Formula Regional & Formula 4 weekend recap
Find below the highlights from a weekend of racing in Formula Regional Americas, Formula 4 United States and Formula 4 Italian Championships.
Formula Regional Americas Championship Powered by Honda
In an all green race filled with multiple lead changes and dozens of side-by-side battles, Joshua Car earned his first victory of the season on Sunday afternoon at Road America. Dylan Tavella finished in second place, giving the Crosslink Competition team its first one-two finish. Ian Rodriguez rounded out the podium in third.
On Lap 4, Car and pole starter Hunter Yeany went two wide going into Turn 3 battling for the point. The two cars touched spinning both out of the lead. Rodriguez and Tavella got by and Car rejoined in third. Yeany continued but out of podium contention to finish ninth overall.
Car eventually got by Tavella on Lap 7 and caught Rodriguez on Lap 11 to pass for the lead. Meanwhile, Tavella caught and passed Ian a lap later to hold onto second.
Championship leader Kyffin Simpson stalled at the start in his P2 starting position and rejoined at the back. Gradually working his way forward, Simpson set the fast lap of the race, managing a fifth-place finish at the end. He will start from pole in Race 2 tomorrow.
Varun Choksey ran in a lonely fifth for much of the race, but lost two spots on Lap 13, and stayed there to finish seventh. Christian Bogle was in a battle most of the race, swapping between sixth and eighth multiple times, before finally getting back to sixth on Lap 13.
Baptiste Berthelot kept his head down, falling to the back twice in the opening laps, but eventually recovered for an 8th place finish on Lap 14.
PMH Powering Diversity scholarship recipient Ernie Francis Jr. got as high as sixth after starting ninth, but eventually faded to finish last after a spin exiting Turn 3.
The next round will be held at Brainerd International Raceway from July 16 to July 18.
Formula 4 United States Championship Powered by Honda
Race 1
In a race full of action, pole starter Mac Clark took the checkered flag at Road America in the opening round of Formula 4 United States Championship Powered by Honda on Sunday morning. The victory is a first for the Gonella Racing rookie.
"It's just an amazing feeling to get the No. 26 Gonella Racing machine on the podium," said Clark. "As a new driver on a new team coming into the series, it feels great to finally get our first win. We are looking forward to continue this momentum."
On Lap 1, Louka St-Jean, Jake Bonilla and Nick Persing tangled at the exit of Turn 6 bringing out the first Safety Car. On the restart, lap-leaders Jason Alder and Bijoy Garg were involved in an incident with Arias Deukmedjian in Canada Corner, where Canadian Clark took the lead before the final Full Course Yellow was displayed.
Due to extensive clean up the race finished under yellow.
Starting sixth, Jay Howard Driver Development rookie Matt Christensen finished second, his best result of the season. Velocity Racing Development driver Nico Christodoulou rounded out the podium with Noel Leon in fourth and series newcomer Trevor Russell finishing fifth.
Race 2
In a five-lap sprint to the finish line, Mac Clark managed to stay ahead at the stripe for his second victory of the weekend for Gonella Racing.
In the final lap the lead changed multiple times in a heated battle between Clark, Noel Leon, Nico Christodoulou, Bijoy Garg and Matt Christensen. Garg was in second on the white flag lap, but dicing with Leon and Christodoulu in Canada corner cost Garg as he went wide at the exit and fell behind.
Leon held off a charge from Christodoulu at the line to finish second by a car length. Christodoulou rounded out the podium in third.
"Noel (Leon) gave me a good fight and we were able to pull away at the end after the restart," said Clark. "It was a really great race. The Gonella Racing car was really fast, so a big thank you to the team."
Garg recovered to finish fourth just pipping Christensen at the line. The Jay Howard Driver Development pilot set a new in-race track record with a 2:20.109-second lap, Bijoy will be awarded Pole Position for the start of Race 3 on Monday.
A first lap incident at in The Kink involving Oscar Haffar, Louka St-Jean, Chloe Chambers and championship leader Jason Alder brought out the red flag for an extensive clean up. All four drivers were transported to medical for precaution, but released following examination. The race resumed with 10 minutes remaining on the clock.
Alder was slated to start on pole but stalled before the formation lap, forcing him to forfeit his first place position and start from pitlane.
The next round will be held at theMid-Ohio Sports Car Course from June 25 to June 27.
Formula 4 Italian Championship Powered by Abarth
Kirill Smal and Tim Tramniz’s double victory inaugurate the season at Paul Ricard
After the victory of the Russian from Prema Powerteam in race 1, the German by US Racing imposed himself twice on the track of Le Castellet.
Show and emotions during the first round of the eighth season of the Italian F4 Championship Powered by Abarth Certified by FIA. On the French track of Paul Ricard the 37 Tatuus powered Abarth and tyred Pirelli have confirmed the greatness of the championship which is at the summit of the international motorsport with 18 nationalities represented by 4 different continents. 17 rookie drivers have been promoted from the first steps in the single-seater ladder and proved, from the very beginning, to be competitive.
The Russian Kirill Smal from Prema Powerteam has won race 1 after having led it from the beginning to the end. Starting under safety car on a wet track the younger drivers of the F4 have demonstrated to be very prepared and concentrated. Tim Tramintz (US Racing) and Oliver Bearman (Van Amersfoort Racing) got on the podium, together with Smal.
Among the rookies the victory has been conquered by Conrad Laursen (Prema Powerteam) who has closed the race occupying the fifth position in the absolute ranking, behind Vlad Lomko (US Racing).
In race 2, the mistake made by Bearman gave Tramnitz the possibility to take the lead from the beginning of the race. The German has maintained the lead until the chequered flag in front of his teammate Luke Browning and the winner of race 1 Kirill Smal. Out of the podium Sebastian Montoya (Prema Powerteam) was able to win against the expert Joshua Durksen (BWT Mueke Motorsport) and Vlad Lomko (US Racing). Among the rookies Lorenzo Patrese (AKM Motorsport) won the race, the Polish Kacper Sztuka (As Motorsport) and the French Marcus Amand (R- ACE GP) completed the podium.
The third race on the difficult French track gave another great emotion to Tim Tramntiz, who thanks to his victory, confirmed his leadership in the championship. The German took advantage of Bearman’s unperfect start again and went forward to success. The battle for the podium rewards Bearman, helped by Browning’s mistake during the penultimate lap, and Vlad Lomko who conquered his first podium in front of Leonardo Fornaroli (Iron Lynx) and Sebastian Montoya. Among the rookies the German Jonas Ried (BWT Meucke Motorsport) took the victory in front of Maya Weug (Iron Lynx). The young driver from the Ferrari Driver Academy is three-times winner of the battles with Hamda Al Qubaisi (Prema Powerteam) for the feminine ranking. Francesco Branschi (Jenzer Motorsport) closed the rookies’ podium.
The general standing sees Tim Tramnitz with 68 points in front of Kirill Smal 40 points, followed by Oliver Bearman 39 points. Among the rookies Maya Weug has the leading with 38 points, in front of Jonas Ried just one point behind and Kacper Sztuka 32 points.
Next appointment with the Italian F4 Championship Powered by Abarth Certified by FIA is scheduled from 3th to 6th June in Misano World Circuit- Marco Simoncelli.