Photo: RFEDA
Juan Cota claimed his first Spanish Formula 4 victory in race one at Valencia as the top three in the championship all found trouble on the first lap.
Drivex racer Cota, 13th in the standings coming into this weekend, topped an in-season test at the Ricardo Tormo circuit last month and led Friday’s pre-event test plus Saturday morning’s practice, but was pipped to pole position in qualifying by Griffin Peebles.
Cota got off the line well though and, going three-wide into the first corner with Peebles and championship leader Keanu Al Azhari, used the inside line to secure the lead.
Mattia Colnaghi, second in the standings, didn’t get away immediately from third position at the start and fell to the rear but there would be worse to come for MP Motorsport and its championship contenders later in the lap.
Having tried to go side-by-side with Peebles, Al Azhari also lost third place to Enzo Tarnvanichkul before getting wide into the gravel exiting Turn 8, causing him to spear across the track, collecting third-in-points Maciej Gladysz and taking both out of the race.
The collision also caused a safety car, after which Cota was quickly able to build a gap of over one second to Peebles. He finished up 2.763 seconds clear as he scored Drivex’s first Spanish F4 win for four years.
Peebles had to resist pressure from Tarnvanichkul immediately after the restart but broke clear as he secured a second successive second-place finish, with Red Bull junior Tarnvanichkul taking a second third-place finish in as many rounds.
Thomas Strauven was also part of the early podium scrap but finished fourth for Rodin ahead of Lucas Fluxa, while Andres Cardenas came from 14th to finish sixth, matching the best result so far this season for the 2023 race winner.
Newly announced Red Bull junior Ernesto Rivera also came from the seventh row to finish in seventh place ahead of Rene Lammers, with Gabriel Gomez ninth and the Campos duo of Nathan Tye and James Egozi both climbing 10 spots to take 10th and 11th. Colnaghi fought back to 14th.
Race results (19 laps)
| Pos | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1 | Juan Cota | Drivex School | 31m36.643s |
| 2 | Griffin Peebles | MP Motorsport | +2.763s |
| 3 | Enzo Tarnvanichkul | Campos Racing | +5.375s |
| 4 | Thomas Strauven | Rodin Motorsport | +6.045s |
| 5 | Lucas Fluxa | MP Motorsport | +8.247s |
| 6 | Andres Cardenas | Campos Racing | +11.427s |
| 7 | Ernesto Rivera | Campos Racing | +12.969s |
| 8 | Rene Lammers | MP Motorsport | +13.770s |
| 9 | Gabriel Gomez | TC Racing | +17.172s |
| 10 | Nathan Tye | Campos Racing | +18.694s |
| 11 | James Egozi | Campos Racing | +20.887s |
| 12 | Tim Gerhards | Monlau Motorsport | +22.581s |
| 13 | Oscar Wurz | Drivex School | +25.405s |
| 14 | Mattia Colnaghi | MP Motorsport | +25.923s |
| 15 | Matus Ryba | Drivex School | +29.748s |
| 16 | Reno Francot | Global Racing Service | +30.927s |
| 17 | Alex Ninovic | Rodin Motorsport | +31.542s |
| 18 | Yevan David | Sainteloc Racing | +38.515s |
| 19 | Maxi Restrepo | Sainteloc Racing | +40.820s |
| 20 | Adam Al Azhari | Tecnicar Motorsport | +40.872s |
| 21 | Gino Trappa | Drivex School | +42.714s |
| 22 | Nerea Marti | Global Racing Service | +43.283s |
| 23 | Wiktor Dobrzanski | Tecnicar Motorsport | +44.314s |
| 24 | Cristian Cantu | TC Racing | +44.831s |
| 25 | Lorenzo Castillo | Drivex School | +45.323s |
| 26 | Eloi Gonzalez | Monlau Motorsport | +48.521s |
| 27 | Filippo Fiorentino | Cram Motorsport | +54.165s |
| Ret | Francisco Macedo | Drivex School | |
| Ret | Alexander Jacoby | Global Racing Service | |
| Ret | Jan Przyrowski | Campos Racing | |
| Ret | Peter Bouzinelos | Rodin Motorsport | |
| Ret | Adam Hideg | Cram Motorsport | |
| Ret | Lenny Ried | Monlau Motorsport | |
| Ret | Matteo Quintarelli | Sainteloc Racing | |
| Ret | Keanu Al Azhari | MP Motorsport | |
| Ret | Maciej Gladysz | MP Motorsport | |
| Pole: Peebles, 1m32.805s Fastest lap: Cota, 1m33.508s
Championship standings |
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