Photo: Mumbai Falcons
Andy Consani won twice in the final UAE4 round at Losail, but it was not enough to deny Sasha Bondarev the title.
Formula 4 Middle East race-winner Tomass Stolcermanis joined PHM Racing’s line-up and Ben Nguyen returned to Evans GP’s garage for the races in Qatar.
Pre-event testing was up first, and R-ace GP’s Kenzo Craigie pipped Mumbai Falcons’ Bondarev by 0.098 seconds. Hitech GP’s Scott Lindblom was third, 0.327s behind.
In free practice, Bondarev set a 1m55.645s to lead R-ace’s Consani by 0.018s and Yas Heat Academy’s Adam Al Azhari by 0.11s as a second split the top 19.
Trident’s Bernardo ‘Beco’ Bernoldi was first to set a representative laptime in qualifying for race one, then Pinnacle Motorsport’s Rowan Campbell-Pilling led the way. Consani and Bondarec were on top after that, with Consani prevailing by 0.176s.
Mumbai Falcons’ Alp Aksoy Hasan and Craigie were next up, 0.426s and 0.496s off pole respectively, then it was Al Azhari, Lindblom and his team-mate Theo Palmer.
In Q2, setting race three’s grid, Evans GP’s Thomas Ingram Hill were Palmer were the drivers to beat mid-session. Craigie went quickest for 0.911s before Prema’s David Cosma Cristofor lowered the pace in his tow, then Bondarev bettered that benchmark by 0.071s.
Prema’s Christian Costoya went even faster by 0.002s, and that kept him on top until after the chequered flag when Consani laid down a lap that earned him pole by 0.208s over Cosma Cristofor.
Lindblom qualified fifth, ahead of Aksoy, R-ace’s Elia Weiss, Al Azhari and title outsider Craigie.
Consani held off Bondarev’s attacks through the first corners of race one, while Al Azhari stalled and fell down the order. The safety car was then summoned due to PHM’s Platon Kostin crashing out at turn one.
Red flags waved on lap four due to Cosma Cristofor stopping on track, and green flags did not wave again until lap six by which point the sun was setting.
Several incidents meant the safety car returned on lap seven, and only one lap of racing remained once it left.
Consani led a weaving snake down the pit straight, held off Bondarev on his outside through turn one then led the field to the finish. His win cut Bondarev’s championship lead to 17 points.
Lindblom tried taking fourth, and Xcel Motorsport’s Joseph Smith claimed reversed-grid pole for race two the next day by coming home 12th.
Smith defended at the start but was passed by Mumbai Falcons’ Niccolo Maccagnani and a fast-starting Stolcermanis before turn one. He also briefly lost out to Weiss, and Consani had a terrible launch that dropped him outside of the top 20.
Bondarev passed Craigie for seventh at the end of lap two, and Consani recovered to 17th before being eliminated in a huge crash with Al Azhari on lap five. The safety car was called then red flags waved.
A lap behind the safety car occurred at the restart, then the field was released. Smith forced Stolcermanis into defending turn one, and Bondarev hassled Costoya multiple times as Maccagnani sprinted off.
Lindblom overtook Craigie for eighth after several corners of battling on lap eight, just before the safety car was needed again due to a collision down the field.
The race was then red flagged on lap nine, and process was repeated for the next restart which meant one lap of racing. Maccagnani was unrivalled again, and PHM’s Iacopo Martinese took fourth from Weiss who then lost several more places.
Craigie and Lindblom’s continued battle cost them places, and Bondarev got into fifth but then race-ending red flags waved again due to his team-mate Kingsley Zheng crashing so results were taken from the previous lap.
Maccagnani won, and seventh for Bondarev meant Consani remained in title contention.
Race three was also interrupted, with the safety car heading out on lap one after Stolcermanis crashed. Racing could continue by lap three though, and Bondarev had an off that cost him fourth to Lindblom.
The safety car returned on lap eight, as Kostin had crashed out and Craigie had stopped on track, eradicating Consani’s 1.9s lead.
Four laps remained on the next restart, and Consani built a huge 2.7s lead. Cosma Cristofor and Costoya completed the podium, and Bondarev was crowned in fifth place. From 12th on the grid, Martinese charged up to seventh.
Results round-up
Race 1 (11 laps)
1 Andy Consani R-ace GP 45m09.622s
2 Sasha Bondarev Mumbai Falcons +0.736s
3 Alp Aksoy Hasan Mumbai Falcons +1.503s
4 Kenzo Craigie R-ace GP +1.935s
5 Scott Lindblom Hitech GP +2.579s
6 Theo Palmer Hitech GP +3.359s
7 Iacopo Martinese PHM Racing +3.698s
8 Christian Costoya Prema +4.228s
9 Tomass Stolcermanis PHM Racing +4.720s
10 Elia Weiss R-ace GP +5.250s
Pole: Consani, 1m55.393s
Fastest lap: Consani, 1m56.079s
Race 2 (10 laps)
1 Niccolo Maccagnani Mumbai Falcons 37m01.397s
2 Stolcermanis +1.913s
3 Joseph Smith Xcel Motorsport +3.794s
4 Weiss +6.422s
5 Martinese +8.978s
6 Costoya +10.554s
7 Bondarev +11.668s
8 Craigie +12.888s
9 Lindblom +14.798s
10 Aksoy +15.798s
FL: Bondarev, 1m57.113s
Race 3 (14 laps)
1 Consani 30m58.767s
2 David Cosma Cristofor Prema +2.741s
3 Costoya +3.183s
4 Lindblom +3.836s
5 Bondarev +4.416s
6 Aksoy +4.759s
7 Martinese +5.914s
8 Weiss +6.905s
9 Palmer +8.671s
10 Smith +9.802s
P: Consani, 1m54.921s
FL: Consani, 1m56.479s
Championship standings
1 Bondarev 191 2 Consani 183 3 Craigie 118 4 Maccagnani 98 5 Cosma 97 6 Costoya 86 7 Lindblom 71 8 Aksoy 70 9 Martinese 46 10 Emily Cotty 37