Home Formula 4F4 Middle East AKM’s sportscar star Spinelli set for surprise F4 debut

AKM’s sportscar star Spinelli set for surprise F4 debut

by Ida Wood

Photo: Fotospeedy

Sportscar star Loris Spinelli will make a surprise single-seater appearance in Formula 4 United Arab Emirates at Dubai Autodrome this weekend with AKM Motorsport.

The 26-year-old Italian was a top karter in his youth, winning the Trofeo Andrea Margutti while in junior karting then the CIK-FIA World Cup on senior karts. He impressed on KZ2 shifters too before debuting in F4’s predecessor Formula Abarth.

He got a podium in his first event but didn’t appear again, and returned to single-seaters with an incomplete Auto GP campaign in 2014. After that, he moved into GT racing aged 19.

Driving for Antonelli Motorsport, which together with karting manufacturer Kart Republic created AKM, he was Lamborghini Super Trofeo Europe Pro-Am class champion in 2015 and won races in its Pro class the year after.

His third season resulted in overall title success, then for 2018 he won the North American series and the World Final’s Pro-Am class with P1 Motorsports and did the same in Europe with Antonelli.

A place in Antonelli’s Mercedes-AMG GT3 in GT Open was earned for 2019, while he continued to star for Super Trofeo teams. Last year Spinelli came sixth overall in GT Open despite missing rounds, and swapping between classes and being a solo or stint-sharing driver, with two stunning outright wins at the Hungaroring and Imola.

He got his first taste of the Tatuus T-421 F4 car in private testing at Dubai this Thursday (January 27).

“Not the best day for us but we are working to improve,” Spinelli said to Formula Scout. “My first time at this track and with this car, so everything is new. I’ll be racing [in F4] just for this week.”

Abu Dhabi Racing by Prema’s Aiden Neate topped two of the test sessions, and headed team-mate James Wharton. Prema’s other drivers started off the pace, but Ferrari Rafael Camara, making his single-seater debut after a positive COVID-19 test ruled him out of last weekend’s season opener, and Charlie Wurz ended up third and fifth fastest.

Just behind was Global Racing Service’s Vladislav Ryabov, who headed Neate in session three.

Test results
Pos Driver Team Time Laps
1 Aiden Neate Abu Dhabi Racing by Prema 1m38.563s 62
2 James Wharton Abu Dhabi Racing by Prema +0.455s 62
3 Rafael Camara Prema +0.466s 61
4 Oliver Gray Hitech GP +0.676s 76
5 Charlie Wurz Prema +0.753s 61
6 Valdislav Ryabov GRS +0.754s 61
7 Nikhil Bohra 3Y by R-ace GP +0.882s 66
8 Nikita Bedrin PHM Racing +0.891s 55
9 Martinius Stenshorne 3Y by R-ace GP +0.979s 63
10 Taylor Barnard PHM Racing +0.988s 66
11 Brando Badoer AKM Motorsport +1.067s 78
12 Alex Dunne Hitech GP +1.078s 79
13 Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak MP Motorsport +1.114s 51
14 Rik Koen MP Motorsport +1.208s 55
15 Joseph Loake JHR Developments +1.239s 68
16 Jamie Day Xcel Motorsport +1.252s 72
17 Miron Pingasov MP Motorsport +1.556s 64
18 Loris Spinelli AKM Motorsport +1.642s 48
19 Sohil Shah Mumbai Falcons by Xcel +1.666s 71
20 Ivan Domingues Xcel Motorsport +1.675s 78
21 Jonas Ried PHM Racing +1.776s 70
22 Anshul Gandhi Cram-Hitech GP +1.798s 77
23 Michael Shin JHR Developments +1.901s 72
24 Victoria Blokhina 3Y by R-ace GP +1.951s 65
25 Ricardo Escotto Cram-Hitech GP +2.163s 69
26 Nandhavud Bhirombhakdi Xcel Motorsport +2.355s 49
27 Jules Castro Pinnacle Motorsport +2.428s 66
28 Suleiman Zanfari MP Motorsport +2.606s 58
29 Ismoilkhuja Akhmedkhodjaev Xcel Motorsport +3.023s 65