Lance Stroll back on top: he gets race-1

Pole position in both sessions this morning, clear victory in the afternoon's first race of the weekend. Lance Stroll (Prema Power Team) made his the first day of F.4 in Imola, ahead of Leonardo Pulcini (Euronova by Fortec) and Andrea Russo (Diegi Motorsport).

The answer from Lance Stroll (Prema Power Team) was awaited, and the Canadian just gave it. The second weekend of the Italian F.4 Championship powered by Abarth in Imola, started with Stroll fighting back his classification rivals Andrea Russo (Diegi Motorsport) and Leonardo Pulcini (Euronova by Fortec), claiming the victory in the opening race. Russo and Pulcini joined Stroll on the podium after chasing him throughout the whole race.

The good day of Prema Power Team at circuit Enzo e Dino Ferrari, started with qualifying where the team placed both its drivers on top. Lance Stroll and the French Brandon Maisano posted the quickest times in both sessions and the Canadian earned therefore the pole position for today's race 1 and also for tomorrow's race 3. On top of that he also earned a double Pole Position Prize by WSK Promotion. Qualifying also produced other interesting names as that of the Russian Ivan Matveev (SMP Racing) that was third and Mattia Drudi (F&M), fourth with a crescendo of performance.
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Race one has been quite tight and the competition has been fierce behind the pairing Stroll-Maisano. The TV live coverage on Rai Sport 2 has been made interesting by the spectacular duel between Russo and Pulcini, with Matteo Cairoli (Antonelli Motorsport) trying to slide in this fighting duo. This happened after Matveev was slowed down by an off and Drudi slipped down due to a spin at the Variante Alta. Among the drivers competing in the Championship (Maisano is racing for the Italian F.4 Trophy Powered by Abarth) the challenge for P2 inflamed spectators and it has been a shame that Cairoli, thata displayed a good shape so far, was also slowed down by the heat of the race.

A great spectacle on the benches of Santerno finally highlighted Russo's performance over Pulcini. The two have been following Stroll and Maisano at a short distance as the leading duo kept going until the end. Behind the winner Stroll, Maisano was first in the Trophy and was followed by the driver from Malta Keith Camilleri (Malta Formula Racing) and by the Asian Bahrain Ali Al Khalifa (Jenzer Motorsport). The driver from Malta showed a good race pace, closing the race behind Pulcini and winning an interesting battle with the Swiss Alan Valente (Jenzer Motorsport) and the American Zackary Dante (Malta Formula Racing). A nice final has seen Drudi crossing the line in eighth place at the end of a stunning come back from the last position. Bitter end instead for Russo, who was relegated behind Pulcini by stewards as he was caught ignoring yellow flags.
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Changes in the championship classification: Stroll is now in the lead with 82 points, followed by Russo at 68 and Pulcini at 48. Maisano is leading the Trophy with 88 points, Camilleri is second at 62 and Al Khalifa third at 57.
Rai Sport 2 will continue the live coverage from Imola of the remaining race of the Italian F.4 Championship powered by Abarth. Race-2 is scheduled for local 10:50hrs, while Race-3 will start at 16:50hrs. Dinamica Channel will show the races deferred next 3 July starting from 19:00hrs.