Race Report

FIA FORMULA 4
ITALIAN CHAMPIONSHIP, Rounds 10/11/12

Circuit: Magione (I), Length 2,507 km, 2^nd/3^rd August 2014
www.autodromomagione.com

JENZER MOTORSPORT 2014:
Ali Al Khalifa (BRN), Alain Valente (CH), Lucas Mauron (CH) and Nico Rindlisbacher (CH)

Good performance at Magione

The fourth of seven meetings in the Italian FIA Formula 4 Championship took place at the small, winding circuit at Magione in Umbria. With 21 competitors present for this meeting, our expectations were high in advance of the start. You can follow the races live on sporttube tv.

Qualifying

Saturday, 02/08/14, 16.00 – 16.40, Weather: Sunny, 27°C

The rules of the championship allow for two qualifying sessions, each 15 minutes long, with a break of just ten minutes in between. Results from qualification session 1 determine the grid for Race One, while results from qualifying session 2 determine the grid for Race Three; the grid for Race Two is based on the results of Race One, with the first ten finishers starting in reverse order.
Ali and Nico went out earlier than the rest on their first set of tyres, Alain and Lucas following a few minutes later. Alain started very well, remaining in the top 6 but as the session ran towards its end he slipped back down the order, not really managing to improve on his earlier best times. Like Alain, Lucas set his best times in the earlier part of the session, while Nico set his a lap or two later and Ali improved at the end of the session.
In the break between sessions our drivers changed over to the remaining new tyres, but the second part of qualifying got off to a poor start when it was interrupted by a red flag stoppage just as our drivers were finding their rhythm. At the restart there was only enough time to do four timed laps and as everyone left the pits at the same time the chance of a clear lap was heavily reduced, and none of our four drivers were able to find the space they needed to improve on their earlier times.

FIA Formula 4 Italian Championship

Race One (28 minutes + 1 lap)

Sunday, 03/08/14, 09.00, Weather: Cloudy, 25°C

The race started under a cloudy sky but as the lights went out all our drivers made it away cleanly, Nico doing the better job initially by gaining 2 places in the early part of the lap but losing 1 by the lap end, while Alain gained a place and Lucas was up 2 places. On lap 9 someone in front of Alain ran wide and ended up going off the track, which moved Alain up to 6^th, Lucas to 11^th, Nico to 15^th and Ali to 19^th.
A handful of laps later Alain was able to gain another place, while Nico slipped back, as did Lucas a lap later, losing 2 places. He wasn’t alone. A mistake from Ali after some very good laps allowed two other drivers to pass him. And that was how things stayed until lap 23 when Lucas was able to gain a place for 11th and Nico gained 2 places to finish 13^th, while Alain came home in a good 5^th, and Ali was 18^th in the end.

FIA Formula 4 Italian Championship

Race Two (18 minutes + 1 lap)

Sunday, 03/08/14, 12.00, Weather: Sunny, 31°C

Race 2 started in sunny conditions, with Alain and Lucas making good starts, as did Nico. By the end of lap 1 Alain was again 5^th, with Lucas 11^th, Nico 12^th and Ali 18^th. However, 4 laps in there was an accident that required the Safety Car to take over the field. The resulting shuffle of the order moved Lucas and Nico into 9^th and 10^th respectively while Ali gained two places for 16^th. Two laps later the Safety Car came in and the race resumed in just as hectic a manner as before, with Alain running wide in turn 7, spinning over the grass and rejoining in 17^th. This moved Lucas and Nico up a place each and meant Alain had a bit of work to do to regain the positions he’d lost. By lap 13 he was back up to 12^th, while Nico had dropped a place and was now 10^th. At the flag Lucas came home in 8^th, two places ahead of Nico, who was two places ahead of Alain, while Ali was 17^th.

FIA Formula 4 Italian Championship

Race Three (28 minutes + 1 lap)

Sunday, 03/08/14, 16.10, Weather: Cloudy, 36°C

Race 3 started under threatening clouds and we had to hope that the rain would stay away as the cars roared away at the start. Nico stalled but was quickly able to restart, while Lucas and Alain were both on it on the first lap gaining places as they went. Ali by contrast had a bit of a battle in the first two corners. A lap later and another crash meant the Safety Car was needed. All of our cars survived the mayhem, with Alain in 8^th, Lucas in 11^th, Nico in 19^th and Ali in 21^st. Again the Safety Car only stayed out for 2 laps and when it came in the scuffles continued as light rain started to fall! Lucas was unlucky to have another car he was trying to pass chop his front wing off, but he was quickly back to the pit lane where the mechanics did a super job changing the nose and front wing and got him back out just as the race leaders came past. The rain stopped and the race continued, Alain working hard to move up the order, battling with the car behind with only a small gap of 0.3 seconds between them for most of the race. By the middle of the race the order was Alain in 8^th, Lucas in 14^th, Nico in 16^th and Ali in 18^th. On the last lap things changed quite a lot when one of the lead cars crashed out gifting Alain 7^th while the other 3 swapped places frequently, finally ending up with Lucas in 14^th, Nico in 15^th and Ali in 18^th.

We are now looking forward to the next race, which will be held after the long summer break in six weeks’ time at Vallelunga.

Championship standings

FIA Formula 4 Italian Championship 2014 after 12 out of 21 races:
1^st Lance Stroll (CAN), 232 points; 2^nd Andrea Russo (I), 145 points; 3^rd Leonardo Pulcini (I), 122 points; 4^th Alain Valente (CH), 100 points; 5^th Mattia Drudi (I), 89 points; 6^th Takashi Kasai (JPN), 50 points; 14^th Lucas Mauron (CH), 18 points; 19^th Nico Rindlisbacher, 2 points

Italian F4 Trophy for drivers over 18 years:
1^st Brandon Maisono (F), 239 points; 2^nd Ali Al Khalifa (BRN), 144 points; 3^rd Keith Camilleri (M), 91 points

2014 FIA FORMULA 4 ITALIAN CHAMPIONSHIP - AGENDA

For more information:

• www.acisportitalia.it/F4/home/ing/4882/Two-days-in-Adria-Raceway-for-F.4-teams/2014
• www.italiaracing.net