Photo: Klaas Norg / Dutch Photo Agency
Franco Colapinto won the Spanish Formula 4 title at Barcelona, as he dominated the season finale.
The Argentinian won the first race from pole, despite a lap one error. Jenzer Motorsport’s Filip Ugran had qualified second for his series debut and was alongside Colapinto by Turn 1. The Romanian was on the outside, and had to take to the escape road as Colapinto – on the inside – missed the corner entry.
Colapinto kept his lead despite this, with MP Motorsport’s Glenn van Berlo passing Ugran for second a few corners later. G4 Racing’s Axel Gnos made it a four-car train at the front, and pressured Ugran through the early laps.
Nicolas Baert (MP) also joined in, filling Gnos’s mirrors and allowing Ugran to concentrate on passing van Berlo. He managed the feat on lap 10 of 15, pressuring hard into Turn 1 then sneaking through at Turn 2.
Colapinto was clear up front, and sealed the title with his ninth win of the season.
Baert passed Gnos for fourth late on, while Colapinto’s title rival Killian Meyer (Praga F4) finished a distant sixth.
Colapinto’s Drivex School team-mate Manuel Espirito Santo was eighth on his single-seater debut.
After a pointless race one, MP’s Tijmen van der Helm struck back with a race two podium, but had no answer to Colapinto and Ugran’s pace.
Van der Helm started the race with a Turn 1 off, but stuck in third behind Colapinto and Gnos.
Ugran started further down the order but by mid-distance was on their tails, and braked late to go from fourth to second at Turn 1. Gnos was dispatched by van der Helm a lap later to reclaim third, with Meyer and van Berlo then also passing Gnos.
Van Berlo took pole for race three, ahead of Gnos and Colapinto – who was immediately up to second after Gnos stalled. By the uphill Turn 7, he had the lead.
While there was a safety car intervention, caused by French F4 Junior driver Paul-Adrien Pallot crashing, Colapinto never came under pressure and won. A late charge by Ugran brought him up to third behind van Berlo, who took second in the standings after Meyer failed to score.
Results round-up
Race 1 (15 laps)
1 Franco Colapinto Drivex School 27m29.053s
2 Filip Ugran Jenzer Motorsport +2.160s
3 Glenn van Berlo MP Motorsport +2.889s
4 Nicolas Baert MP Motorsport +3.554s
5 Axel Gnos G4 Racing +9.189s
6 Killian Meyer Praga F4 +12.634s
7 Ivan Nosov Drivex School +12.982s
8 Manuel Espirito Santo Drivex School +13.401s
9 Artem Lobanenko Drivex School +14.457s
10 Carles Martinez Praga F4 +15.719s
Pole: Colapinto, 1m46.859s
Fastest lap: Gnos, 1m48.343s
Race 2 (11 laps)
1 Colapinto 20m06.412s
2 Ugran +1.703s
3 Tijmen van der Helm MP Motorsport +5.892s
4 Meyer +12.579s
5 van Berlo +15.712s
6 Gnos +17.241s
7 Baert +17.367s
8 Nosov +21.010s
9 Nerea Marti Praga F4 +23.750s
10 Paul-Adrien Pallot Jenzer Motorsport +24.377s
P: Colapinto, 1m47.119s
FL: Lobanenko, 1m47.986s
Race 3 (14 laps)
1 Colapinto
2 van Berlo +1.282s
3 Ugran +4.339s
4 van der Helm +5.962s
5 Baert +6.497s
6 Martinez +8.462s
7 Marti +12.080s
8 Javier Sagrera Mol Racing +13.712s
9 Gnos +15.047s
10 Nosov +15.275s
P: van Berlo, 2m10.581s
FL: Colapinto, 1m48.101s
Championship standings
1 Colapinto 325? ?2 van Berlo 217? ?3 Meyer 210? ?4 van der Helm 156? ?5 Baert 100? ?6 Martinez 98? ?7 Gnos 98? ?8 Shihab Al Habsi 89? ?9 Lobanenko 73? ?10 Rashed Ghanem 65