Race Report
FIA FORMULA 4
ITALIAN CHAMPIONSHIP, Rounds 19/20/21
Circuit: Vallelunga (I), Length 4.085 km, 13th – 15th October 2023
www.vallelunga.it
JENZER MOTORSPORT 2023:
Ethan Ischer (CH), Ariel Elkin (ISR), Finn Wiebelhaus (GER), Shimo Zhang (CHN)
Elkin shines in the final event at Vallelunga
The seventh and final racing event for the Italian FIA F4 Championship took place at the technical circuit of Vallelunga near Rome. A big field of thirty-four cars was entered, and beautiful warm weather accompanied the meeting.
Qualifying
Friday, 13/10/23, 16.10 – 16.50, Weather: Sunny, 26°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 time of each driver in either of the two qualifying sessions.
| Results Qualifying 1 & Grid for Race One | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Sztuka Kacper (POL) | US | 1.33.903 |
| 2nd | Tuukka Taponen (FIN) | Prema | 1.33.926 |
| 3rd | Ugo Ugochukwu (USA) | Prema | 1.33.992 |
| 12th | Ariel Elkin (ISR) | Jenzer Motorsport | 1.34.391 |
| 23rd | Finn Wiebelhaus (DEU) | Jenzer Motorsport | 1.34.861 |
| 28th | Ethan Ischer (CH) | Jenzer Motorsport | 1.35.045 |
| 30th | Shimo Zhang (CHN) | Jenzer Motorsport | 1.35.206 |
| Results Qualifying 2 & Grid for Race Two | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Kacper Sztuka (POL) | US | 1.33.497 |
| 2nd | Tuukka Taponen (FIN) | Prema | 1.33.718 |
| 3rd | Ugo Ugochukwu (USA) | Prema | 1.33.732 |
| 14th | Ariel Elkin (ISR) | Jenzer Motorsport | 1.34.201 |
| 24th | Finn Wiebelhaus (DEU) | Jenzer Motorsport | 1.34.650 |
| 27th | Ethan Ischer (CH) | Jenzer Motorsport | 1.34.715 |
| 28th | Shimo Zhang (CHN) | Jenzer Motorsport | 1.34.781 |
| Grid for Race Three | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Kacper Sztuka (POL) | US | 1.33.555 |
| 2nd | Tuukka Taponen (FIN) | Prema | 1.33.718 |
| 3rd | Ugo Ugochukwu (USA) | Prema | 1.33.797 |
| 15th | Ariel Elkin (ISR) | Jenzer Motorsport | 1.34.301 |
| 26th | Finn Wiebelhaus (DEU) | Jenzer Motorsport | 1.34.825 |
| 27th | Shimo Zhang (CHN) | Jenzer Motorsport | 1.34.831 |
| 28th | Ethan Ischer (CH) | Jenzer Motorsport | 1.34.838 |
FIA Formula 4 Italian Championship
Race One (30 minutes + 1 lap)
Saturday, 14/10/23, 11.00, Weather: Sunny, 20°C
The first race of the weekend got underway at a sunny Vallelunga on Saturday morning. Our drivers had an excellent start to the race. Ariel, who started from 12th position, was well determined to move forward and already appeared in 7th position after the first lap. Shimo and Ethan also got underway well, starting 29th and 34th respectively. Both drivers managed to position themselves very well steering through the corners without mistakes and showing a good pace. Shimo was 24th and Ethan 25th by the end of the opening lap. Finn started in 23rd, gained one position at the start and managed to maintain this position consistently throughout the race. Over the course of the race our drivers kept a good pace and held steady. After a superb run Ariel brought home a great 7th place overall and also valuable points in the rookie category, in which he only narrowly missed the podium being 4th in the rankings. Shimo, experiencing his first race event in the FIA F4 Italian Championship, finished 21st and Ethan, who had gained 11 positions since the start, finished 23rd. Unfortunately, although holding 22nd position safely throughout the race, Finn could not avoid a contact in the last lap, in which he lost his front wing and fell back to 29th position.
