Photo: Nordic 4
Nordic 4 returned to Sweden for an action-packed fifth round of the season at Falkenberg.
Mathias Bjerre Jakobsen led a STEP Motorsport 1-2-3 in practice, a 43.680s putting him 0.189 seconds ahead of Sebastian Bach on the high-speed circuit. Gustaw Wisniewski was third, with Mads Hoe and Daniel Varverud 0.565s and 0.653s off the pace respectively in fourth and fifth as the top Formula 5 and Formula Renault 1.6 drivers.
The STEP trio were more closely matched in qualifying, with Wisniewski setting a 43.407s to take pole by 0.022s over Jakobsen. Bach was 0.05s back, and Team FSP’s Marius Kristiansen was 0.299s behind in fourth. Hoe qualified sixth, and Enzo Hallman was top FR1.6 runner in ninth.
Race one took place on a soaking wet track, and Jakobsen slid into the lead at the start but Kristiansen made the best launch and tried to nose past before turn one as Magnus Pedersen got into third.
Jakobsen led Kristiansen by 1.068s by the end of lap one, with Pedersen third and Wisniewski already 3.2s back in fourth. The gaps grew on lap two, an it was so wet Jakobsen almost slid off on lap three.
F5 driver Jorgen Leerksov did spin off, getting beached on the grass, and the safety car was summoned as Formula Nordic racer Viktor Molander stalled on track.
Racing resumed on lap six, and Jakobsen quickly built a 1.3s lead. It ebbed and flowed thereon, and although Kristiansen set the fastest lap on lap 14 he found himself two seconds behind a lap later. In the final three laps he began to close back in, but still finished 1.6s behind Jakobsen.
Pedersen was 13.8s back, and had a charging Louis Leveau behind him at the end. Leveau started seventh, and fell to 12th on lap one. He was back in the top 10 by lap seven, was eighth a lap later then was frequently fastest on track as he chased the group fighting for fourth. He cleared them all, meaning Wisniewski finished fifth.
Hallman took sixth from Bach as they went either side of a lapped car, and Albin Stureson finished eighth from 12th on the grid to take reversed-grid pole for race two. Hoe struggled but still took the F5 win in 10th.
A crash in another series that left fluid on the track meant race two was delayed, and Molander stalled on the formtion lap which led to further delays and then more fluid clean-up. There was a second formation lap, then drivers headed around again but this time went to the pits as red flags waved.
After another delay, racing began and Bach swept around the outside of Stureson at turn one to lead as Varverud spun. Bach sprinted away until Alexia Danielsson stopped exiting turn three and the safety car was called at the end of lap three.
Racing resumed on lap six, and Birk August Larsen had a high-speed crash at the final corner. The safety car was not needed, and Hallman made his way from eighth to sixth and into a battle with Leveau. There was a five-car fight up front, but when Bach came uner attack on lap 10 it actually allowed him to pull away from the four behind.
At the last corner, Leveau struck the inside kerb and went into Pedersen, sending them both spinning onto the grass alongside the pit straight. Racing again went uninterrupted, with Jakobsen now in second and outpacing Bach as Wisniewski found himself holding off Hoe for third.
Jakobsen took the lead from Bach as they lapped someone on lap 14, with Wisniewski pressuring Bach in the remaining laps.
Kristiansen was fifth, Hallman finished a very distant sixth (before a 10s penalty for overtaking under yellow flags demoted him to eighth), and Laerke Ronn Sorensen spun away seventh with two laps remaining. Pedersen still scored points by finishing 14th.
Race three’s grid was based on the finishing positions of the first two races combined, putting Jakobsen on pole ahead of Kristiansen. The latter started slowly and was passed by Wisniewski, but reclaimed second place on lap one. However he then fell to fourth on lap six after almost going off at the last corner.
Wisniewski then chased Jakobsen mid-race, but once they began lapping cars the gap between them ebbed and flowed. On lap 13, Wisniewski lost a second as he lapped someone, while Jakobsen almost rear-ended an F5 car at the end of lap 21. The top two closed back up, and Jakobsen took the points lead and his seventh win of 2024 by 0.614s.
Bach held off Kristiansen once he was gifted third place, and Pedersen finished fifth ahead of former points leader Hoe.
Results round-up [F5 entrants in italics, FR1.6 entrants in bold]
Race 1 (21 laps)
1 Mathias Bjerre Jakobsen STEP Motorsport 19m42.867s
2 Marius Kristiansen Team FSP +1.605s
3 Magnus Pedersen MP Racing +13.824s
4 Louis Leveau Team FSP +14.467s
5 Gustaw Wisniewski STEP Motorsport +15.021s
6 Enzo Hallman +18.279s
7 Sebastian Bach STEP Motorsport +20.662s
8 Albin Stureson +21.529s
9 Daniel Varverud +26.976s
10 Mads Hoe Mads Hoe Motorsport +35.158s
Pole: Wisniewski, 43.407s
Fastest lap: Leveau, 50.690s
Race 2 (19 laps)
1 Jakobsen 16m02.649s
2 Bach +0.795s
3 Wisniewski +1.159s
4 Hoe +3.140s
5 Kristiansen +3.398s
6 Mads Kjelde Larsen Mads Hoe Motorsport +17.360s
7 Varverud +18.238s
8 Hallman +21.868s
9 Peder Saltvedt Saltvedt Racing +22.326s
10 Robin Hafstrom +23.160s
FL: Wisniewski, 43.765s
Race 3 (26 laps)
1 Jakobsen 19m12.391s
2 Wisniewski +0.614s
3 Bach +1.648s
4 Kristiansen +2.191s
5 Pedersen +5.333s
6 Hoe +7.324s
7 Leveau +10.066s
8 Hallman +12.435s
9 Laerke Ronn Sorensen STEP Motorsport +17.661s
10 Varverud +22.485s
FL: Wisniewski, 43.648s
Championship standings
1 Jakobsen 262 2 Mads Hoe 253 3 Pedersen 208 4 Bach 177 5 Kristiansen 167 6 Leveau 122 7 Sorensen 92 8 Wisniewski 53 9 Larsen 53 10 Mille Hoe 45