Jan Przyrowski starts Spanish F4 winter series on top at Jerez

Photo: Spanish Winter Championship

Campos Racing’s Jan Przyrowski took pole and victory in a dramatic start to Spanish Formula 4’s new winter series at Jerez.

In qualifying, MP Motorsport’s Hudson Schwartz was the pacesetter at first. Przyrowski knocked almost a second off his 1m56.037s benchmark, and was on provisional pole for 10 minutes before MP’s Ean Eyckmans went 0.9 seconds faster.

Schwartz crossed the line seconds later and reclaimed top spot with a 1m53.839s, then Campos’s Thomas Strauven and TC Racing’s Alfio Spina comfortably beat him. The track was gripping up and it meant the fastest lap was bound to be the last one for anyone who did not catch traffic, and it proved so.

Przyrowski set a 1m51.228s to beat Strauven by 0.394s, and Drivex School’s Christopher Feghali was a second behind in third. Eyckmans was 0.032s slower than him in fourth, Schwartz improved but qualified fifth, and Campos’s Miguel Costa and Vivek Kanthan were next up.

Rodin Motorsport’s Nathan Tye, Spina and MP’s Rene Lammers also got within two seconds of Przyrowski’s pace, and six of the 32 drivers exceeded the maximum qualifying time but were given permission to start race one. Tecnicar Motorsport’s Wiktor Dobrzanski missed qualifying though, so did not make the grid.

Drivex’s Gino Trappa made the start but not the grid, being wheeled off it as he had an issue before the formation lap. There was further pre-race drama as Monlau Motorsport’s Alexander Jacoby spun then got stuck off track on that lap, leading to another formation lap taking place.

Red flags waved during that second lap, and the race was shortened by two minutes. It started with the safety car leading the field out of the pits and then around the track for two laps, with green flag action starting on lap three.

Tye passed Kanthan, and MP’s Yani Stevenhydens rose from 12th to 10th. Shwartz hussled his way past Eyckmans on the next lap, as Strauven closed in on the leader.

Przyrowski responded to the pressure by setting the fastest lap, which Strauven reclaimed on lap seven. They quickly gapped Feghali, and on a charge was Tye. He had overtaken Eyckmans and Costa by lap six, and he dived down the inside of Shwartz at the hairpin on lap seven for fourth.

On lap 11 he entered podium contention as Jacoby crashed out and the safety car was called. Racing resumed at the end of lap 13, and Strauven had a look at Przyrowski into turn one on what would be the final lap.

Tye pressured Feghali, who drifted off at turn three and dropped to fifth. Red flags then waved as Tecnicar’s Sacha Van’t Pad Bosch crashed out, Rodin’s Kyuho Lee found himself in the barriers and ART Grand Prix’s Aurelia Nobels also retired. But with the results taken back to lap 12, they were counted as finishers and Feghali was back in third.

Lammers and Kanthan passed Costa, and Trappa was contending for points until a car issue put him out on lap 10.

Race results (12 laps)