back to tenth place, but impressed with a sensational race to catch up, which brought him up to fourth position. In the finish sprint he had to admit defeat to the third placed by only 0, 014 seconds.
The final race at the Lausitzring took place on Sunday afternoon. As already several times this year, Dürksen got off to a good start, with which he improved to the third function. In the pouring rain he came off the track and fell back to the end of the field. He was not discouraged by the setback and fought his way up to seventh place.
Knopp and Zuniga, the two rookies at BWT Mücke Motorsport, continued their upward tendencies in the citadel races. Knopp finished the first race in eleventh place. In races two and three, the Czech made two places well compared to his starting position. He finished the runs in tenth and ninth. So he drove in 17 from 18 Race of the season scores points in the rookie classification. Zuniga was thrown back in the first race by an involuntary collision. As a result, he had to change the front wing in the field. He fell far behind and had no opportunity to improve. The Mexican finished the other two races one place ahead of Knopp. He completed his best weekend in ADAC Formula 4. He scored points in the rookie classification in all twelve races he contested this year.
The young drivers from BWT Mücke Motorsport now have little time to prepare for the ADAC Formula 4 finale. It will already take place next weekend (06 .- 08. 11. 2020) in the Motorsport Arena Oschersleben.
Roland Rehfeld (Team Manager): “There were three crazy races. Joshua Dürksen showed me the overtaking maneuver of the weekend. In the first race he literally left his opponent standing in the ninth corner. With the switch on the outside lane, he has taken the lead. Joshua lost two good results due to his slip. In the weather, it is enough to stray a few centimeters from the line to slide into the gravel bed. But that happens to a lot of drivers at this level. Almost the entire field made mistakes. Erick Zuniga is an obvious exception. He drove sensationally well. He didn’t know the route and had little experience with the car in the rain before. Erick has an incredibly good Automobile Protect a watch on, as he proved this weekend. Even when the championship leaders were behind him, he defended himself confidently and did not allow himself to be disturbed. Josef Knopp has shown that he can assert himself in the front midfield. He still has to work a bit on his consistency. Josef always takes a little longer to find the rhythm. That’s why our hope lies in the coming weekend in Oschersleben. We recently tested there. All three drivers showed strong progress there. My praise goes not only to our pilots, but also to our mechanics. You completed the fastest front wing change on Erick’s car that I saw this year in ADAC Formula 4. “
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