Race Report

FIA FORMULA 4
ITALIAN CHAMPIONSHIP, Rounds 4/5/6

Circuit: Monza (I), Length 5.793 km, 29^th/30^th/31^st May 2015
www.monzanet.it

JENZER MOTORSPORT 2015:
Marcos Siebert (ARG), Lucas Mauron (CH), Nico Rindlisbacher (CH), Ali Al Khalifa (BRN) and Arlind Hoti (D)

Promising performances at Monza

The second of seven meetings in the Italian FIA Formula 4 Championship took place on the ultra-fast GP circuit at Monza with 29 drivers in attendance, all very keen to take on the latest challenge. Starting with us from this weekend is Arlind Hoti from Germany. The races can be followed live on sporttube tv.

Qualifying

Friday, 29/05/15, 18.10 – 18.50, Weather: Sunny, 24°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 1 determine the grid for Race One, while results from qualification 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.
After two free practice sessions in the morning we went straight into qualifying at the end of the afternoon. It was very important to find a good slipstream to have an optimal lap time and all our drivers were doing their best to achieve this. The battle was hard, and the big field was very close together with 17 drivers within one second of the pole position time. Marcos managed to position himself very well in the top ten (6^th and 5^th), while Lucas was well placed too (17^th and 15^th), while Nico (23^rd and 18^th), Arlind (22^nd and 22^nd) and Ali (27^th and 23^rd) all improved steadily.

FIA Formula 4 Italian Championship

Race One (28 minutes + 1 lap)

Saturday, 30/05/15, 12.35, Weather: Sunny, 24°C

The first race started in the main heat of the day and the big field got away cleanly, everyone surviving the first lap. Marcos had to defend 6^th place, and then after fighting it out with Desideri continued in 5^th. Nico made a super start and was making excellent progress when he was pushed off by Peroni while approaching the Parabolica. Nico ended up crashing heavily into the tyre wall. Peroni, who was able to continue, was handed a 25 second penalty in this race for his actions and the Safety car had to take over the field for several laps, while Nico’s car was retrieved.
At the restart Zimmermann came flying over the kerbs at the chicane and hit Marcos sideways, catapulting him off the track and out of 5^th place, though he was able to continue, slotting in in 16^th from where he started a steady recovery drive. Lucas and Arlind had been battling it out ever since the restart, when Arlind closed in on Lucas. They managed to overtake each other several times but in the end it was Lucas who just got his nose in front. During the closing laps Marcos caught up with them as well and managed to overtake the battling pair, one after the other. The three cars crossed the finishing line in line astern with Marcos in 11^th, Lucas 12^th and Arlind 13^th. Ali made a good start and steadily climbed up the order but a clash with another driver towards the end of the race saw him fall back from 17^th to 19^th.
After the race Kanayet, who caused an accident in the top ten, was handed a 25 second penalty, which moved all our drivers forward a place. That put Marcos in the coveted 10^th place which meant that he would start Race 2 from pole position.
After his accident, Nico was taken to hospital for a check-up. It turned out there was slight damage to one of his vertebra so for his own safety Nico would not be allowed to complete in races 2 and 3. Of course we hope that Nico will soon be with us again and we wishing him all the best.

FIA Formula 4 Italian Championship

Race Two (18 minutes + 1 lap)

Sunday, 31/05/15, 09.40, Weather: Cloudy, 18°C

Marcos didn’t get a good start and wasn’t able to make the best out of his pole position, falling back to 10^th. He then managed to gain back several places and moved back up the order again. With three laps to go he was up in a very good 4^th, and aiming to overtake for 3^rd, when his opponent side-swiped him and Marcos’ car became briefly airborne. However, it landed back on track pointing in the right direction and Marcos was able to continue with only slight damage. However he had lost momentum and dropped back to 7^th, a position he maintained all the way to the finish. Lucas defended his 11^th place at the start and was soon able to move into the top ten. After several intense battles for position he crossed the finish line just behind Marcos in a very good 8^th place. Arlind started well and was safely in 12^th place in the early stages. Then he launched an attack, but damaged his front wing in the course of it, meaning his car was no longer handling well. He called into the pits for a replacement and the returned to the fray to finish 23^rd. Ali didn’t make a good start and spent a lot of time trying to make up lost ground, though he eventually got the better of Ferrari and Kikko to claim his best result of the season so far,14^th.

FIA Formula 4 Italian Championship

Race Three (28 minutes + 1 lap)

Sunday, 31/05/15, 17.50, Weather: Sunny, 24°C

After a long wait the race finally started late in the afternoon. Shortly after the start there was a collision involving six cars. Marcos and Arlind were able to get past easily, but Lucas and Ali both had to take to the gravel to avoid it. Lucas was able to continue but Ali was stuck, although the car was undamaged. The Safety Car took over the race for three laps and at the restart Marcos was in an excellent 3^rd place until Zimmermann shoved him off the track at the exit of one of the corners. By the time Marcos could rejoin he’d lost several places. Zimmermann was handed a Drive Through Penalty for his actions, while Marcos managed to regain ground by going from 12^th to 7^th, which was when Kanayet drove into him from behind. Even though Marcos’ rear wing was badly damaged he didn’t give up, fighting all the way to the finish where he was classified a respectable 9th. Lucas had worked his way back up the order after his trip through the gravel and was 15^th when contact meant he had to pit and retire with a technical failure. Arlind also made progress after the restart also and drove well in 15^th for a while before picking up a handful of places to take the chequered flag in a very good 12^th place.

The next race meeting for Formula 4 Italy takes place in four weeks’ time, on the weekend of 28^th June at Imola (I).

Championship Standings

FIA Formula 4 Italian Championship 2015 after 6 races out of 21:
1^th Guan Zhou Yu (CIN), 99 Punkte; 2^nd Ralf Aron (EST), 93 Punkte; 3^rd Robert Shwartzman (RUS), 57 Punkte; 4^th David Beckmann (D), 49 Punkte; 5^th Joao Vieira (BRA), 43 Punkte; 8^th Lucas Mauron (CH), 23 Punkte; 13^th Nico Rindlisbacher (CH), 10 Punkte; 14^th Marcos Siebert (ARG), 5 Punkte

2015 FIA FORMULA 4 ITALIAN CHAMPIONSHIP - CALENDAR

More info:

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