Race Report

FIA FORMULA 4
ITALIAN CHAMPIONSHIP, Rounds 04/05/06

Circuit: Adria (I), Length 2,702 km, 5^th/6^th/7^th May 2017
www.adriaraceway.com

JENZER MOTORSPORT 2017:
Kush Maini (IND), Job van Uitert (NL), Giorgio Carrara (ARG), Giacomo Bianchi (CH) & Federico Malvestiti (I)

Van Uitert wins at Adria

The second of seven meetings in the Italian FIA Formula 4 Championship took place at the technical track at Adria (I) where sunshine and rain were on the program in equal measure. You can follow the races live on sporttube tv.

Qualifying

Saturdy, 06/05/17, 10.00 – 10.40, Weather: Sunny, 18°C

The rules allow for two qualifying sessions of 15 minutes, with a 10-minute break in between. The Qualifying 1 times determine the grid for Race 1 and the times from Qualifying 2 determine the grid for Race 2. The starting order for Race 3 is based on 2^nd best lap time of each driver in either qualifying session.

After two free practice sessions on Friday the two qualifying sessions were held on Saturday morning. The two sessions were run with a break of only 10 minutes between them and things were rocking hard from start to finish, just as they had been in the free practice session, with 15 drivers within seven tenths of a second of the fastest time.

1^stLorenzo Colombo (I)Bhaitech1:14.941

FIA Formula 4 Italian Championship

Race One (28 minutes + 1 lap)

Saturdy, 06/05/17, 17.20, Weather: Rain, 15°C

In the afternoon it started raining and by the time of the start of the race the track was so soaked that the start had to be behind the Safety Car. There was a lot of spray, and during the race the rain didn’t ease but instead got steadily worse. Job was soon the fastest man on track, making impressive forward progress until he was right behind second-placed man Armstrong. Job bided his time and then overtook, seemingly without too much risk. He then soon closed the gap to the leader Colombo, and the two found themselves engaged in a fierce but fair battle. Job proved irresistable and a convincing overtaking manoeuvre put him ahead. During the remainder of the race he opened up a gap of over 5 seconds and was delighted to step onto the podium as the winner of the race. Kush and Federico touched in the early stages of the race, and this unfortunately sent Federico into a spin. Kush then managed to improve his position steadily until he had moved up to an excellent 4^th place. Towards the end of the race he was very lucky to make it to the finish after having gone off track. Giorgio and Giacomo were always close and were just outside the top ten after the start. They both drove remarkably well and crossed the finish line one behind the other in 9^th and 10^th respectively. They also both claimed important points. Federico had fallen back after his spin, but did a good job to make up places during the race with several determined overtaking moves. He finally crossed the line just behind his team-mates in a very good 11^th place. That meant all our drivers managed to secure strong results despite the very difficult conditions.

FIA Formula 4 Italian Championship

Race Two (28 minutes + 1 lap)

Sunday, 07/05/17, 09.40, Weather: Overcast, 14°C

The rain only finally stopped late at night, so the track was still damp in places in the morning, so once again the race had to start behind the Safety Car. Some parts of the track were indeed very slippery, and conditions were far from easy. When the Safety Car came in, the tough battles for positions started. Job at first held 3^rd, but then came under pressure from Lorandi. After a few attempts Lorandi eventually managed to overtake Job, which meant Job was now 4^th. Later in the race Job managed to close the gap again, and put in a series of fastest laps and when Armstrong collided with Colombo and both fell off, Lorandi took the lead with Job very close behind him. However, there wasn’t much time left, and Job didn’t want to risk a good result so he settled for crossing the line in an excellent 2^nd place to be on the podium again. Kush also drove a very good race and fought hard and long with Fittipaldi. In the end he took the chequered flag in a good 9^th place. Federico drove very well too, and again missed out on a top ten place by a hair’s breadth, as he finished 11^th. Giorgio managed to improve his position by several places and finished just behind Federico in 12^th place. Giacomo was making good progress when he spun on a slippery patch and spun off. Luckily he was able to rejoin and was able to gain some of his lost places to come home in 16^th.

FIA Formula 4 Italian Championship

Race Three (28 minutes + 1 lap)

Sunday, 07/05/2017, 15.30, Weather: Cloudy, 16°C

The track was dry for the third race and so there was a ”normal” standing start. Armstrong had been handed a two grid place penalty, so Job started from 2^nd place. He fought hard and was in front when he locked up and Colombo took the lead from him. Job was 2^nd and determined to come home no lower than that. Amstrong also had big goals and he put pressure on Job throughout the race but Job never made a mistake and showed nerves of steel. Very proudly he stepped on the podium again and thus secured 2^nd in the championship standings. Kush also managed a strong race which he finished in a beautiful 7^th place while Federico finally made it into the top ten to secure 10^th place and the final available point. Giorgio and Giacomo fought it out in the midfield as well as between themselves. Giorgio came home in 13^th and Giacomo was right behind him in 14^th.
We are proud of the team’s performance this weekend and are looking forward to the next race.

The next race of the Italian F4 Championship takes place on the weekend of 25^th June 2017 at Vallelunga (I).

Championship Standings

FIA Formula 4 Italian Championship 2017 after 6 races:
1^st Lorenzo Colombo (I), 91 points; 2^nd Job van Uitert (NL), 89 points; 3^rd Sebastian Fernandez (VEN), 85 points; 4^th Marcus Armstrong (NZL), 55 points; 5^th Leonardo Lorandi (I), 45 points; 6^th Artem Petrov (RUS), 41 points; 10^th Kush Maini (IND), 24 points; 16^th Giacomo Bianchi (CH), 3 points; 16^th Federico Malvestiti (I), 3 points; 17^th Giorgio Carrara (ARG), 2 points

Rookie-Wertung:
1^st Leonardo Lorandi (I), 128 points; 2^nd Enzo Fittipaldi (BRA), 119 points; 3^th Giorgio Carrara (ARG), 75 points

2017 FIA FORMULA 4 ITALIAN CHAMPIONSHIP - CALENDAR

More info:

• www.acisportitalia.it/F4/
• www.italiaracing.net