Home Formula 4Italian F4 Tramnitz marvels in wild and wet Italian F4 race at Red Bull Ring

Tramnitz marvels in wild and wet Italian F4 race at Red Bull Ring

by Ida Wood

Photo: ACI Sport

Tim Tramnitz claimed victory in the final Italian Formula 4 race of the weekend at the Red Bull Ring in a crazy wet encounter.

Pre-race rain meant the race started behind the safety car, and at the end of lap one all but 12 of the 31 cars pitted for grooved wet tyres. That promoted Ollie Bearman into the lead, and more of his opposition pitted before the green flags were first waved.

As soon as proper racing could get underway, Bearman came under attack from Van Amersfoort Racing team-mate Nikita Bedrin, and he managed to get past at turn four. He quickly created a gap, but then the next VAR car of Joshua Dufek also cleared Bearman and closed in on Bedrin.

Dufek had been one of the lap one stoppers and while initially mired in the midfield he was in second place by lap seven. Bearman, Kirill Smal and Joshua Duerksen ran behind, with Tramnitz having made his way up to seventh.

Bedrin and Dufek disputed the lead until Sebastian Montoya and Francesco Braschi spun out of the points, which led to the safety car coming back out. The 1.648-second margin Dufek had created was nullified, but on the restart he streaked away as Tramnitz moved into third after Smal and Bedrin battled.

Tramnitz passed Smal to move into second before the safety car was summoned again when Santiago Ramos beached himself in the gravel, and on the next restart Dufek didn’t have the advantage. Tramnitz was alongside him down the pit straight then spent the whole of the next lap running side-by-side until he finally claimed the lead.

After that, he pulled away for his second straight win. Smal completed the podium, holding off late pressure from Francesco Simonazzi whose BVM Racing team-mate Eron Rexhepi didn’t race due to leg swelling.

Leonardo Fornaroli fell from fifth to seventh on the final lap, meaning he only cut Bearman’s lead by six points. The non-stoppers – Levente Revesz, Bedrin, Bearman, Duerksen and Leonardo Bizzotto – finished 14th, 17th, 20th, 22nd and 26th.

Making gains on the final tour was Mercedes-AMG Formula 1 junior Andrea Kimi Antonelli, who ended his first weekend in car racing with a pass on Pedro Perino for ninth place.

Race results (15 laps)

Pos Driver Team Time
1 Tim Tramnitz US Racing 31m48.820s
2 Joshua Dufek Van Amersfoort Racing +2.509s
3 Kirill Smal Prema +6.074s
4 Francesco Simonazzi BVM Racing +6.193s
5 Nicolas Baptiste Cram Motorsport +8.313s
6 Lorenzo Patrese AKM Motorsport +8.634s
7 Leonardo Fornaroli Iron Lynx +9.274s
8 Charlie Wurz Prema +9.460s
9 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Prema +9.588s
10 Pedro Perino US Racing +10.263s
11 Conrad Laursen Prema +10.680s
12 Georgios Markogiannis Cram Motorsport +11.241s
13 Cenyu Han Van Amersfoort Racing +12.644s
14 Levente Revesz AKM Motorsport +15.390s
15 Erick Zuniga Mucke Motorsport +15.899s
16 Maya Weug Iron Lynx +17.273s
17 Nikita Bedrin Van Amersfoort Racing +18.476s
18 Hamda Al Qubaisi Prema +18.591s
19 Kacper Sztuka AS Motorsport +18.687s
20 Ollie Bearman Van Amersfoort Racing +19.686s
21 Pietro Armanni Iron Lynx +20.164s
22 Joshua Duerksen Mucke Motorsport +24.648s
23 Piotr Wisnicki Jenzer Motorsport +25.169s
24 Jorge Garciarce Jenzer Motorsport +26.824s
25 Samir Ben Jenzer Motorsport +26.833s
26 Leonardo Bizzotto BVM Racing +28.522s
27 Bence Valint Van Amersfoort Racing +29.333s
Ret Santiago Ramos Jenzer Motorsport
Ret Sebastian Montoya Prema
Ret Francesco Braschi Jenzer Motorsport
Ret Jonas Ried Mucke Motorsport
DNS Eron Rexhepi BVM Racing
Fastest lap: Tramnitz, 1m43.034s

Championship standings 1 Bearman 262   2 Tramnitz 184   3 Fornaroli 157   4 Montoya 133   5 Smal 129   6 Dufek 105   7 Duerksen 74   8 Bedrin 69   9 Laursen 48   10 Vlad Lomko 37