Home Formula 4F4 Middle East Olivieri pips Nakamura in last-lap fight for F4 Middle East race three win

Olivieri pips Nakamura in last-lap fight for F4 Middle East race three win

by Ida Wood

Photo: F4 ME

A last-lap restart set up a photo finish to Formula 4 Middle East’s third race at Yas Marina Circuit, which was won by R-ace GP’s Emanuele Olivieri.

One victory contender was removed immediately as the start, as poleman Alex Powell failed to get going and his team-mate Olivieri swept into the lead ahead of Mumbai Falcons’ Tomass Stolcermanis, Kean Nakamura Berta and Salim Hanna Hernandez.

Ackel GP by PHM Racing’s Reno Francot rose from eighth to fifth, ahead of Prema’s Sebastian Wheldon and Newman Chi, Yas Heat Academy’s Adam Al Azhari and Evans GP’s Martin Molnar before the safety car was called out.

Racing resumed on lap four, and Powell was down in 25th. Stolcermanis almost crashed into the rear of Olivieri at the opening corner, Molnar locked up and Taha Hassiba – in a Qatar Motor and Motorcycle Federation-branded car – went off.

Olivieri weaved down the back straight, but he did not need to since he ended the lap 1.4 seconds clear of the Mumbai Falcons pair. Stolcermanis appeared to let Nakamura past as they began lap five, and Oliveri’s lead grew to 2.5s over the next two laps.

However the safety car was then summoned on lap eight due to drama at the final chicane on the preceding lap. Powell had completed a triple move (going past two cars down the pit straight then lunging past another under braking) to get into 14th, then seconds later QMMF’s Hassiba crashed into the back of Xcel Motorsport’s Abdullah Kamel.

Racing was set to resume on lap 11, but Hanna broke down and so the safety car had to stay out an extra lap. There was only time for one lap of racing when it did free the field, and Olivieri left it super late to return to racing speed.

The leader then weaved a bit before committing to the inside line, with Nakamura tucking into his tow before drawing alongside through turns one and two. Olivieri kept him at bay, but Nakamura crashed into the back of him before the hotel section. He made a diving move at the hairpin too, then Olivieri’s weaving down the back straight brought Stolcermanis back into play.

Nakamura slipstreamed past, but Olivieri had the inside line for the final chicane. He braked later, locked up but stayed ahead by just 0.071s, with Stolcermanis a further 0.067s behind.

Francot had a similarly aggressive and close fight with Wheldon, which he won by 0.051s, and Al Azhari passed Chi for sixth. Powell recovered to 12th.

Race results (12 laps)
Pos Driver Team Time
1 Emanuele Olivieri R-ace GP 29m59.999s
2 Kean Nakamura Berta Mumbai Falcons +0.071s
3 Tomass Stolcermanis Mumbai Falcons +0.138s
4 Reno Francot Akcel GP +1.010s
5 Sebastian Wheldon Prema +1.061s
6 Adam Al Azhari Yas Heat Academy +1.806s
7 Newman Chi Prema +2.262s
8 Martin Molnar Evans GP +2.368s
9 Kyuho Lee Pinnacle Motorsport +2.579s
10 Alexander Savinkov R-ace GP +2.869s
11 Sasha Bondarev Prema +3.721s
12 Alex Powell R-ace GP +3.731s
13 David Cosma Cristofor Akcel GP +4.715s
14 Tiago Rodrigues Evans GP +5.034s
15 Yuhao Fu Xcel Motorsport +5.114s
16 Seth Gilmore Evans GP +7.073s
17 Yuta Suzuki Pinnacle Motorsport +7.385s
18 Cole Hewetson Xcel Motorsport +7.865s
19 Bader Al Sulaiti QMMF +8.112s
20 Yuzhe Wang Pinnacle Motorsport +8.884s
21 Emily Cotty R-ace GP +9.154s
22 Tameem Hassiba QMMF +10.150s
23 Farah Al Yousef Evans GP +21.177s
24 Salim Hanna Hernandez Mumbai Falcons +3 laps
Ret Abdullah Kamel Xcel Motorsport
Ret Taha Hassiba QMMF
Ret Arjun Chheda Mumbai Falcons
Ret August Raber Yas Heat Academy
DNS Hamda Al Qubaisi Akcel GP
Fastest lap: Olivieri, 1m56.142s

Championship standings
1 Oliveri 80   2 Nakamura 66   3 Stolcermanis 54   4 Wheldon 38   5 Francot 35   6 Al Azhari 26   7 Chi 20   8 Powell 18   9 Savinkov 17   10 Hanna 15