Moritz Mueller-Crepon: Third race weekend ADAC Formula 4 Lausitzring

The third race weekend of the 2016 ADAC Formula 4 season at Lausitzring saw Moritz Mueller-Crepon achieve results, which did not reflect his true performance. It was all down to needing that little bit of required luck to succeed.

Qualifying:

Moritz Mueller-Crepon qualified fifth in his group, starting tenth on the grid.

Race 1

The opening lap of the first Formula 4 race of the Motorsport Festival Lausitzring, which also hosted the DTM, provided a chaotic start. A big crash saw ten drivers eliminated at the same time. Race Control first elected to send out the Safety Car, before eventually bringing out the red flag. After a 19-minute stoppage period, the race was restarted behind the Safety Car. With just nine minutes of the race left, it wasn’t just the fans that missed a lot of the action, even with Moritz showing otherwise, reacting quickly. The Van Amersfoort driver took a wide line into the first corner, avoiding a collision. But this also resulted in him dropping two places, finishing in 11th positon. In addition Mueller-Crepon recieved a drive-through penalty, having made a jump-start at the beginning of the race. “That was one of the few things that was firmly in my hands this weekend. I’ve now analysed the situation with the team and learned from it,” explained the 19-year-old. Because of the race being shortened, the drive- through penlaty was replaced by a 30-second time penalty, dropping him back down to 23rd.

Race 2

Moritz Mueller-Crepon would again start tenth for the second race of the weekend. Having made a great start, he gained two places. But it wasn’t long before the Safety Car was brought back into action. On lap two, the field would line up in formation behind Ronald Dobmeier, before the race restarted on lap five, where the Swiss driver used the opportunity for some great passes, to underline how much fun racing actually is. One of the highlights was the pass made against Lechner Racing’s Thomas Prening, who first got past Mueller- Crepon on the inside of turn one, before Mortiz was able to counterattack on the outside of the next corner. Despite being ninth and a strong perfomance, it wasn’t enough for the Swiss driver. Lap 10 saw another restart, and following that, another accident. Lechner Racing’s Michael Waldherr made contact with car number 25. “It is a big shame, because in my opnion, Michael belongs to the top drivers in the field,” said Mueller-Crepon, who was regretful after the incident that forced him off track.

Race 3

Due to the 30-second time penalty, Moritz Mueller-Crepon would start from 23rd on the grid.

The third and final race of the Motorsport Festival Laustizring was declared wet. There is an additional risk of having an accident at the back of the grid, which is greater in highly competitive championships and environments, like in Formula 4. Nevertheless, things were looking good at the start, as Moritz steadily fought his way through the field, even after the restart. But this was before another incident ended his weekend abruptly, as US Racing’s Louis Gachot collided with the Van Amersfoort driver. “Of course, this was not how I wanted to finish my weekend. But now we have to look forward,” said Mueller-Crepon, summing up his weekend.

Moritz Mueller-Crepon: “I had high expectations when I arrived, but experienced a difficult weekend. On a positive note, the car was good and the pace was there. I have regrets that we couldn’t do more from the good starting positon we had. As a team, we’ll now get over the disappointment of the result and focus on the next race weekend at Oschersleben. My aim is to now finish the weekend without any dramas, as well as convert our race speed into points.”

In just ten days’ time, Moritz Mueller-Crepon heads to the next round of the 2016 ADAC F4 season, currently 17th in the drivers’ standings, which now returns to Oschersleben, with the racing taking place between the 17th and 19th of June.

Share this post