Gomez wins then red flags hit Italian F4’s Imola race action

Photo: ACI Sport

Gabriel Gomez won Italian Formula 4’s first race at Imola, then a huge multi-car shunt led to the second being suspended 17 seconds in.

There was drama before race one’s start as US Racing’s Maxim Rehm stopped on track en route to the grid so the whole field had to go through the pits.

Eventually the start took place, with Rehm taking up his 10th place on the grid while team-mate Gomez had pole. His other team-mate Andrija Kostic was fighting him mid-lap, and Salim Hanna Hernandez took second from Prema team-mate Kean Nakamura Berta after going side-by-side through the first corner.

Viola Formula Racing’s Ludovico Busso and Arthur Lorimier collided, and Gomez’s lead of over a second was eradicated by the safety car on lap two.

Maffi Racing’s Kornelia Olkucka crashed into the back of Cram Motorsport’s Elia Weiss on lap three, meaning the restart was delayed to lap five.

PHM Racing’s Reno Francot overtook Prema’s Sebastian Wheldon for fifth at turn two on lap six, then the safety car returned on lap seven after R-ace GP’s Guy Albag and Jenzer Motorsport’s Javier Herrera collided.

The next restart was on lap 10, and Nakamura was immediately alongside Hanna. Their team-mates Sasha Bondarev and Newman Chi got involved along with Francot, and Bondarev ended up defending from Chi and losing touch to Nakamura.

Kostic was sent spinning, team-mate Kabir Anurag went off and R-ace’s Emily Cotty came to a stop, but racing continued.

Gomez won by 0.616 seconds over Hanna, with Wheldon dropping to 10th on the 13th and final lap.

On race two’s formation lap, Bondarev was slow off the line and dropped from second to seventh but was able to reclaim his starting spot behind Gomez.

Chi and Hanna stalled on the actual start, and they were collected by several cars. Olkucka had another embarassing crash under yellow flag conditions, and her Maffi team-mates retired on the grass while trying to avoid the debris.

Van Amersfoort Racing’s Maximilian Popov spun, Viola’s drivers were out in heavy impacts by turn one and 16 drivers in total were eliminated as red flags waved. Due to noise curfews, the restart of the race was delayed to another day.

Olkucka was handed a three-place grid penalty for her contribution to the chaos, Lorimier was docked six places, and Herrera was found most responsive with an eight-place grid penalty. He drops to 26th on the grid, Lorimier falls to last, while Olkucka gains one spot to 38th.

Race results (13 laps)