Race 2 of the Italian F.4 Championship at Misano World Circuit is again a celebration PREMA Racing. The Vicenza-based team occupies positions 1 to 4 thus monopolizing the overall podium. The victory comes for Arvid Lindblad in the second race of the day, which enlarges his leadership in the Championship. With also P2 in race 1 today, the Red Bull junior driver brings his total points in the Championship to 104, when there is still race 3 to go, which will see him again start from the pole position.
Second place for James Wharton, Australian driver in the Ferrari Driver Academy program, who is repaid by risking an overtake on teammate Ugochukwu. The maneuver that earned him second place was perfect, certainly not an easy feat on a track like Misano. Ugo Ugochukwu, McLaren junior driver from the U.S., sees his weekend performances rise; after finishing sixth in Race 1, he manages to get on the podium as early as Saturday. At the moment, with 63 points, the American becomes Lindblad's most direct rival with Race 3 still to go: another chance to bring home valuable points with a front-row start.
Off the overall podium, but second in the Rookie one with Lindblad, Finland's Ferrari Driver Academy Tuuka Taponen adds valuable points to the weekend's haul after winning Race 1. P5 for Ivan Domingues, Van Amersfoort Racing, who gains positions after starting from the tenth block. Zachary David finishes sixth, followed by teammate Akshay Bohra. The two US Racing drivers are long involved in a three-way fight with Portuguese Domingues and capture the attention of the enthusiasts; with the lead of the race unreachable the battle in the group is very much alive, when Lindblad is flying solo and the Prema trio following him is fighting internally.
P8 for Van Amersfoort Racing driver Brando Badoer. The Italian has to fight with fellow-countryman Alfio Spina, BVM Racing, from whom he first suffers an overtake but is able later to regain his position.
The Sicilian Spina has to settle for P9, returning into the points after the great haul of the first round. Completing the top 10 is Gianmarco Pradel, the Australian driver of US Racing.
Tina Hausmann, AKM Motorsport, after today's crash in race 1 did not take to the track due to a minor shoulder injury that requires further investigation; a muscle tear is suspected.
Problems instead on the formation lap for Rashid Al Dhaheri, Prema Racing, who is involved in a contact in the pitlane with teammate Aurelia Nobles. Both drivers didn't take part in the race.
Bad luck also for Kacper Sztuka, US Racing, among the most anticipated pretenders to the Italian F.4 Championship throne, who stalled on the grid.
Arvid Lindblad: “really good result. The speed was really good, I got a good start, maintained the lead, and then managed to build the gap in the early laps. Then I just tried to manage the race the best I could. I’m really happy with the result, the Team has done a phenomenal job, and I’m really grateful to them for the package they’ve given me. I’m just focused on maximizing every race the best that I can, every time I’m in the car I’m trying to do the best job as possible. It seems to be going well so far, but it is a really fierce competition. I need to really keep on my toes, and give everything I have. It’s started well, so I need just to keep doing what I’m doing.”
James Wharton: “it’s hard to overtake in Misano, I had to try and make something happen. I have a lot of pace, it is a bit hard to overtake, but with my pace, I can make opportunities. Finally, I got the move on the outside of T15, a bit scary, but overall it was a good move. I’m not here to come second, I’m here to win, so it’s time to keep stepping forward and hopefully make another step tomorrow.”
Ugo Ugochukwu: "the weekend is not going badly, the pace seems a little worse than in Imola, however, another podium is not bad. We have another race tomorrow and we will see what we can do. We have to try to think race by race and win as many races as possible. It's still long until the end of the championship, it's important to keep collecting points."
Sunday, May 7, race 3 will open the second day of the ACI Racing Weekend Misano, with the start scheduled at 9.00. All races will be broadcast live with English commentary on the Italian F.4 Championship's Youtube and Facebook pages and on Motorsport TV (https://eu.motorsport.tv/); also airing with commentary in Italian on ACI Sport TV (Sky channel 228), on www.acisport.it and on the Facebook page @acisporttv.