Home Featured Camara takes first F4 UAE win, beating penalised Browning

Camara takes first F4 UAE win, beating penalised Browning

by Craig Woollard

Photo: F4 UAE

Ferrari junior Rafael Camara took his first Formula 4 UAE victory at Dubai Autodrome, as debutant Luke Browning was penalised from second after a safety car-related incident with Charlie Wurz.

Camara’s team-mate Charlie Wurz led the 25-minute race from pole at the start, while Browning got himself in the mix at the front behind Camara, who held second.

The trio started to pull away from Abu Dhabi Racing by Prema’s Aiden Neate, PHM Racing’s Nikita Bedrin and Andrea Kimi Antonelli (Abu Dhabi Racing by Prema), who were scrapping over fourth, until Camara made his move on Wurz.

Browning then made his move on Wurz. The pair made contact, and then the safety car was called for the car of debutant Valerio Rinicella – who had stopped at the last corner.

The pair squabbled behind the safety car but Hitech GP driver Browning eventually slotted ahead of Wurz. However, he was later penalised 10 seconds for overtaking under safety car conditions.

The stoppage to the race was lengthy due to the time it took to recover Rinicella’s car, but also because Michael Shin also came to a stop. Nikhil Bohra also retired during this time.

This left a five-minute sprint to the flag, and the lead trio held position for the most part.

That was until the final lap, where Bedrin passed Wurz for what became second after Browning’s penalty.

Camara came through to win his first race in cars by 3.777 seconds ahead of Bedrin and Wurz, although Browning was less than a second behind on the road.

Antonelli took fourth ahead of Martinius Stenshorne. Title contender Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak (MP Motorsport) minimised the damage from a middling grid position by taking sixth ahead of PHM’s Taylor Barnard and Hitech’s Alex Dunne.

Ivan Domingues took ninth ahead of debutant Christian Ho, while Browning was classified in 12th behind Suleiman Zanfari. Neate was in contention for a podium but dropped well down the order late on and finished only 17th, meaning the absent James Wharton remains at the top of the championship.

There was further drama as on the final lap there was contact between Jonas Ried and Nandhavud Bhirombhakdi, which caused the latter to retire on the last lap. It is one of a number of incidents set to be investigated after the race.

Race results (11 laps)
Pos Driver Team Time
1 Rafael Camara Prema 26m06.138s
2 Nikita Bedrin PHM Racing +3.777s
3 Charlie Wurz Prema +4.020s
4 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Abu Dhabi Racing by Prema +4.274s
5 Martinius Stenshorne 3Y by R-ace GP +5.950s
6 Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak MP Motorsport +7.103s
7 Taylor Barnard PHM Racing +7.791s
8 Alex Dunne Hitech GP +8.369s
9 Ivan Domingues Xcel Motorsport +8.739s
10 Christian Ho MP Motorsport +9.181s
11 Suleiman Zanfari MP Motorsport +10.135s
12 Luke Browning Hitech GP +10.634s
13 Sohil Shah Mumbai Falcons by Xcel +12.574s
14 Ricardo Escotto Cram-Hitech GP +12.948s
15 Robert De Haan Pinnacle Motorsport +14.039s
16 Jamie Day Xcel Motorsport +14.926s
17 Aiden Neate Abu Dhabi Racing by Prema +15.368s
18 Joseph Loake JHR Developments +16.760s
19 Miron Pingasov MP Motorsport +17.084s
20 Vladislav Ryabov GRS +17.620s
21 Anshul Gandhi Cram-Hitech GP +18.419s
22 Jef Machiels Pinnacle Motorsport +18.942s
23 Victoria Blokhina 3Y by R-ace GP +19.147s
24 Ismail Akhmedkhodjaev 3Y by R-ace GP +21.791s
25 Brando Badoer AKM Motorsport +21.951s
26 Jonas Ried PHM Racing +24.388s
27 Yash Aradhya Mumbai Falcons by Xcel +24.890s
Ret Nandhavud Bhirombhakdi PHM Racing
Ret Michael Shin JHR Developments
Ret Nikhil Bohra 3Y by R-ace GP
Ret Valerio Rinicella MP Motorsport
Fastest lap: Bedrin, 2m01.971s

Championship standings
1
James Wharton 110   2 Inthraphuvasak 102   3 Wurz 102   4 Neate 97   5 Antonelli 95   6 Bedrin 69   7 Barnard 55   8 Stenshorne 44   9 Camara 42   10 Dunne 37