Photo: Formula Motorsport Ltd
Former W Series racer Nerea Marti starred in round three of NACAM Formula 4’s 2024-25 season in Mexico City.
Practice took place on Monday, with six drivers in FP1. Ram Racing’s Zaky Ibrahim set a 1m39.868s to go fastest by 0.375 seconds, and Alessandros Racing’s Helio Meza was second. Trailing by 1.323s in third was Marti, who came fourth in F1 Academy with Campos Racing this year.
All drivers participated in FP2, and laptimes improved. Marti posted a 1m37.389s to lead by a tiny 0.035s over points-leading Alessandros team-mate Jose Carlos Hernandez, Ibrahim was 0.352s behind in third and a second split the top six.
The qualifying pace was even faster, and Hernandez – running with Campos branding due to its alliance with Alessandros – was on top.
A 1m35.144s earned him race one pole by 0.624s over Meza, Marti trailed by 1.101s, team-mate Alex Bobadilla was fourth and Ibrahim was 0.053s further back in fifth. The pacesetter did five laps, with his rivals doing twice as many but not preventing him from also getting race three pole. He beat Meza by 0.22s, with Marti third and 0.725s behind.
A disruption-free race ended the day, and Hernandez won by a huge 7.792s thanks to Marti and Meza’s battle for second. It was decided by 0.101s in Marti’s favour, with the photo finish coming at the end of lap 14 when the race had been scheduled to run several laps longer.
Marti had nabbed the position on lap one, then held off all of Meza’s attacks. They did not have to worry about anyone else joining their battle, since Ibrahim could not match their pace in fourth.
A warm-up session preceded two races on Tuesday, and a sign of what was to come was the 0.092s gap at the top between Hernandez and Marti.
There was drama when race two began, with Meza unable to get going off the line. Hernandez led the opening lap, with Marti chasing and pushing thereon to keep within half a second of the leader.
Bobadilla found himself in third but soon lost that position to Meza, who had made it into a podium position by lap three. There was no chance of threatening the top two though, whose battle was decided on the final lap when Marti swept past Hernandez for the lead and ultimately victory.
Bobadilla sank to sixth, being passed by Alessandros’s Jose Martinez and Ibrahim who bad had trouble on lap one.
Ibrahim and Meza again struck early problems in race three, while Hernandez and Marti embarked on another lengthy duel up front.
Marti took the lead a few laps in, and kept ahead for three laps before Hernandez snatched it back. Marti led again mid-race, but only briefly. Once back in clean air, Hernandez looked to have the threat of Marti controlled, but on the final lap she pressured hard to finish just 0.208s behind.
Bobadilla was third throughout, Meza recovered to fourth and pitting for a car issue meant Ibrahim was last.
Results round-up
Race 1 (14 laps)
1 Jose Carlos Hernandez Alessandros Racing 22m48.717s
2 Nerea Marti Alessandros Racing +7.792s
3 Helio Meza Alessandros Racing +7.893s
4 Zaky Ibrahim Ram Racing +16.261s
5 Alex Bobadilla Alessandros Racing +17.991s
6 Jose Martinez Alessandros Racing +36.316s
7 Maximiliano Mora Ram Racing +41.246s
8 Alan Zezatti Ram Racing +1m07.935s
Pole: Hernandez, 1m35.144s
Fastest lap: Hernandez, 1m35.842s
Race 2 (18 laps)
1 Marti 28m50.828s
2 Hernandez +0.469s
3 Meza +3.132s
4 Martinez +12.200s
5 Ibrahim +13.554s
6 Bobadilla +14.665s
7 Mora +54.602s
8 Zezatti +1m25.838s
FL: Marti, 1m35.175s
Race 3 (19 laps)
1 Hernandez 31m01.575s
2 Marti +0.208s
3 Bobadilla +4.726s
4 Meza +7.895s
5 Martinez +19.026s
6 Mora +26.763s
7 Zezatti +1m24.805s
8 Ibrahim +1m25.075s
P: Hernandez, 1m35.664s
FL: Marti, 1m35.272s
Championship standings
1 Hernandez 179 2 Meza 143 3 Ibrahim 94 4 Bobadilla 81 5 Martinez 70 6 Marti 61 7 Mora 50 8 Zezatti 47 9 Chirigut 26 10 Franco 26