Race Report

FIA FORMULA 4
ITALIAN CHAMPIONSHIP, Rounds 16/17/18

Circuit: Imola (I); Length: 4.909 km, 18^th/19^th/20^th September 2015
www.autodromoimola.com

JENZER MOTORSPORT 2015:
Marcos Siebert (ARG), Lucas Mauron (CH) and Nico Rindlisbacher (CH)

Müller-Crepon, Rindlisbacher and Siebert in the top ten

The fifth of seven meetings in the Italian FIA Formula 4 Championship took place on the character-packed Imola circuit with 26 competitors present for the initial meeting, their expectations high in advance of the start. You can follow the races live on sporttube tv.

Qualifying

Saturday, 19/09/15, 10.20 – 11.00, Weather: Overcast, 20°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.

Both sessions took place in the best possible conditions and there were no interruptions for once. Marcos set the 4^th best lap time in the first session and looked as if he might do it again in the second session but then several of his lap times were deleted for not respecting track limits. The remaining lap times put him 8^th. Nico improved steadily and was running well, managing an 11^th and a 13^th place by the end. Lucas managed to spin in the first session but still ended up 12^th. In the second session he was a bit too cautious which left him in 16^th by the end. Moritz got going well and we had high expectations but the field was so closely matched that it didn’t take much to gain or lose a few places and he was 20^th in both sessions.

FIA Formula 4 Italian Championship

Race One (28 minutes + 1 lap)

Saturday, 19/09/15, 15.25, Weather: Cloudy, 22°C

The start went well and Marcos held 4^th place, while Nico moved up to 10^th, Lucas was 13^th and Moritz was now 19^th. On the third lap Marcos and Vieira tangled and Marcos went through the gravel, slotting back in in 6^th, but of course he now had dirty tyres and had lost momentum. A lap later and he’d dropped back to 11^th. Elsewhere Lucas and Nico were fighting it with Kanayet, Raucci and Baruch, the group trading places more than once over several laps. When Marcos left his braking too late, both Nico and Lucas, as well as Baruch, all went past him in one go. Lucas then started fighting with Baruch, but when he attacked, it all went wrong. Baruch went off into the gravel and by the time Lucas got going again he was 17^th, just ahead of Marcos. Nico held a good 12^th place all the way to the finish line, and Lucas came home in 17^th with Marcos just behind him in 18^th. Moritz made a good start and had worked his way up the order steadily, avoiding any incidents and taking the chequered flag in a good 14^th place. After the race Lucas was awarded a 25 second penalty for causing an avoidable collision which dropped him to 23^rd.

FIA Formula 4 Italian Championship

Race Two (18 minutes + 1 lap)

Sunday, 20/09/15, 09.50, Weather: Overcast, 22°C

The weather forecast for Sunday morning was for rain, but there were just a few black clouds around, hovering over the track. Shortly after the start there was an accident towards the back of the field, when Vieira made hefty contact with the barriers and the Safety Car had to be deployed. The rescue work took a very long time, but the Safety Car stayed out and the race was not red flagged. Moritz had made a super start and had moved up to 11^th, Marcos was 12^th and Nico 14^th. Lucas was listed in 18^th. The time ticked down but the field remained bottled up under the Safety Car. To our surprise the race was finally restarted for one lap. Moritz defended his position from Marcos despite Marcos having overtaken him first. Then Raucci and Guzman made mistakes and dropped back which meant Moritz crossed the finish line in 9^th, and Marcos finished 10^th. Nico came home in 11^th and Lucas was 16^th. After the race time penalties were handed to several drivers, unfortunately including Marcos, for warming his tyres up during the green flag lap where he should not have done. That put him 19^th but on the other hand it moved Moritz and Nico up the order and even into the points. It also promoted Lucas.

FIA Formula 4 Italian Championship

Race Three (28 minutes + 1 lap)

Sunday, 20/09/15, 16.55, Weather: Sunny, 22°C

Luckily all the looming black clouds had disappeared by the time the race started. Marcos held 7^th place and kept pace as the front runners pulled away. Lucas moved up to 13^th place while Nico fell back to 18^th and Moritz clashed with Sato, damaging his front tyre in the process. He drove back to the pit lane, where the wheel was changed and Moritz was able to get back into the race immediately. Not long after that Moritz endured a new second accident with another competitor and had no choice but to drive to the pits and retire his damaged car. Nico meanwhile improved his position lap after lap. When he closed in on Lucas, Lucas was fighting with Sato. Nico took advantage of the situation and managed to find a way past both of them which put him 14^th and Lucas 15^th. Nico set some very fast lap times and also managed to overtake Shlom and Baiz. He finished a strong race in a good 12^th place. Lucas defended 15^th place until the very last corner, where he clashed with Baruch. Lucas was catapulted into the gravel where he ended up stuck! It was a real shame. Marcos drove the whole race without any mistakes and came home to claim an excellent 7^th place after a problem free race, also claiming what may turn out to be very important championship points.

The next – and final – race meeting of the Italian Formula 4 championship takes place in two weeks’ time, on the weekend of 4^th October at Misano (I).

Championship Standings

FIA Formula 4 Italian Championship 2015 after 18 races out of 21:
1^st Ralf Aron (EST), 305 points; 2^nd Guan Yu Zhou (CIN), 219 points; 3^rd David Beckmann (D), 176 points; 4^th Robert Shwartzman (RUS), 169 points; 5^th Marcos Siebert (ARG), 86 points; 6^th Joao Vieira (BRA), 80 points; 11^th Nico Rindlisbacher (CH), 44 points; 15^th Lucas Mauron (CH), 34 points; 22^nd Arlind Hoti (D), 4 points; 22^nd Moritz Mueller-Crepon (CH), 4 points

2015 FIA FORMULA 4 ITALIAN CHAMPIONSHIP - CALENDAR

More info:

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