Ferrari junior Petecof wins safety car-filled Italian F4 opener

Gianluca Petecof (Prema Powerteam,Tatuus F.4 T014 Abarth #5)

Gianluca Petecof won a safety car hampered opening Italian Formula 4 race at Vallelunga.

Two long safety car periods interrupted running during the first F4 race of the season, before the race was red flagged a minute before the scheduled finish. The frequent disruptions meant Petecof was able to keep the challenging Mikhail Belov at bay to win.

Belov snatched second from the slow starting Roman Stanck off the line and immediately began challenging Petecof for the lead. The pair ran side by side for a number of corners, with Petecof just managing to stay ahead before the battle was interrupted at the end of lap one.

Joshua Durksen, Ido Cohen, and Ivan Berets had collided as they battled for position further down the field, leaving all three cars stranded at the side of the track, while Lucas Alecco Roy ran wide and beached his Van Amersfoort Racing car in a separate incident.

During the yellow flag period, it began to rain, and a number of cars dove into the pits for wet weather tyres, but the front runners – including Petecof and Belov – opted to remain on the dry tyres.

On the restart, with 12 minutes left on the clock, the pair quickly broke away from the rest of the field. Petecof this time was able to keep some clean air between himself and the Bhaitech driver, but Belov remained close enough to take advantage of any mistakes the race leader might back.

Three minutes after the restart, the safety car was brought out once again, this time after Fabio Venditti and Laszlo Toth ran wide.

Racing would not resume, and Petecof took the victory, ahead of Belov and Alessandro Famularo, who made a strong start from sixth on the grid. With no time to make up from his poor start, Stanck finished fourth, with European junior karting champion Paul Aron completing the top five.

During the brief green flag period, Jonny Edgar and Oliver Rasmussen enjoyed a battle for sixth, with Rasmussen managing to get ahead of the Red Bull junior before the safety car was brought out. Nicola Marinangeli finished eighth, ahead of Niklas Krutten and Gregoire Saucy.

Race round-up (11 laps)