Photo: ACI Sport
Cram Motorsport is without two of its full-time entrants for this weekend’s Italian Formula 4 races at Misano, while Francesco Simonazzi is not driving for BVM Racing due to injury.
The second round of the year features a grid of 30 cars, seven down on last month’s Paul Ricard season opener. US Racing never planned to race this weekend, with accounts for three cars, and Cram’s Suleiman Zanfari is also in the series part-time.
His full-time team-mates Vittorio Catino and Georgis Markogiannis should have been racing at Misano though, but both are absent. Catino’s no-show is currently unexplained, while Markogiannis has education commitments he has had to prioritise.
That leaves the Italian team just running Nicolas Baptiste this weekend, and the Colombian was 10th fastest in free practice on Thursday afternoon.
The pace in the 40-minute session was set by Van Amersfoort Racing, with Joshua Dufek leading the way. His four team-mates were also in the top 10, with Nikita Bedrin 0.065 seconds back in second place, Ollie Bearman in fourth, Cenyu Han in seventh and Bence Valint in ninth.
Joshua Duerksen was the top non-VAR driver, going third fastest and 0.213s off the pace of Dufek.
Unable to set a lap in the session was Jenzer Motorsport’s Santiago Ramos, who Formula Scout understands was deemed unfit to drive in the afternoon.
BVM’s Simonazzi did not turn up to the circuit after a crash in last week’s in-season test at Misano resulted in him injuring his back, and it is believed he will not be racing in the Vallelunga round later this month either.
Free practice results
| Pos | Driver | Team | Time | Gap | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Joshua Dufek | Van Amersfoort Racing | 1m34.510s | 17 | |
| 2 | Nikita Bedrin | Van Amersfoort Racing | 1m34.575s | +0.065s | 17 |
| 3 | Joshua Duerksen | Mucke Motorsport | 1m34.723s | +0.213s | 16 |
| 4 | Ollie Bearman | Van Amersfoort Racing | 1m34.786s | +0.276s | 16 |
| 5 | Leonardo Fornaroli | Iron Lynx | 1m34.789s | +0.279s | 19 |
| 6 | Sebastian Montoya | Prema | 1m34.790s | +0.280s | 17 |
| 7 | Cenyu Han | Van Amersfoort Racing | 1m34.827s | +0.317s | 18 |
| 8 | Victor Bernier | R-ace GP | 1m34.858s | +0.348s | 20 |
| 9 | Bence Valint | Van Amersfoort Racing | 1m34.879s | +0.369s | 21 |
| 10 | Nicolas Baptiste | Cram Motorsport | 1m34.898s | +0.388s | 18 |
| 11 | Kirill Smal | Prema | 1m34.920s | +0.410s | 17 |
| 12 | Sami Meguetounif | R-ace GP | 1m34.923s | +0.413s | 19 |
| 13 | Francesco Braschi | Jenzer Motorsport | 1m35.024s | +0.514s | 16 |
| 14 | Samir Ben | Jenzer Motorsport | 1m35.025s | +0.515s | 16 |
| 15 | Lorenzo Patrese | AKM Motorsport | 1m35.129s | +0.619s | 18 |
| 16 | Hamda Al Qubaisi | Prema | 1m35.183s | +0.673s | 17 |
| 17 | Erick Zuniga | Mucke Motorsport | 1m35.247s | +0.737s | 17 |
| 18 | Kacper Sztuka | AS Motorsport | 1m35.261s | +0.751s | 17 |
| 19 | Jonas Ried | Mucke Motorsport | 1m35.277s | +0.767s | 17 |
| 20 | Eron Rexhepi | BVM Racing | 1m35.328s | +0.818s | 15 |
| 21 | Leonardo Bizzotto | BVM Racing | 1m35.354s | +0.844s | 16 |
| 22 | Maya Weug | Iron Lynx | 1m35.390s | +0.880s | 22 |
| 23 | Piotr Wisnicki | Jenzer Motorsport | 1m35.434s | +0.924s | 15 |
| 24 | Conrad Laursen | Prema | 1m35.670s | +1.160s | 17 |
| 25 | Pietro Armanni | Iron Lynx | 1m35.689s | +1.179s | 21 |
| 26 | Levente Revesz | AKM Motorsport | 1m35.720s | +1.210s | 20 |
| 27 | Marcus Amand | R-ace GP | 1m35.722s | +1.212s | 18 |
| 28 | Pedro Perino | DR Formula | 1m35.822s | +1.312s | 20 |
| 29 | Jorge Garciarce | Jenzer Motorsport | 1m35.913s | +1.403s | 20 |
| 30 | Santiago Ramos | Jenzer Motorsport | no time | 0 |