Race Report

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

Circuit: Misano (I), Length 4.226 km, 02^nd/03^rd/04^th October 2015
www.misanocircuit.com

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

Siebert wins, Rindlisbacher third at Misano

The seventh and final meeting in the Italian FIA Formula 4 Championship took place at the Misano World Circuit near Rimini (I). With 23 competitors present for the meeting, their expectations were as high as ever in advance of the start. You can follow the races live on sporttube tv.

Qualifying

Friday, 02/10/15, 16.05 – 16.45 Uhr, Weather: Rain, 16°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.
The two free practice sessions took place on a wet track and before the qualifying session it started to rain again. In the first session Marcos set a very good time to go 3rd, Nico was 12^th and Lucas ended up 17^th.
Conditions at the start of the second session were much the same with a very wet track making life very difficult for everyone. And then it stopped raining which meant the lap times got much quicker. Marcos was 5^th this time, Nico was 9th and Lucas got up to 13^th.

FIA Formula 4 Italian Championship

Race One (28 minutes + 1 lap)

Saturday, 03/10/15, 09.00, Weather: Cloudy, 17°C

The track was still wet from overnight rain, but the sun came out just in time for the start. A few drivers chose to start on rain tyres, but most opted for slicks. That meant that in the first few laps Guzman and Ye moved up to 1^st and 3^rd respectively. Aron and Marcos, who were on slicks, were 2^nd and 4^th. Then there was an accident and the Safety Car had to be deployed. While it was out the racing line began to dry out, and it was clear at the restart that the drivers on slick tyres would soon have the advantage. Aron had taken the lead and Marcos was now 2^nd, but he got into a bit of a fight with Guzman and forgot that it was still slippery off the ideal line, and that Guzman was better off on those parts of the track. Marcos couldn’t avoid hitting Guzman and lost his front wing, falling back to 16^th as a result. This was a pity because a place on the podium had been within his reach. Nico was cautious at first and hung onto 12^th place. At the restart he improved immediately to 9^th and stayed there for a few laps before further improvements put him 6^th; as if that was not enough, on the final lap he was able to overtake Guzman to finish the race in an excellent 5^th place. Lucas had also been improving steadily, until he dropped back after an incident. He then recovered from 18^th to finish in a good 13^th place. Marcos crossed the finish line just behind him in 14^th.

FIA Formula 4 Italian Championship

Race Two (18 minutes + 1 lap)

Saturday, 03/10/15, 16.20, Weather: Cloudy, 18°C

Now it was dry and the sun was out. The start went well enough but there was action immediately and Nico lost a few places to end up 10th, with Lucas right behind him in 11^th place while Marcos managed to hold onto 14^th. Everybody was determined and driving very hard, and everywhere in the field there were position changes. Nico was on a roll and managed to improve his position lap after lap. After some clever moves he was soon up in 5^th. He didn’t stop there and on the very last lap he also overtook Baiz, to take the chequered flag in an excellent 4^th place. Lucas also managed to improve his position and to finish the race in 9^th, within the top ten. Marcos also improved and finished a good race immediately behind Lucas in 10^th.
After the race several penalties were handed out, including one for Vieira, who had crossed the line first. He was hit with a 25 second time penalty and thus lost his win. That moved all our drivers up the order and Nico, now 3^rd, claimed his first podium of the series!

FIA Formula 4 Italian Championship

Race Three (28 minutes + 1 lap)

Sunday, 04/10/15, 12.05, Weather: Overcast, 18°C

The track was wet and this time the whole field opted to start on wet weather tyres. Marcos made a good start and held 5^th, before he was able to pass Zhou, and a little later he got Aron as well to settle in to 3^rd. The track began to dry out and Bertonelli attacked Shartzman for the lead, passing the Russian. Marcos drove a strong race and followed through to take 2^nd behind Bertonelli. Just one lap later Marcos managed to overtake Bertonelli to snatch the lead, and then spent the remaining six laps driving very carefully to avoid any mistakes. It paid off and he came home to his second victory a good 12 seconds clear of his nearest rival. Because this was the last race, it was probably the better of the two wins! There was much movement throughout the field. Nico was already in 8th when he ran wide and dropped back to 11^th. He pulled himself together again in the second half of the race and made up places steadily up until he was 3rd. He then managed to overtake Cunati and was in a superb 2nd behind Marcos. However, Nico had been warned during the race about not observing track limits. On the penultimate lap he did it again and ran wide, and was rewarded with a 25 second penalty immediately after he crossed the finish line. That dropped him to 8^th and the beautiful double podium was lost. Lucas had been up in the top ten when he had to avoid an incident and lost a lot of places. He worked his way up again from 20^th to 10^th, bringing a very eventful final race to a close.

Champion of the second season of FIA Formula 4 Italian Championship was Ralf Aron (EST), ahead of Guan Yu Zhou (CIN) and Robert Shwartzman (RUS).

We are already looking forward to the next season!

Championship Final Standings

FFIA Formula 4 Italian Championship 2015 after 21 races:
1^st Ralf Aron (EST), 331 points; 2^nd Guan Yu Zhou (CIN), 223 points; 3^rd Robert Shwartzman (RUS), 196 points; 4^th David Beckmann (D), 176 points; 5^th Marcos Siebert (ARG), 111 points; 6^th Joao Vieira (BRA), 81 points; 9^th Nico Rindlisbacher (CH), 58 points; 16^th Lucas Mauron (CH), 35 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