Bondarev overhauls Nakamura in all-Prema fight for Italian F4 win

Photo: ACI Sport

Sasha Bondarev fought past Prema team-mate Kean Nakamura Berta to win Italian Formula 4 race three at Imola.

The pair shared the front row, with Bondarev on pole, and Van Amersfoort Racing’s Maximilian Popov was ahead of their other team-mate Newman Chi on row two.

Nakamura immediately tucked in behind Bondarev at the start, then thought about the outside line entering Tamburello.

He attacked properly at Acque Minerali, getting alongside Bondarec and then leading him into the Variante Alta chicane as the safety car was called.

Maffi Racing’s David Walther had spun out at Tamburello, and VAR’s Dante Vinci had picked up enough damage to have a stop-start route back to the pits where his front end was changed.

Racing resumed on lap three, and US Racing’s Gabriel Gomez was on a charge. He had picked off Prema’s Salim Hanna Hernandez and PHM Racing’s Reno Francot on lap one, and now cleared R-ace GP’s Emanuele Olivieri through turn one.

Francot tried to also overtake Olivieri, but clipped his right-right wheel. Olivieri soon went off with a puncture, while Francot needed a new front and both fell down the order before pitting.

Nakamura pulled away up front, then Bondarev began closing back in on lap six. He was very close to Nakamura’s rear through the first corners of lap eight, as Popov made it a three-car fight, and had a look at the outside of Rivazza 1.

A warning flag was shown to Nakamura after his defending through Tamburello on lap nine, and he began lap 10 just 0.2 seconds ahead. Bondarev tried the outside through the first two corners, then the safety car was called out again as Maffi’s Kornelia Olkucka spun out there.

Nakamura was unchallenged on lap 12 when racing resumed, but had Bondarev alongside him through Tamburello and the Villeneuve chicane on lap 13 and weaved his way down the pit straight as the lap ended.

Bondarev again chose the outside into Tamburello on lap 14, and finally made an overtake happen as Chi did the same to Popov. Gomez overtook Popov at the Villeneuve chicane, as a pack had bunched up behind Nakamura.

Now in clear air, Bondarev pulled away and claimed his first F4 podium with victory, as Chi then became the cork in the bottle. Hanna went around the outside of Popov at Tamburello on lap 15 for fifth, and R-ace’s Alex Powell held off Prema’s Sebastian Wheldon for seventh.

US’s Kabir Anurag was involved in their battle, and Jenzer Motorsport’s Bart Harrison and Artem Severiukhin tried to be but made contact. Severiukhin lost several places, and Harrison punctured.

US’s Andrija Kostic and Luka Sammalisto had their own drama on lap 14 that meant being classified several laps down rather than rounding out the points places, and Jenzer’s Enea Frey came through for 10th.

Race results (16 laps)