Photo: Saudi Arabian F4
Two drivers won in round four of Saudi Arabian Formula 4’s season in Jeddah.
A 40-minute practice session kicked off the event on Friday afternoon, and Adam Al Azhari set a 2m07.542s to lead Lewis Wherrell by 0.038 seconds, Scott Lindblom by 0.17s and Kit Belofsky by 0.229s.
Wherrell lowered the pace to 2m06.948s in qualifying, a 20-minute session in the early evening, clinching pole by 0.115s over Belofsky. Al Azhari was 0.181s off in third, with Lindblom and Thibaut Ramaekers trailing by 0.555s and 0.805s.
It rained prior to race one late in the evening, so the field ran on wet tyres and had two formation laps to displace water.
Wherrell was very slow off the line, and Belofsky had wheelspin but took the lead on the inside while Al Azhari snatched second. Lindblom then went around Wherrell’s outside at turn two and with a bit of rubbing got ahead.
Al Azhari came under attack from Lindblom a few corners later, then again through turns 19 to 22 before a dive at the final corner.
Lindblom’s next passing attempt was the outside of turn two, with Al Azhari having defended down the pit straight and then on the run to turn four. At turns seven and 22 Lindblom looked again to get alongside, and at the final corner went for the outside but Al Azhari ran deep to cover him off.
Down the pit straight Al Azhari was defensive again, but through the rest of lap three the presure reduced. He ended lap three 3.3s behind Belofsky, and that gap grew to 5.495s as the track dried.
Wherrell began attacking Lindblom on lap four. They battled until lap 10 of 12, when Lindblom began closing in on Al Azhari again. They finished 0.138s apart.
A five-second penalty for track limits abuse while fighting Lindblom dropped Wherrell to fifth behind Ramaekers by 0.457s.
Esmee Kosterman passed Ava Dobson mid-race for sixth, Abdullah Kamel broke Megan Bruce’s defences with a great move through turns one and two on lap nine to take eighth, and Chiara Battig qualified sixth but finished 11th.
Saturday had an identical timetable, and Belofsky set a 2m07.357s to pip Wherrell by 0.167s in FP2.
Wherrell had the advantage again in qualifying, beating Belofsky to pole by 0.111s and Al Azhari by 0.24s. Lindblom was 0.339s off.
Belofsky wheelspun and dropped to third at the start of race two, and Lindblom then bravely got past him through the first esses. Wherrell led Al Azhari, who ran alongside him from turns two to four on lap two and later lost out to a diving move from Lindblom at the final corner of lap three.
Al Azhari quickly reclaimed second into turn one, then Belofsky nosed into Lindblom’s rear at turn two, causing a rear-right puncture that forced Lindblom to pit.
Al Azhari came under attack from Belofsky at the end of lap nine, and despite being squeezed on the inside down the pit straight Belofsky still got ahead into turn one. These battles allowed Wherrell to pull away, and he won by 6.617s.
Ramaekers was fourth, and Kamel passed Rahcel Robertson for fifth mid-race then fended off Kosterman through the last two laps to to keep the position by just 0.065s.
Results round-up
Race 1 (12 laps)
1 Kit Belofsky 29m04.775s
2 Adam Al Azhari +5.495s
3 Scott Lindblom +5.633s
4 Thibaut Ramaekers +11.029s
5 Lewis Wherrell +11.486s
6 Esmee Kosterman +31.961s
7 Ava Dobson +36.289s
8 Abdullah Kamel +39.218s
9 Megan Bruce +39.686s
10 Wojciech Woda +45.334s
Pole: Wherrell, 2m06.948s
Fastest lap: Wherrell, 2m24.410s
Race 2 (12 laps)
1 Wherrell 25m32.034s
2 Belofsky +6.617s
3 Al Azhari +9.257s
4 Ramaekers +13.494s
5 Kamel +20.133s
6 Kosterman +20.198s
7 Dobson +24.924s
8 Rachel Robertson +37.747s
9 Faris Organji +43.088s
10 Chiara Battig +45.333s
P: Wherrell, 2m06.433s
FL: Wherrell, 2m07.168s
Championship standings
1 Belofsky 146 2 Al Azhari 125 3 Lindblom 108 4 Ramaekers 82 5 Wherrell 75 6 Kamel 56 7 Theo Palmer 55 8 Kosterman 36 9 Nina Gademan 33 10 Ary Bansal 30