Race Report

FIA FORMULA 4
SPANISH CHAMPIONSHIP

Circuit: Paul Ricard (F), Length 5,822 km, 26/27/28 April 2019
www.circuitpaulricard.com

JENZER MOTORSPORT 2019:
Giorgio Carrara (ARG), Jonny Edgar (GB), Emidio Pesce (I) and Axel Gnos (CH)

Carrara, Edgar, one-two at Paul Ricard

The second of seven races of the Spanish FIA F4 Championship took place on the fast GP circuit of Paul Ricard (F).
Since this event was run just before the first event of the Italian Championship, which we will focus on this year, we took the opportunity to race with our rookie drivers just to give them some experience.
There were 18 entries and our team was kindly accepted into the championship.

Qualifying 1

Saturday, 27/04/19, 09.00 – 09.15, Weather: Sunny, 12°C

There are two qualifying sessions, each 15 minutes long, with the first session taking place on Saturday morning. The times from this session are used to set the starting grid of the first race and the second race grid is set based on the second fastest time of each driver in Q1. On Sunday morning the second session was held to set the starting grid for the third race.

FIA Formula 4 Spanish Championship

Race One (18 minutes + 1 lap)

Saturday, 27/04/19, 12.15, Weather: Sunny, 15°C

For Jonny and Emidio this was the start of their careers in single seaters. Both had done well in the qualifying session, and they were now ready for their first race start. Meyer, who started from pole, got away in the lead, but Jonny also made a good start and was right behind him. They were followed by Colapinto, who overtook Giorgio at the start. Several changes of position followed in the first laps. When Jonny ran a little wide, Colapinto didn’t need a second invitation and he was through. Giorgio also passed his team mate. When Meyer made a mistake and dropped back, Giorgio set of in pursuit of new leader Colapinto. Colapinto came under severe pressure from Giorgio and eventually took off over the kerbs in such a way that he spun. That let Giorgio take the lead, and he came home to an excellent first victory. Behind him, Jonny claimed an excellent second place in his first ever race in a single seater. Third was Colapinto, but he was later socked a position for not giving the place back when he cut a chicane. That gave third place to Glenn van Berlo. Emidio finished in a respectable 11^th in his first race in a single seater, while Axel was unable to start because of a technical fault.

FIA Formula 4 Spanish Championship

Race Two (18 minutes + 1 lap)

Saturday, 27/04/19, 17.20, Weather: Sunny, 15°C

For his second ever race in a formula car, Jonny started from pole position. He made a superb start and led the field, with Giorgio just behind him, and they soon managed to open a small gap to the rest of the field. Axel was in 10^th place, and Emidio was 13^th. Emidio worked his way forward steadily lap after lap, and soon caught up to Axel. With a handful of laps left, he overtook Axel and finished a good race in 11^th place. Afterwards it turned out that Axel had damage to one of his tyres right from the start and he was therefore unable to race effectively. He crossed the finish line in 12^th place. At the front, Jonny controlled the race in an impressive manner, with Giorgio following close behind. Two laps from the end, Giorgio launched an attack to get past Jonny and was able to make it stick. After a strong race, the pair again achieved a double podium for the team.

Qualifying 2

Sunday, 28/04/19, 11.10 – 11.25, Weather: Sunny, 12°C

FIA F4 Spanish Championship

Race Three (25 minutes + 1 lap)

Sunday, 28/04/2019, 16.40, Weather: Sunny, 15°C

Jonny again started from pole, but this time Giorgio got the better start and took the lead. Jonny managed to get back ahead briefly, but into the next corner Giorgio made another passing move and this time it stuck, and he was in front for good. Behind him, Jonny was now fighting with Meyer, who managed to get past to make it a three-way fight for the lead. Giorgio controlled the race well, but Meyer was able to put more pressure on towards the end. Meyer managed to sneak through briefly once, but Giorgio countered and took the place back immediately. Meyer stayed close but he was never given a chance to overtake. Jonny then tried an attack on Meyer but couldn’t find a way past. Nevertheless, he also was on the podium for the third time in his debut weekend, this time in third place. Giorgio happily accepted his third victor's cup of the weekend, getting the new season off to a perfect start! Emidio went into this race with his best starting position and was doing very well, but an electronics failure saw him have to pit and retire a few laps into the race, which was a real shame. Axel achieved his best result and finished the race in a good eighth place.

Now we are looking ahead to the first race event of the FIA F4 Italian Championship which takes place in Vallelunga (I) next weekend (5th May 2019).

2019 FIA F4 SPANISH CHAMPIONSHIP – AGENDA

More Info:

• www.italiaracing.net