Photo: F4 CEZ
Max Karhan was unstoppable in Formula 4 Central European Zone’s first two races at Brno, before Kirill Kutskov bounced back from difficulties to win race three.
Despite mixed fortunes, Oscar Wurz still managed to increase his championship lead with one round remaining.
Jenzer Motorsport driver Karhan took an untroubled lights-to-flag victory in Saturday’s opening race, although there was drama on the grid as Maffi Racing’s poleman Kutskov was one of many who struggled to get away, dropping to seventh. He fought back onto the tail of Karhan but ran out of laps to challenge for victory.
Wurz was another to lose out at the start, dropping to eighth. He managed to salvage fifth at the finish despite a collision with Maffi’s Nathanael Berreby. JMT Racing’s Miroslav Mikes held onto third from AS Motorsport’s debuting Joanne Ciconte.
Kutskov made a better start for race two but as Karhan closed the door on the inside, Mikes swept around the outside of turn one to take the lead. Karhan was back in front by lap three with Kutskov then quickly pulling onto Mikes’ tail, but clipped his rear as he tried a move to the inside, pitching the Czech driver into a spin.
Kutskov pulled off, bringing out the safety car for three laps. Karhan executed the restart to perfection, calmly rebuilding a lead of over five seconds over Wurz who had been promoted to second.
Berreby fought off another debutant, Simon Schranz of the returning Renauer Motorsport team, with Mikes in fifth.
Wurz led away from reversed-grid pole in race three, with Kutskov starting in seventh after earning a three-place grid penalty from what he felt had been a racing incident in race two.
He was immediately flying, getting up to third at the end of lap one then disposing of Mikes next time around before chasing down Wurz. The leader made a slight mistake at the final corner on lap four, allowing Kutskov to sweep around the outside of turn one, before pulling away to victory.
Wurz held off Mikes to take second, and leave Brno with a 49-point lead. Karhan came home a distant and lonely fourth, ahead of Ciconte.
Results round-up
Race 1 (12 laps)
1 Max Karhan Jenzer Motorsport 25m08.883s
2 Kirill Kutskov Maffi Racing +0.717s
3 Miroslav Mikes JMT Racing +17.778s
4 Joanne Ciconte AS Motorsport +22.612s
5 Oscar Wurz Jenzer Motorsport +23.040s
6 Simon Schranz Renauer Motorsport +31.134s
7 Nathanael Berreby Maffi Racing +42.058s
8 Michalina Sabaj AS Motorsport +48.795s
9 Kornelia Olkucka Maffi Racing +53.719s
10 Marek Micik F4 CEZ Academy +1m18.316s
Pole: Kutskov, 2m03.197s
Fastest lap: Kutskov, 2m03.836s
Race 2 (11 laps)
1 Karhan 25m21.068s
2 Wurz +5.141s
3 Berreby +10.463s
4 Schranz +11.103s
5 Mikes +11.873s
6 Olkucka +12.523s
7 Sabaj +14.194s
8 Ciconte +15.589s
9 Frantisek Nemec F4 CEZ Academy +29.026s
10 Micik +30.461s
FL: Karhan, 2m05.638s
Race 3 (12 laps)
1 Kutskov 25m07.396s
2 Wurz +3.980s
3 Mikes +4.424s
4 Karhan +16.121s
5 Ciconte +36.375s
6 Berreby +38.358s
7 Sabaj +38.568s
8 Micik +65.405s
9 Olkucka +74.072s
10 Nemec +89.233s
FL: Kutskov, 2m03.930s
Championship standings
1 Wurz 250 2 Kutskov 201 3 Karhan 194 4 Mikes 161 5 Jonathan Correrella 66 6 Sabaj 58 7 Davide Larini 51 8 Maximilian Popov 46 9 Kamal Mrad 46 10 Andrej Petrovic 43