| Race One Results | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Ugo Ugochukwu (USA) | Prema | 31.38.218 | |
| 2nd | Tuukka Taponen (FIN) | Prema | Gap | 1.547 |
| 3rd | Kacper Sztuka (POL) | US | Gap | 1.829 |
| 7th | Ariel Elkin (ISR) | Jenzer Motorsport | ||
| 21st | Shimo Zhang (CHN) | Jenzer Motorsport | ||
| 23rd | Ethan Ischer (CH) | Jenzer Motorsport | ||
| 29th | Finn Wiebelhaus (DEU) | Jenzer Motorsport | ||
| Fastest lap: Brando Badoer (ITA) in 1.34.223 | ||||
FIA Formula 4 Italian Championship
Race Two (30 minutes + 1 lap)
Saturday, 14/10/23, 16.45, Weather: Sunny, 23°C
The second race of the weekend took place on Saturday afternoon. When the lights went out, Ariel had an excellent start of the race, gaining seven positions and snatching the 7th place. Behind him, chaos happened a few corners into the race with several drivers being involved in accidents. Unfortunately, Finn and Shimo got caught up in the chaos. Their race was over, such a shame! Starting from behind, Ethan was able to avoid all the incidents and remaining in the race, moving up to 21st place. A Safety Car had to be deployed, but soon after the red flag was waved and all the drivers made their way back to the pitlane. Unfortunately, not having finished the first lap of the race, the grid for the restart, which took place behind the Safety Car, was made up by the original grid, and Ariel and Ethan got returned to their original starting positions. After the restart, Ariel was again able to improve several positions immediately, but the race had been shortened and not much race time remained. Nevertheless, Ariel was able to finish in the top ten again and shine in excellent 10th place. Ethan was able to improve his position as well and to finish the race in 22nd position. After the race some time penalties were handed out, and this promoted Ariel to 8th place in the final results list and Ethan was moved up to 19th place.
| Race Two Results | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Kacper Sztuka (POL) | US | 26.51.198 | |
| 2nd | Tuukka Taponen (FIN) | Prema | Gap | 0.317 |
| 3rd | Brando Badoer (ITA) | VAR | Gap | 0.711 |
| 8th | Ariel Elkin (ISR) | Jenzer Motorsport | ||
| 19th | Ethan Ischer (CH) | Jenzer Motorsport | ||
| DNF: | Shimo Zhang (CHN) | Jenzer Motorsport | ||
| DNF: | Finn Wiebelhaus (DEU) | Jenzer Motorsport | ||
| Fastest lap: Kacper Sztuka (POL) in 1.34.188 | ||||
FIA Formula 4 Italian Championship
Race Three (30 minutes + 1 lap)
Sunday, 15/10/23, 11.00, Weather: Cloudy, 22°C
For the last time this season the lights went out in Vallelunga on Sunday morning and the third race got underway. There were some movements in the first few laps, but after that the race went without any major incidents. Ariel started from 15th place and, after a few small ups and downs, managed to get this place across the finish line. Finn and Shimo started from 26th and 27th and improved positions practically one after the other. Finn crossed the finish line in 17th place, and Shimo finished right behind him in 18th place. Ethan started at the back again and managed to gain positions lap after lap. In the end he was right behind his teammates in 19th place. Our drivers had mastered the last race of the season well and brought the vehicles to the finish undamaged.
Kacper Sztuka from Poland won the 2023 FIA F4 Italian Championship this weekend. Arvid Lindblad (GB) won the rookie classification.
| Race Three Results | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Kacper Sztuka (POL) | US | 31.38.781 | |
| 2nd | Ugo Ugochukwu (US) | Prema | Gap | 3.798 |
| 3rd | Tuukka Taponen (FIN) | Prema | Gap | 8.098 |
| 15th | Ariel Elkin (ISR) | Jenzer Motorsport | ||
| 17th | Finn Wiebelhaus (DEU) | Jenzer Motorsport | ||
| 18th | Shimo Zhang (CHN) | Jenzer Motorsport | ||
| 19th | Ethan Ischer (CH) | Jenzer Motorsport | ||
| Fastest lap: Sztuka Kacper (POL) in 1:34.194 | ||||
Ethan Ischer (CH)
Ariel Elkin (ISR)
Finn Wiebelhaus (GER)
Shimo Zhang (CHN)
© Photo Pellegrini
Championship Standings
FIA F4 Italian Championship 2023 after 21 races:
1. Kacper Sztuka (POL), 315 points; 2 Ugo Ugochukwu (USA), 280 points; 3. Arvid Lindblad (SWE), 263.5 points; 4. James Wharton (AUS), 205.5 points; 5. Tuukka Taponen (FIN), 196 points; 6. Brando Badoer (ITA), 165 points; 17. Ariel Elkin, 16.5 points
Rookie-Standings:
1. Arvid Lindblad (SWE), 322.5 points; 2. Tuukka Taponen (FIN), 307.0 points; 3. Zachary David (PHL), 236.5 points; 10. Ariel Elkin (ISR), 90 points
2023 Italian FIA Formula 4 Championship
| 21/22/23 April | Imola (I) | |
| 05/06/07 May | Misano (I) | |
| 26/27/28 May | Spa (B) | |
| 23/24/25 June | Monza (I) | |
| 21/22/23 July | Paul Ricard (F) | |
| 29/30 Sept – 01 Oct | Mugello (I) | |
| 13/14/15 October | Vallelunga (I) |
More info:
