The first race of the season goes to Polish driver Kacper Sztuka, who was very fast on the opening weekend and had earned pole in Group B in qualifying, making the most of it with a flawless start that led him to break away from the group after very few laps. The lead grew and was masterfully managed by the US Racing driver, who got to over 3 seconds from the second. Only in the final stages of the race Brando Badoer, Italian driver of Van Amersfoort Racing, showing off a perfect drive on the track of the Autodromo Enzo and Dino Ferrari in Imola - one of the fastest on the Italian F.4 calendar - manages to recover seconds. Badoer reduced the margin preparing for the final assault on the last lap, but couldn’t attempt an overtake and finished second with a reduced gap (+0.641).

Third on the overall podium and winner of the Rookie race is Tuscan Nicola Lacorte (Prema Racing), himself a poleman in his own group, who brings home an extremely positive result on his first opportunity of the weekend.  Lacorte, during the winter preparation to the season, took part and won the Supercorso held by ACI Sport’s Federal School.

P4 and second Rookie placement for Akshay Bohra, US Racing, who collects precious points in view of the season, inscribing his name among the most competitive pretenders to the 2023 title. Alfio Spina, BVM Racing, follows in P5. The Sicilian does not miss the first appointment of the year in the points zone, already being able to count on a fair amount of experience with the team that in 2022 had seen its performance grow exponentially, net of some bad luck in the races.

 

Sixth place for Zachary David, US Racing. The Maltese is the third driver on the Rookie podium, earning podium honors after a long battle with Roman Matteo De Palo (R-ace GP). Then De Palo is involved, just on the penultimate lap, in a contact with James Wharton (PREMA Racing) that forces both to stop the car at the side of the track.

P7 for Rashid Al Dhaheri, on his absolute debut in the race closes the first one in points with great satisfaction, followed by James Egozi, PHM Racing. Both had taken part in the 2022 edition of Scuola Federale ACI Sport’s Supercorso this winter in preparation for their debut season in the category.

Ninth place for Tuukka Taponen, the Finn of Prema Racing, while Enzo Deligny (AKM Motorsport), ninth under the checkered flag but then penalized with 10 seconds for an in-race incident with US Racing's Chinese driver Ruiqi Liu, closes the points zone.

Tina Hausmann, AKM Motorsport, after a difficult race involving contact with Aurelia Nobels (Prema Racing), finishes first among the women.

 

Kacper Sztuka: “the start was really good from the light, also the first half was really good. I think they started fighting a bit behind me, that is why I could make a bigger gap. Then Brando was catching a bit, but still, I kept him behind and I’m happy to win.” 

Brando Badoer: "today I saw that victory was possible, I saw that I was going faster than the others. I stayed focused until the end to catch Sztuka. I missed a little bit. Unfortunately, in the early laps I lost some time with the others and he was able to get away. I came close, however, it is the first of the championship, the important thing was to score points and make good results. Today we succeeded, let's stay focused, we'll try tomorrow!"

Nicola Lacorte: "it all started from yesterday with P2 in qualifying that got us in front so we could race for the podium. I am very happy with the pace we had. The start could have been better, but we recovered during the race. For sure the Supercorso took me to a higher level, also working with the instructors, with Pirelli, on tire wear, warm up is very important...they opened my eyes to many aspects that we often take for granted. It's certainly also thanks to them that I'm here now."