Race Report

FIA FORMULA 4
ITALIAN CHAMPIONSHIP, Rounds 19/20/21

Circuit: Monza (I), Length 5.793 km, 25^th-27^th October 2024
www.monzanet.it

JENZER MOTORSPORT 2024:
Enea Frey (CH), Reno Francot (NL), Ciro Sobral (BRA), Bart Harrison (GB)

Francot shines at the finale in Monza

The seventh and final round of the FIA F4 Italian Championship took place in the “Temple of Speed” in Monza. A large starting field of 39 vehicles was registered. Enea Frey and Reno Francot started for Jenzer Motorsport, as well as two newcomers who wanted to get a taste of the “Italian Championship” with us: 17-year-old Brazilian Ciro Sobral and Briton Bart Harrison, who is the same age.

Qualifying

Friday, 25/10/24, 16.40 – 16.55 Q1, Weather: Nass, 18°C
Friday, 25/10/24, 17.05 – 17.20 Q2

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 time of each driver in either of the two qualifying sessions.

During the qualifying sessions on Friday afternoon temperatures were rather cool and it was wet.

FIA Formula 4 Italian Championship

Race One (30 minutes + 1 lap)

Saturday, 26/10/24, 09.25, Weather: Rain, 15°C

It rained all night and continued to rain in the morning. It was gloomy, grey and very wet. That's why the first race was started behind the safety car and three laps were driven like that. The drivers were supposed to get used to the difficult conditions. At the restart, Reno managed to hold on to the promising third place. But during the race, his car had a problem with the gearshift and Reno fell back to 10^th place. After a safety car phase, Reno wanted to attack again, but he was hit from behind, landed on the grass, and then flew into the gravel. The driver who caused the accident also got stuck in the gravel, so the safety had to be deployed again and took over the huge field. Since there wasn't much time left, the race was ended behind the safety car. Despite the heavy spray, Enea held on to a good 14^th place throughout the race and defended this position in the very difficult conditions until the end. Bart did very well in his first race here in Monza despite the tricky conditions, managing to move up a few places and bring his car across the finish line in 16^th place. Ciro, who so far had not had much experience of racing in rain in Brazil, also did well and improved to 20^th place in the tightly packed midfield.

FIA Formula 4 Italian Championship

Race Two (30 minutes + 1 lap)

Saturday, 26/10/24, 14.20, Weather: Rain, 17°C

The rain had stopped when the large F4 field set off for the pre-grid. The track was still quite damp, and in places even wet. A new rain zone was known to be approaching the track, but when would it start raining? Very few chose rain tires for the start, most drivers were on slicks. It turned out that this was a very risky decision, because a car spun off track already on the warm-up lap and there were further accidents directly after the start. The safety car had to be deployed. Enea was already in 14th place, Ciro was 21^st and Bart had moved up to 26^th. Reno, who had to start from the pit lane after an electronic problem, was 32^nd. When the restart was given, only one lap passed before another accident occurred, involving several drivers. Enea was now 11^th, Ciro 14^th, Bart 18^th and Reno 25^th. The rain had started falling and as it was falling harder, it became more and more difficult for the ones on slick tyres to keep the car on the very slippery track. Bart was also involved in an accident and spun off the track. Ciro had to go wide in order to avoid an accident and lost a few places. The safety car was deployed again. Since there was not much time left on the clock until the end of the race, no restart was given and the race ended behind the safety car. Our drivers finished in the following positions: Enea in 14^th, Reno in 17^th, Ciro in 24^th and Bart was still in 30^th place in the rankings.

FIA Formula 4 Italian Championship

Race Three (30 minutes + 1 lap)

Sunday, 27/10/24, 10.25, Weather: Cloudy, 18°C

It stopped raining during the night, but the track was not completely dry. It also started to drizzle again during the race, so the conditions were once again hairy. There were drivers who chose slick tires and others who opted for rain tires. It wasn't long after the start that the first accident caused the safety car to be deployed. At this point Reno was in 8^th place, Enea was 13^th, Ciro 27^th and Bart 33^rd. After the restart, it was unfortunately Enea who flew off track after contact and came to a stop with a damaged vehicle. The safety car had to be deployed. It then began to rain lightly and the track was very slippery. Ciro needed to have a new front wing to be mounted in the pits and was then able to rejoin the field in 34^th place. After the restart, a full lap was completed before another accident occurred. Reno managed to move up to 7^th place immediately and managed to secure 6^th place before the race was neutralized again with the safety car. Bart had also managed to move up several positions and was now in 18^th place. Ciro had lost no time and managed to move up to 29^th place. The safety car had to be deployed once again and it was clear that this race would also end behind the safety car. The positions stayed the same and Reno brought home a nice 6^th place to end the season.

Enea Frey (CH)

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Reno Francot (NL)

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Ciro Sobral (BRA)

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Bart Harrison (GB)

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Team

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© Photo Pellegrini

Championship Final Standings

FIA F4 Italian Championship 2024 after 21 races:
1^st Freddie Slater (GBR), 383 points; 2^nd Jack Beeton (AUS), 222 points; 3^rd Hiyu Yamakoshi (JPN), 220 points; 4^th Akshay Bohra (USA), 217 points; 5^th Alex Powell (USA), 176 points; 6^th Kean Nakamura Berta (JPN), 170 points; 14^th Reno Francot (NL), 34 points; 15^th Ethan Ischer (CH), 22 points; 16^th Enea Frey (CH), 12 points

Rookie-Ranking:
1^st Alex Powell (USA), 343 points; 2^nd Kean Nakamura-Berta (JPN), 328 points; 3^rd Tomass Stolcermanis (LVA), 279 points; 8^th Enea Frey (CH), 83 points; 14^th Shimo Zhang (CHN), 38 points; 26^th Oscar Wurz (A), 1 point

2024 Italian FIA Formula 4 Championship

Read more:

• www.italiaracing.net