After a delay of more than half an hour due to rain, Race 1 took to a track that was partially wet, leaving open the choice of tyres. Fabienne Wohlwend was first in the Women’s Trophy
Vallelunga (Rome) 10/9/2016 – Not for the first time this season, just a few moments before race start the rain came down, causing a delay of around 40 minutes and leading the Race Direction to start the race behind the Safety Car. As soon as the Safety Car entered the pits it was immediately clear that tyre choice would determine to a large degree, the result of the race; Raul Guzman (DR Formula) and his team mate Artem Petrov chose correctly, putting on wets and after 3 clear laps from when the Safety Car entered pitlane they were first and second with ample margin and advantage over Mick Schumacher in third. The race was red flagged prior to the full race distance due to cars leaving the circuit in the wet conditions.
- Guzman, Petrov (the first Rookie home) and Schumacher (Prema Power Team) climbed the podium as the outright first three home. Meanwhile in fourth and fifth place were Prema Power Team mates Juri Vips (the 2nd Rookie home) and Juan Manuel Correa (3rd Rookie). Following were Marcos Siebert (Jenzer Motorsport), Diego Bertonelli (Bhaitech), Giuliano Raucci, Devlin De Francesco (Kfzteile24 Mucke Motorsport) and Simone Cunati (Vincenzo Sospiri Racing), who was 4th in the Rookie Trophy. The race also included a number of pitstops with drivers stopping to change to wet tyres, including Riccardo Ponzio (Teramo Racing Team), Leonard Hoogenboom (Cram Motorsport), Giacomo Altoè (Bhaitech) and Joao Vieira (Antonelli Motorsport).
- As for the Rookie Trophy, behind Cunati were Giacomo Bianchi, Lorenzo Colombo, Leonard Hoogenboom, Fabienne Wohlwend (also first in the Women’s Trophy), Aldo Festante and Jaden Conwright.
- The programme continues tomorrow, Sunday 11 September, with Race 2 (over a duration of 28 minutes + 1 lap) at 9:00am. The complete results of Race 1 are available on acisportitalia.it/F4