Race Report

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

Circuit: Monza (I); Length 5.793 km, 20^th/21^st/22^nd October 2017
www.monzanet.it

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

Final race weekend in Monza: Van Uitert finishes Vice Champion, Carrara secures 3^rd place in the Rookie classification, podium for Maini

The last of seven meetings in the Italian FIA Formula 4 Championship took place on the ultra-fast GP circuit at Monza. Marcus Armstrong (NZ) and Job van Uitert (NL) were the ones still in with a chance of the championship, but obviously the chance to win it was very small for Job. On the other hand Job still had to defend 2^nd place from Colombo, Fernandez, Lorandi and Petrov. We were looking forward to some very exciting racing!
You can follow the races live on sporttube tv.

Qualifying

Friday, 20/10/17, 17.40 – 18.15, Weather: Overcast, 16°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.

FIA Formula 4 Italian Championship

Race One (28 minutes + 1 lap)

Saturday, 21/10/17, 14.45, Weather: Overcast, 18°C

A very energetic first lap followed on from the start. Colombo clashed with Job, and Job dropped back to 11^th place. Job immediately started to regain the lost places, but there was more contact, and he went through the gravel and over the grass several times, which wasn’t the best of plans. Even so Job made up positions lap after lap. Giorgio and Federico both started well and they were both clearly on the way up. But what happened then is what hurts most: Giorgio touched Federico and they both flew off the track into the gravel trap together! The Safety Car was deployed for one lap to clear away the debris and at the restart Job managed to overtake Kush. Kush was on a very good run and was battling hard with Fernandez, whom he left behind in the end, finishing a strong race in an excellent 6th place. Giacomo, who had started from 10^th place, was able to take the chequered flag in the same very good place, but in between he lost places more than once only to win them back again in a series of courageous battles, which enabled him to score the last available point once again. Shortly before the end of the race Job left Rodriguez behind and was up to 4^th place where he fought it out with Armstrong and Colombo for the position. Job managed to overtake Colombo, and that secured him an excellent 3^rd place. Despite that Armstrong had now collected enough points to mathematically already have a big enough advantage over Job to be crowned 2017 Italian F4 champion!

FIA Formula 4 Italian Championship

Race Two (28 minutes + 1 lap)

Sunday, 22/10/17, 09.20, Weather: Fog, 12°C

Overnight it rained, and in the morning the track was still damp, with thick fog hanging over the park. The track was inevitably very slippery and everyone opted for rain tyres. When Job drove to the starting grid, his car suddenly filled up with foam from the fire extinguisher, which had gone off unexpectedly. The car was pushed back into pitlane, where the team started to work frantically to repair the damage. Job was able to get back on track in time to catch up with the field, which had started behind the Safety Car. He immediately began doggedly working his way forward. There was not a moment of hesitation in his driving and he soon appeared in the top ten. It wasn’t all easy though, and Job had to survive a few very hairy situations! He even spun once, but immediately continued with the race. In a very impressive run Job battled his way up to 2^nd place! And the resulting podium position gave him enough points to cement his 2nd place in the overall championship standings. Kush spun after the start and dropped a long way back, but he was able to work his way forward again and to finish in a good 7^th place. That meant he was the first driver in the Jenzer train which arrived in the following order: Kush in 7^th, Federico in 8^th, Giorgio in 9^th and Giacomo in 10^th. All five Jenzer Motorsport drives finished in the top ten in this very difficult race!

FIA Formula 4 Italian Championship

Race Three (28 minutes + 1 lap)

Sunday, 22/10/2017, 16.10, Weather: Cloudy, 18°C

The last race of the season started well with Job in 3^rd place. A fierce battle for places developed immediately and the positions changed every lap. Then Armstrong and Petrov collided and Petrov’s front wing was damaged. Job held back, but then saw his chance to attack. However Petrov went off track, Armstrong closed the door, and everything went wrong. Petrov came shooting back onto the track and crashed into Job leaving both cars heavily damaged. The Safety Car was deployed just after Giorgio, Giacomo and Federico were involved in a crash. Giorgio and Giacomo finished the race in the gravel trap while Federico managed to get back to the pitlane, where a tyre and his front wing were changed. Federico rejoined the race and started a courageous pursuit of places. He managed to move up to an excellent 7^th place. Kush started well and was battling hard, and at the Safety Car restart he held 4^th place. He made no mistakes and drove strongly to the finish line where, because Armstrong was handed a time penalty, Kush ended the season with a well-deserved 3^rd place on the podium.

Marcus Armstrong won the 2017 championship from Job van Uitert and Lorenzo Colombo. Leonardo Lorandi won the Rookie standings from Enzo Fittipaldi and Giorgio Carrara.

A very eventful season came to an end today. We are already looking forward to 2018!

Championship Final Standings

FIA Formula 4 Italian Championship 2017 after 21 races:
1^st Marcus Armstrong (NZL), 283 Punkte; 2^nd Job van Uitert (NL), 247 points; 3^rd Lorenzo Colombo (I), 223 points; 4^th Sebastian Fernandez (VEN), 197 points; 5^th Artem Petrov (RUS), 192 points; 6^th Leonardo Lorandi (I), 185 points; 9^th Kush Maini (IND), 114 points; 11^th Federico Malvestiti (I), 19 points; 13^th Giacomo Bianchi (CH), 8 points; 15^th Giorgio Carrara (ARG), 6 points

Rookie-Wertung:
1^st Leonardo Lorandi (I), 400 points; 2^nd Enzo Fittipaldi (BRA), 293 points; 3^rd Giorgio Carrara (ARG), 227 points

2017 FIA FORMULA 4 ITALIAN CHAMPIONSHIP - CALENDAR

More info:

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