Photo: Copa Notiauto
Ram Racing’s Zaky Ibrahim was victorious in all three races of round two of NACAM Formula 4’s season in Mexico City.
The delayed return to action after March’s season opener attracted 10 cars. Alessandros Racing’s Fernando Luque was fastest in practice by 0.103 seconds ahead of Ibrahim, then in qualifying a 1m33.805s earned Ibrahim race one pole by 0.334s over Luque.
Santinel Racing’s Marco Alquicira was third, 0.552s off pole and 0.007s ahead of second-generation talent Alex Popow Jr. Ibrahim set three laps good enough for top spot, and the second of those earned him race three pole by 0.353s.
A stronger start meant Luque led off the line in race one on Friday, and Alquicira also passed Ibrahim on the long run to the first braking zone. Ibrahim regained second on the inside at the turn four hairpin, and entering the esses Alessandros’s Alejandro Bobadilla was spun down the order from fourth.
Luque lost first place to Ibrahim at turn one on lap two, then he and Alquicira remained in the leader’s slipstream. Alquicira tried a turn one pass on lap five, which allowed Ibrahim to escape.
Jose Martinez passed team-mate Popow for fourth on lap six. Gaps mostly opened up, and Ram’s Alan Zezatti dramatically spun away seventh on lap 12 after having finally passed team-mate Elias Vignola.
Alquicira was pressuring Luque again two laps later, and attempted to pass around the outside at turn one on lap 15. He was stumped by Luque’s positioning on the run to turn four on lap 17, while Vignola moved into sixth as Ram’s Max Mora spun late in the lap.
Vignola was then promoted to fourth, as Martinez and Popow were disqualified post-race. Bobadilla was fifth, with Mora back in sixth.
The top four were flipped for race two’s grid on Saturday, and Alquicira passed poleman Vignola en route to turn one but went off at turn two and dropped to fourth.
Ibrahim and Luque passed Vignola at turn one on lap two, with Alquicira and Bobadilla following through at turn four. Alquicira had a half-spin on lap three that dropped him to fifth behind Popow. He got back past at turn one on lap four, Popow drove around the outside of him at turn four on lap five, then Alquicira repeated his move on lap six as Luque overtook Ibrahim.
The top three were together, and Ibrahim began lap eight by reclaiming the lead. Luque attacked at turn four on lap 11, and a lap later Bobadilla had an off that left him fighting with Alquicira before being behind both he and Popow by lap 14.
Popow tried passing Alquicira on lap 16 but almost lost fourth, and Luque cleared Ibrahim on lap 17 before messily defending through the penultimate lap. He picked up a five-second penalty, handing victory to Ibrahim.
Luque passed Ibrahim at the opening corner of race three, but the poleman was back past by turn four. Alquicira retired in the pits at the end of lap one.
Popow dived down the inside of Luque at turn one on lap five, Martinez passed Bobadilla for fourth on lap 10, then red flags ended the race on lap 15 due to oil on track.
Results round-up
Race 1 (19 laps)
1 Zaky Ibrahim Ram Racing 30m07.354s
2 Fernando Luque Alessandros Racing +6.815s
3 Marco Alquicira Santinel Racing +7.976s
4 Elias Vignola Ram Racing +47.754s
5 Alejandro Bobadilla Alessandros Racing +57.626s
6 Max Mora Ram Racing +1m00.974s
7 Alan Zezatti Ram Racing +1m20.832s
Ret Ivanna Richards RRK Motorsports
DSQ Jose Martinez Alessandros Racing +12.993s
DSQ Alex Popow Jr Alessandros Racing +15.291s
Pole: Ibrahim, 1m33.805s
Fastest lap: Alquicira, 1m34.519s
Race 2 (19 laps)
1 Ibrahim 30m09.310s
2 Luque +4.693s
3 Alquicira +9.312s
4 Popow Jr +10.433s
5 Bobadilla +10.858s
6 Martinez +18.403s
7 Zezatti +25.352s
8 Mora +49.800s
Ret Vignola
Ret Richards
FL: Luque, 1m34.316s
Race 3 (15 laps)
1 Ibrahim 26m08.121s
2 Popow Jr +1.318s
3 Luque +3.044s
4 Martinez +4.788s
5 Bobadilla +6.952s
6 Vignola +8.462s
7 Mora +10.459s
Ret Richards
Ret Zezatti
Ret Alquicira
P: Ibrahim, 1m33.940s
FL: Popow, 1m34.453s
Championship standings
1 Ibrahim 140 2 Luque 101 3 Martinez 64 4 Bobadilla 64 5 Mora 42 6 Vignola 32 7 Zezatti 32 8 Popow 30 9 Alquicira 30 10 Axel Matus 27