Home Formula 4F4 Middle East Francesco Pizzi wins F4 UAE title in Dubai finale

Francesco Pizzi wins F4 UAE title in Dubai finale

by Rachel Hillman

Italian karting graduate Francesco Pizzi claimed the Formula 4 United Arab Emirates title in the Dubai Autodrome season finale.

Abu Dhabi Racing?s Hamda Al Qubaisi returned to the top step in the first race of the weekend, holding her advantage from pole position to fend off Xcel Motorsport’s Lorenzo Fluxa, with Mucke Motorsport’s Nico Gohler finishing a distant third.

Gohler fended off Fluxa for the race two win to keep himself in the title race, as points leader Pizzi finished back in fifth. Championship debutant Artem Lobanenko used his F4 experience in other series to round out the podium for Mucke.

Fluxa may have been victorious in race three, but second place was enough for Pizzi to secure the title, as Gohler finished 10 seconds down on the winner in third place.

Al Qubaisi put in a dominant performance in the final race to take her third win of the season by six seconds ahead of Fluxa and Zdenek Chovanec, who returned to the podium for the first time since January.

Gohler finished down in eighth place, allowing Fluxa to snatch second place in the points.

Results round-up
Race 1 (22 laps)
1 Hamda Al Qubaisi Abu Dhabi Racing 30m57.694s
2 Lorenzo Fluxa Xcel Motorsport +0.773s
3 Nico Gohler Mucke Motorsport +12.010s
4 Francesco Pizzi Xcel Motorsport +14.395s
5 Isack Hadjar 3Y Technology +15.961s
6 Josef Knopp Mucke Motorsport +16.447s
7 Artem Lobanenko Mucke Motorsport +24.011s
8 Erick Zuniga Mucke Motorsport +31.583s
9 Reema Juffali Dragon Racing +33.525s
10 Nicola Marinangeli Xcel Motorsport +34.214s
Pole: Al Qubaisi, 1m22.247s
Fastest lap: Al Qubaisi, 1m23.611s

Race 2 (22 laps)
1 Gohler 31m04.054s
2 Fluxa +0.392s
3 Lobanenko +12.368s
4 Knopp +13.096s
5 Pizzi +15.225s
6 Hadjar +17.764s
7 Al Qubaisi +18.005s
8 Zuniga +19.737s
9 Juffali +20.996s
10 Zdenek Chovanec Xcel Motorsport +57.691s
FL: Lobanenko, 1m23.592s

Race 3 (22 laps)
1 Fluxa 30m58.990s
2 Pizzi +1.074s
3 Gohler +10.044s
4 Hadjar +12.489s
5 Maringangeli +13.995s
6 Al Qubaisi +14.852s
7 Zuniga +23.176s
8 Juffali +30.737s
9 Knopp +41.849s
10 Chovanec +1m16.956s
P: Pizzi
FL: Fluxa, 1m23.573s

Race 4 (22 laps)
1 Al Qubaisi 31m09.561s
2 Fluxa +6.635s
3 Chovanec +17.607s
4 Zuniga +19.975s
5 Knopp +20.246s
6 Lobanenko +20.788s
7 Juffali +54.844s
8 Gohler +1m11.767s
Ret Pizzi
Ret Hadjar
FL: Lobanenko, 1m23.926s

Championship standings
1 Pizzi 300? ?2 Fluxa 274? ?3 Gohler 270? ?4 Al Qubaisi 257? ?5 Marinangeli 202? ?6 Zuniga 141? ?7 Chovanec 114? ?8 Juffali 80? ?9 Knopp 65? ?10 Hadjar 56