Photo: F4 CEZ
Jenzer Motorsport’s Max Karhan won twice in Formula 4 Central European Zone round three at the Salzburgring.
His team-mate Gino Trappa set a 1m21.809s to lead practice by 0.397 seconds, with Maffi Racing’s David Walther 0.241s behind Karhan in third.
In qualifying Trappa improved to 1m21.749s for pole, beating Karhan by 0.303s, as Nicolas Cortes and Javier Herrera completed a Jenzer 1-2-3-4.
Mathilda Paatz stalled on race one’s formation lap so had to start from the pitlane rather than sixth, but recovered to eighth as Karhan won.
Trappa held the lead at first, and on lap three Karhan stuck to the outside through the banked corners to then have the inside for the turn 13 braking zone where he could move ahead.
He mainted a small gap thereon until the safety car appeared on lap 12. Andreas Lo Bue had managed to overtake team-mate Walther into turn 11 the previous lap, with Walther then locking up and running Janik Motorsport’s David Gorcica off and into the barriers at turn 13.
Racing resumed on lap 15 of 17 and Trappa attacked Karhan twice. Walther dropped to eighth, then a five-second penalty demoted him to 12th.
The results set race two’s starting order, and Karhan led Trappa into turn one. Trappa got alongside at turn 10, but Karhan went deep into turn 12 to stay ahead. Cortes in fourth locked up at turn 12 on laps two, three, five and six, and Renauer Motorsport’s Simon Schranz drove off-track at turn nine on lap four to try to get past him.
He was alongside again at turn 12 on that lap, while Paatz tried passing him on lap six. Paatz got ahead in the esses on lap eight, but then Schranz ran deep into turn 10 to nose back in front.
Hunting them was Walther, who went around the outside of Paatz at turn 11 on lap 10, then gained a spot on lap 13 as Schranz overtook Cortes in the esses before Cortes had another lock-up and a huge shunt at turn 11.
One lap of racing remainedn after a safety car period. Schranz overtook Herrera for third around the outside of turn one, and Herrera spun after contact exiting turn two. Walther then pressured Schranz for third, as Karhan won again.
Herrera started on pole for race three, and Cortes braked late into turn one to nab the lead as Herrera then went off. Trappa claimed first place at turn five, and at turn 10 Cortes got loose so Herrera returned to second despite a big lock-up.
Lap two began with Trappa locking up at turn one, and Schranz managed to pull off an around the outside pass on Cortes at turn 10. Cortes cut the opening corners on lap three to reclaim third, and Karhan demoted Schranz at turn five. Up front, Herrera took the lead but Trappa regained it exiting turn 14.
It was briefly a 10-car train, before Trappa pulled away. Karhan and Cortes swappled places on laps five and six, and others got involved. Herrera exited the fight after picking up damage through a turn one off, but Karhan got alonside Cortes a few times before their fight was ended by red flags after Maffi’s Teodor Borenstein had a huge crash.
Results round-up
Race 1 (17 laps)
1 Max Karhan Jenzer Motorsport 25m29.769s
2 Gino Trappa Jenzer Motorsport +0.482s
3 Nicolas Cortes Jenzer Motorsport +1.643s
4 Javier Herrera Jenzer Motorsport +2.739s
5 Andreas Lo Bue Maffi Racing +2.941s
6 Simon Schranz Renauer Motorsport +3.774s
7 Hady Mimassi Renauer Motorsport +5.695s
8 Mathilda Paatz Mathilda Racing +6.172s
9 Teodor Borenstein Maffi Racing +6.953s
10 Michalina Sabaj AS Motorsport +7.090s
Pole: Trappa, 1m21.749s
Fastest lap: Karhan, 1m22.341s
Race 2 (17 laps)
1 Karhan 25m42.582s
2 Trappa +0.413s
3 Schranz +2.903s
4 David Walther Maffi Racing +3.074s
5 Paatz +3.270s
6 Frantisek Nemec F4 CEZ Academy +4.397s
7 Mimassi +4.936s
8 David Gorcica Janik Motorsport +5.348s
9 Lo Bue +5.611s
10 Benett Gaspar Zengo Motorsport +5.779s
FL: Walther, 1m22.087s
Race 3 (14 laps)
1 Trappa 19m28.098s
2 Cortes +0.655s
3 Karhan +1.230s
4 Walther +5.038s
5 Paatz +6.911s
6 Lo Bue +7.328s
7 Mimassi +7.642s
8 Schranz +10.198s
9 Gaspar +11.000s
10 Gorcica +14.484s
FL: Gorcica, 1m22.537s
Championship standings
1 Trappa 177 2 Karhan 132 3 Walther 99 4 Cortes 69 5 Bart Harrison 65 6 Paatz 58 7 Mimassi 51 8 Herrera 44 9 William Karlsson 42 10 Luca Viisoreanu 37