The 4th round of the Italian F.4 Championship at Vallelunga is over.  The one in the circuit near Rome is the second consecutive one dominated by Andrea Kimi Antonelli. The Bolognese driver of PREMA Racing climbs three times on the top step of the podium. Now the consecutive victories are 6, 8 in total during the season. He had already taken the Championship lead in race 1, and extended it in race 2 with his closest rival, his teammate Rafael Camara, who was stopped by a puncture. Race 3 is just the cherry on top. Next step now is Red Bull Ring, after the summer break, to resume the Championship with the second round abroad.

Race 3 is another poker for the Italian team. Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Rafael Camara and Charlie Wurz started from the grid in that order and held the lead until the chequered flag. Wurz, in P3 is the one who suffers the most: in the early stages he had to resist the fierce attacks from Marcus Amand, US Racing, who is tried everything in his power to gain his position. The Frenchman attacked on the outside and inside with no exceptions, with the teammate Alexander Dunne right on his tail. The Austrian manages to hold his position, then gained a reassuring gap, but could feel relieved the 2 are forced to retire in the internal fight. Dunne tried to overtake his teammate, but the cars collided. Amand losed his front wing, resulting in a double retirement for US Racing.

James Wharton (PREMA Racing), who in P7 had resisted attacks from Taylor Barnard (PHM Racing) in the early stages of the race and had then managed to take P6 over Kacper Sztuka (US Racing), raced in pursuit of the duo. Taking advantage of the contact, he then passed on the outside and completed the PREMA Racing poker.

Barnard finished P5, ahead of Sztuka and Nikhil Bohra (US Racing). Eighth was Maya Weug, Iron Dames, who offered another great performance in the last race of the weekend in Rome, in difficult conditions with 37 drivers at the start and 37 degrees centigrade in the Roman afternoon, 62 on the track. The last drivers to finish in the points zone were Martinius Stenshorne (Van Amersfoort Racing), P9, who thus went into  points in all three races of the weekend, and Ivan Domingues (Iron Lynx).

 

There was a good fight on the track between the Italian drivers, with the Sicilian Alfio Spina (BWR Motorsport) chasing the Roman driver Valerio Rinicella (AKM Motorsport). However, Spina did not make it to the chequered flag, eliminated in the tussle with Emerson Jr Fittipaldi (Van Amersfoort Racing) and Jonas Ried (PHM Motorsport), ending up in the gravel following a collision that required the entry of the Safety Car. Fittipaldi is forced to pit in to change the front wing, which was damaged, and rejoins the race then in P28, finishing 24th.

Interesting is also the race of Valentin Kluss, Rookie of Jenzer Motorsport, who is the author of a manoeuvre that takes him past 3 cars at once, bringing him closer to the top 10. However, the German driver, born in 2007, will not be able to go further than 15th place. There was a good fight then, just outside the points zone, between Conrad Laursen (PREMA Racing), Jonas Ried (PHM Racing) and Brando Badoer (Van Amersfoort Racing), with the Italian driver, who was in front of the two for a long time, at the edge of the top 10, then he was passed and finished 13th.  Also in race 3, was then clear the growth in the course of the season of the PHM Racing female driver, Victoria Blokhina, who repeats the result of this morning's race and finishes 17th, again putting herself in the lime-light with a tight race among the 37 who have chosen to compete in the highly competitive Italian series.

Now the summer break, an opportunity for drivers and teams to refine their strategies and continue their work looking forward to the second part of the season, which will resume at the Red Bull Ring over the weekend of 8-11 September. As many as 45 cars are expected to participate in the 5th round of the season. A number that would set a new season record and activate the new four-race format planned for these occasions. 

After round 4 of the Italian F.4 Championship certified by FIA, the leadership goes to Antonelli with 219 pts. He is followed by the Brazilian Camara with 183 pts; then Dunne with 132; fourth Wharton with 112; fifth Wurz at 104 pts; sixth Sztuka with 88 pts; then Amand with 83 pts; eighth is Barnard with 69 pts; ninth Laursen with 56 pts; tenth Bedrin with 54 pts.

 

Andrea Kimi Antonelli: "We managed to repeat the result of Spa, which is very positive. This weekend was very difficult, especially because of the hot weather, but I think we controlled everything very well. I will certainly train during the break, but I will also rest, because I need it. For sure starting the summer leading the Championship is a very positive thing, which gives a lot of motivation."

Rafael Camara: “in the race of the morning I had a puncture in the beginning of the race so I couldn’t finish. The last race was quite good, we improved, but we are still missing a little bit. We’ll keep working and try to come back after the break stronger and fight Kimi at every race.”

Charlie Wurz: “It was quite a good weekend, the speed was there. Just unlucky with the first race, but still good points. The team is working incredibly hard, I have to thank them for that.”