Photo: F4 UAE
Dilano Van’t Hoff had a successful second weekend in car racing at Yas Marina Circuit, extending his Formula 4 United Arab Emirates lead with two more wins.
The Dutchman took three poles out of three across the two qualifying sessions, although just like in the season opener his starts weren’t the best and he was jumped by Cram Motorsport’s Enzo Trulli on lap one of the first race.
That lap was interrupted by an incident involving Saud Al Saud and Jonas Ried, with Enzo Scionti getting caught up too. The race ran behind the safety car for several laps, before releasing Trulli and Van’t Hoff at the front of the field.
Xcel Motorsport driver Van’t Hoff couldn’t reclaim the lead and finished second, while team-mate Pepe Marti turned around the awful luck he had at Dubai Autodrome to make the podium.
It went better for Van’t Hoff at the start of race two, as this time he kept the lead at the start and then held off Trulli for the distance. Abu Dhabi Racing’s Hamda Al Qubaisi finished third, over 10 seconds behind, while Xcel’s Jamie Day had his race ended early by an incident in the final sector of the lap.
Van’t Hoff led from pole again in race three, edging away in the opening few laps as Day dropped down the order and Trulli moved up to second.
Xcel driver Nikita Bedrin also made up two places to climb up to third, while Kirill Smal lost several places and then retired in an indicent that meant the second half of the race ran behind the safety car and locked the order.
Al Qubaisi beat Smal to victory in the reversed grid finale, with early leader Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak claiming his first podium in third. Trulli and Van’t Hoff fought their way up to fourth and fifth, and spent much of the race battling each other.
Results round-up
Race 1 (8 laps)
1 Enzo Trulli Cram Motorsport 21m23.015s
2 Dilano Van’t Hoff Xcel Motorsport +1.307s
3 Pepe Marti Xcel Motorsport +7.665s
4 Jamie Day Xcel Motorsport +9.572s
5 Kirill Smal Xcel Motorsport +10.600s
6 Hamda Al Qubaisi Abu Dhabi Racing +11.040s
7 Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak Xcel Motorsport +11.261s
8 Matias Zagazeta Xcel Motorsport +11.572s
9 Nikita Bedrin Xcel Motorsport +17.611s
10 Alex Partyshev Xcel Motorsport +1 lap
Pole: Van’t Hoff, 2m11.741s
Fastest lap, Van’t Hoff, 2m11.921s
Race 2 (10 laps)
1 Van’t Hoff 22m10.108s
2 Trulli +1.385s
3 Al Qubaisi +10.286s
4 Marti +12.250s
5 Smal +13.709s
6 Bedrin +17.144s
7 Inthraphuvasak +17.760s
8 Jonas Ried Mucke Motorsport +26.309s
9 Partyshev +26.845s
10 Zagazeta +27.759s
P: Van’t Hoff, 2m12.077s
FL: Trulli, 2m11.932s
Race 3 (8 laps)
1 Van’t Hoff 22m13.505s
2 Trulli +0.567s
3 Bedrin +1.096s
4 Zagazeta +1.966s
5 Al Qubaisi +2.352s
6 Day +2.745s
7 Inthraphuvasak +2.891s
8 Partyshev +3.435s
9 Ried +4.278s
10 Enzo Scionti Cram Motorsport +4.689s
P: Van’t Hoff, 2m11.337s
FL: Van’t Hoff, 2m12.060s
Race 4 (9 laps)
1 Al Qubaisi 20m05.420s
2 Smal +1.510s
3 Inthraphuvasak +5.323s
4 Trulli +8.792s
5 Van’t Hoff +9.342s
6 Bedrin +15.681s
7 Partyshev +15.940s
8 Marti +16.131s
9 Day +16.260s
10 Ried +20.159s
FL: Smal, 2m12.444s
Championship standings
1 Van’t Hoff 158 2 Trulli 128 3 Al Qubaisi 109 4 Smal 105 5 Inthraphuvasak 66 6 Bedrin 59 7 Day 46 8 Fransesco Braschi 44 9 Marti 31 10 Zagazeta 29