Race Report

FIA FORMULA 4
ITALIAN CHAMPIONSHIP, Rounds 07/08/09

Circuit: Vallelunga (I), Length 4.085 km, 23^rd/24^th/25^th June 2017
www.vallelunga.it

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

Van Uitert & Maini in the Top Ten

The third of seven meetings in the Italian FIA Formula 4 Championship took place, after a seven week break, at the technical Vallelunga circuit, where sunshine and hot temperatures accompanied the program. You can follow the races live on sporttube tv.

Qualifying

Saturday, 24/06/17, 08.30 – 09.10, Weather: Sunny, 25°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 the 2nd best lap times of each driver in either qualifying session.

After two free practice sessions on Friday the two qualifying sessions were held early on Saturday morning. Temperatures had already risen to 25°C, and the Tarmac was also very hot! There was an accident towards the end of the first session which made it impossible to improve times further in the closing laps. The second session was green from start to finish. Again the lap times in the large field were very close, with 21 drivers from a total of 27 within 1 second of the fastest time!

FIA Formula 4 Italian Championship

Race One (28 minutes + 1 lap)

Saturday, 24/06/17, 13.55, Weather: Sunny, 37°C

The race took place in the heat of the day. With air temperature hitting 37°C, drivers and equipment had to cope with a lot. Job gained a place on the first lap and was now 5^th. Kush also immediately improved and came back in 9^th place. Federico started with big hopes from 11^th, but shortly after the start he made contact with another driver and dropped back to 15^th, and shortly after he was hit from behind, which resulted in a spin for him. From a long way back Federico now started his chase for places, in the end finishing 16^th. Giorgio fought a hard race too, steadily improving his position, but every so often he also lost ground, finally taking the chequered flag just ahead of Federico in 15^th place. Giacomo drove a strong race; starting 20^th on the grid, he battled his way forward and in the closing laps put in a courageous fight to gain 10^th place. After a number of place changes he kept ahead and proudly came home to claim the last top ten place and some valuable points. Kush had made his way up from 9^th to 7^th and drove flawlessly to bring this excellent result home without no problems. Job overtook Flörsch at the start and stayed ahead for several laps. Flörsch then managed to get past him, but a llittle later she collided with another driver and went off. That moved Job back to 5^th, where he stayed all the way to the finish line.

FIA Formula 4 Italian Championship

Race Two (28 minutes + 1 lap)

Sunday, 25/06/17, 09.00, Weather: Sunny, 24°C

Job made a good start and was involved in the usual battle for positions after the start, before he was hit hard from behind and spun off into the gravel trap. Luckily Job was unhurt, but the car was heavily damaged and Job’s race ended much too early. The Safety Car took control of the field until the two cars were cleared away. Kush, who had already improved to 11^th, managed to overtake Lorandi a few laps after the restart and to claim 10^th place. He drove very well and improved to 9^th shortly before the end of the race and again collected important points. Federico didn’t get away too well at the start and again had to battle his way forward. He made a good job of it and finished in 16^th. Giorgio started well and drove a flawless race, improving his position steadily and making up several places. He again crossed the finish line directly in front of Federico, in 15^th place. Giacomo was involved in several battles and lost a few places, finally finishing the race in 19^th.

FIA Formula 4 Italian Championship

Race Three (28 minutes + 1 lap)

Sunday, 25/06/2017, 16.00, Weather: Sunny, 32°C

By the end of the afternoon it was still very hot and most of the tyres had seen better days! Therefore there weren't many overtaking manoeuvres to be seen, and most drivers tried to defend their positions. Job had overtaken Flörsch after the star and was in 7^th place, but then Lorandi appeared behind him and they clashed. Unfortunately the Job's rear tyre was damaged, and he had to retire in the pitlane. A little bit further back our drivers formed a group of their own, with Kush leading the group. He crossed the line in 15^th, with Giacomo immediately behind, then Giorgio and Federico. Of course there was now no point in taking any big risks.

The next race of the Italian F4 Championship takes place on the weekend of 16^th July 2017 at Mugello (I).

Championship Standings

FIA Formula 4 Italian Championship 2017 after 9 races:
1^st Lorenzo Colombo (I), 113 points; 2^nd Marcus Armstrong (NZL), 113 points; 3^rd Job van Uitert (NL), 101 points; 4^th Artem Petrov (RUS), 99 points; 5^th Sebastian Fernandez (VEN), 98 points; 6^th Leonardo Lorandi (I), 65 points; 10^th Kush Maini (IND), 36 points; 17^th Giacomo Bianchi (CH), 4 points; 18^th Federico Malvestiti (I), 3 points; 19^th Giorgio Carrara (ARG), 2 points

Rookie-Wertung:
1^st Leonardo Lorandi (I), 203 points; 2^nd Enzo Fittipaldi (BRA), 149 points; 3^rd Giorgio Carrara (ARG), 109 points

2017 FIA FORMULA 4 ITALIAN CHAMPIONSHIP - CALENDAR

More info:

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