Bohra takes maiden Italian F4 win in US Racing 1-2 at Paul Ricard

Photo: ACI Sport

Akshay Bohra held off US Racing team-mate Jack Beeton for his maiden Italian Formula 4 victory at Paul Ricard, with points leader Freddie Slater not taking the start.

Bohra made a perfect getaway from pole and was never challenged. Two successive fastest laps brought Beeton to within half-a-second of the leader midway through the race but he was unable to attempt a move and dropped back later on.

“A great feeling. We’ve done double pole, P2 for race three, and now a win. I can’t thank the team enough for all their hard work,” a delighted Bohra told Formula Scout after the race.

Despite the pressure from Beeton, Bohra felt that “everything was under control”.

“It’s such a long circuit, and it’s known for being a pretty high deg[radation] circuit, especially with the temperature. I wasn’t trying to overpush, especially in those demanding corners and there were a few moments when he got close but I don’t think there was anything I would have not expected,” he explained.

“I’ve been working on myself as a driver quite a lot. I’ve made quite a few not massive mistakes, but I definitely have not made everything perfect in the weekends so I’m just trying to get as good as possible and now I’m starting to really develop as a driver.”

Van Amersfoort Racing’s Hiyu Yamakoshi held on to take third while Prema’s Slater did not take up his grid slot. A deflating tyre in qualifying had left him back on the grid’s 12th row, and he told Formula Scout post-race that on the installation lap he had an engine problem limiting the revs.

Yamakoshi came under pressure from Matheus Ferreira, as the Brazilian looked to give US Racing a clean sweep of the podium positions, but the Japanese driver held on by 0.408s.

Alex Powell headed a four-car train of Prema drivers in fifth, ahead of Kean Nakamura Berta.

Rashid Al Dhaheri and Dion Gowda enjoyed a heated battle in the early stages, with Al Dhaheri running wide at the final corner as Gowda tried to regain the position with a dive to the inside. VAR’s Gustav Jonsson joined their battle before damaging his front wing, forcing him to pit for repairs and resulting in a 29th place finish.

Gianmarco Pradel and Maxim Rehm completed the top 10th, to round off a strong race for US Racing with five cars in the points.

Race results (16 laps)