Photo: ACI Sport
Akshay Bohra topped both Friday free practice sessions ahead of the Euro 4 season opener at Mugello.
US Racing driver Bohra shone in the inaugural Euro 4 contest last year, taking his first Formula 4 win as he fought for the title at the final round and ultimately finished third in the standings – the same position he currently occupies during his second full season in Italian F4.
He set the best time of Friday, a 1m48.001s, just 15 minutes into the morning’s opening session, going half a second clear of team-mate Maxim Rehm at that point.
Rehm cut the deficit to 0.227s on his next lap and would end the day second-quickest. Hiyu Yamakoshi was third for Van Amersfoort Racing, with his team-mate Gustav Jonsson fifth behind another US driver, Jack Beeton.
The fastest Prema driver was Tomass Stolcermanis in sixth. Italian F4 dominator Freddie Slater was only 11th, slower than team-mates Rashid Al Dhaheri, Alex Powell and Kean Nakamura-Berta.
Slater did briefly lead a slower second session close to the end, before Bohra went half a second quicker – although he was still seven tenths of a second down on his earlier benchmark. Slater would end that session fourth, behind Beeton and Nakamura-Berta.
One addition to the Italian F4 regulars for this weekend is Gabriel Gomez with PHM Racing. The Brazilian, runner-up in the CIK-FIA European Championship for OK karts last year, has been racing in Spanish F4 so far in 2024 with the TC Racing team of Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois and has yet to score a point.
Free practice results
| Pos | Driver | Team | Time | Gap | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Akshay Bohra | US Racing | 1m48.001s | 24 | |
| 2 | Maxim Rehm | US Racing | 1m48.228s | +0.227s | 23 |
| 3 | Hiyu Yamakoshi | Van Amersfoort Racing | 1m48.329s | +0.328s | 29 |
| 4 | Jack Beeton | US Racing | 1m48.425s | +0.424s | 24 |
| 5 | Gustav Jonsson | Van Amersfoort Racing | 1m48.441s | +0.440s | 28 |
| 6 | Tomass Stolcermanis | Prema Racing | 1m48.728s | +0.727s | 22 |
| 7 | Gianmarco Pradel | US Racing | 1m48.792s | +0.791s | 24 |
| 8 | Rashid Al Dhaheri | Prema Racing | 1m48.799s | +0.798s | 21 |
| 9 | Alex Powell | Prema Racing | 1m48.852s | +0.851s | 21 |
| 10 | Kean Nakamura-Berta | Prema Racing | 1m48.909s | +0.908s | 22 |
| 11 | Freddie Slater | Prema Racing | 1m48.972s | +0.971s | 21 |
| 12 | Lin Hodenius | Van Amersfoort Racing | 1m49.070s | +1.069s | 30 |
| 13 | Kabir Anurag | US Racing | 1m49.118s | +1.117s | 26 |
| 14 | Emanuele Olivieri | AKM Motorsport | 1m49.185s | +1.184s | 26 |
| 15 | Ethan Ischer | Jenzer Motorsport | 1m49.370s | +1.369s | 21 |
| 16 | Dion Gowda | Prema Racing | 1m49.431s | +1.430s | 22 |
| 17 | Andrija Kostic | Van Amersfoort Racing | 1m49.452s | +1.451s | 27 |
| 18 | Enea Frey | Jenzer Motorsport | 1m49.525s | +1.524s | 19 |
| 19 | Maximilian Popov | PHM AIX Racing | 1m49.556s | +1.555s | 22 |
| 20 | Enzo Yeh | R-ace GP | 1m49.568s | +1.567s | 23 |
| 21 | Davide Larini | PHM AIX Racing | 1m49.680s | +1.679s | 25 |
| 22 | Luca Viisoreanu | Real Racing | 1m49.746s | +1.745s | 25 |
| 23 | Alvise Rodella | Van Amersfoort Racing | 1m49.771s | +1.770s | 28 |
| 24 | Gabriel Gomez | PHM AIX Racing | 1m50.122s | +2.121s | 24 |
| 25 | Oleksandr Savinkov | AKM Motorsport | 1m51.095s | +3.094s | 28 |
| 26 | Everett Stack | PHM AIX Racing | 1m51.519s | +3.518s | 24 |
| 27 | Mattia Marchiante | AKM Motorsport | 1m52.318s | +4.317s | 29 |