Race Report

FIA FORMULA 4
ITALIAN CHAMPIONSHIP, Rounds 13/14/15

Circuit: Imola (I); Length: 4.909 km, 8^th/9^th/10^th September 2017
www.autodromoimola.com

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

Van Uitert, Maini and Carrara on the podium an Imola

The fifth of seven meetings in the Italian FIA Formula 4 Championship took place after the long summer break at the characterful circuit at Imola (I). Gregoire Saucy joined our team and he plans to compete in the last rounds of the championship, in order to start his preparations for the 2018 season. You can follow the races live on sporttube tv..

Qualifying

Friday, 08/09/17, 17.25 – 18.00, 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 2^nd best lap times of each driver in either qualifying session.

Lap times were incredibly close and our drivers did their best, finishing the sessions in very good positions.

FIA Formula 4 Italian Championship

Race One (28 minutes + 1 lap)

Saturday, 09/09/17, 12.05 Uhr, Weather: Sunny, 25°C

The start went well, but soon Vips and Armstrong clashed. Armstrong was able to continue, while Vips went off track. That promoted Job to 2nd, and Federico, who had started from 5^th place, found himself in 3^rd place. The Safety Car had to be deployed and at the restart there were changes, but Job and Federico kept their positions. Kush was 8^th, Giorgio 12^th and Gregoire, who had not made the best of starts in his first ever race in the category, was in 15^th. Job was all over Armstrong, but it was not easy to find the right moment for an overtaking manoeuvre. Federico was battling with Zendeli and then Fernandez also got involved in the fight. Federico and Fernandez touched, and the latter spun but was able to continue. Fittipaldi tried to avoid Fernandez, and as a result he and Federico crashed into each other and both ended up off track. The Safety Car had to be re-deployed. Armstrong managed to stay in front of Job at the restart, Kush was in 5^th position and Giacomo had moved up to 9^th. Giorgio was 11^th and Gregoire had moved forward to 12^th. The last few laps were very exciting, with Job putting pressure on Armstrong, but Armstrong held his nerve and made no mistake. Job reached the finishing line with the smallest margin in a great 2^nd place. Kush had made up ground although it took a photo finish to confirm his result. This showed that he had caught Colombo just before the finish line and as a result he claimed a super 4^th place! Giorgio finished in 11^th, which put him on the Rookie podium again, this time in a great 2^nd place. Gregoire took the chequered flag immediately behind Giorgio and with that came home in a very respectable 12^th in his first ever F4 race.

FIA Formula 4 Italian Championship

Race Two (28 minutes + 1 lap)

Sunday, 10/09/17, 08.15, Weather: Rain, 17°C

The rain was falling throughout the night, and in the morning the officials chose to change the program for the day. The F4 race was shortened by 7 minutes and only started at 10.50 behind the Safety Car. The track was very wet, but everyone drove with enough respect for the conditions. Despite some hairy situations the race was completed with no stoppages. Job led convincingly and his win was never in question! For lap after lap Kush ran in 2^nd, with Vips just managing to slip past him towards the end of the race. Nevertheless Kush was delighted to claim his first podium finish in the category. Giacomo had worked his way up to a very good 10^th place, while Giorgio took the chequered flag right behind him in 11^th. That meant Giorgio was again on the Rookie podium in 2^nd place. Federico finished in 13^th, and Gregoire crossed the finishing line in 15^th. They had all done very well in these difficult conditions, on a very wet track, and in a huge amount of spray!

FIA Formula 4 Italian Championship

Race Three (28 minutes + 1 lap)

Sunday, 10/09/2017, 16.15, Weather: Cloudy, 18°C

In the afternoon the rain stopped and the track started to dry out. Everyone opted to start on slicks despite it being declared a wet race, and despite it starting behind the Safety Car. When the Safety Car finally pulled in Job managed the start very well and Kush followed him easily, but Vips was close behind him and Vips and Kush were battling it out for positions. Unfortunately they then tangled, but both were able to continue, only losing a handful of places. That gave Job some breathing space and he managed to increase the gap as a result. Finally Kush gained some points by finishing 9^th and came home right behind Federico, who after a very good race came home in 8^th. Shortly after the start Giorgio tangled with Giacomo, which sent Giacomo into a spin and caused him to loose places. Giorgio finished the race in 11^th, stepping onto the Rookie podium for the third time, this time in third place. Giacomo finished the race in 17^th place. Gregoire, on his first race weekend with us, had experienced pretty much the entire spectrum of weather, had adapted well, and had proved his potential. He finished this race in 13^th.

The next race of the Italian F4 Championship takes place on the weekend of 8^th October 2017 at Mugello (I).

Championship Standings

FIA Formula 4 Italian Championship 2017 after 15 races:
1^st Marcus Armstrong (NZL), 209 points; 2^nd Job van Uitert (NL), 192 points; 3^rd Lorenzo Colombo (I), 166 points; 4^th Sebastian Fernandez (VEN), 131 points; 5^th Leonardo Lorandi (I), 122 points; 6^th Artem Petrov (RUS), 116 points; 10^th Kush Maini (IND), 71 points; 16^th Federico Malvestiti (I), 9 points; 17^th Giacomo Bianchi (CH), 6 points; 19^th Giorgio Carrara (ARG), 2 points

Rookie-Classification:
1^st Leonardo Lorandi (I), 353 points; 2^nd Enzo Fittipaldi (BRA), 221 points; 3^rd Giorgio Carrara (ARG), 187 points

2017 FIA FORMULA 4 ITALIAN CHAMPIONSHIP - CALENDAR

More info:

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