Olivieri wins again in F4 Middle East, but is under investigation

Photo: F4 Middle East

Formula 4 Middle East points leader Emanuele Olivieri won yet again in race one at Yas Marina Circuit, but he is under investigation.

The R-ace GP driver started on pole, and although he got jumped off the line by Mumbai Falcons’ Tomass Stolcermanis his launch was noted by race control as possibly having taken place before the starting lights went out.

Stolceramnis’s team-mate Kean Nakamura Berta passed Olivieri’s team-mate Alex Powell for third before turn one, and Prema’s Sacha Bondarev overtook Yas Heat Academy’s Adam Al Azhari for fifth.

Down the back straight, Stolcermanis weaved aggressively and it enabled Olivieri to nip back past. Stolcermanis braked late into the final chicane to try to get back past but he went too deep and Nakamura got past him too.

Olivieri gradually pulled away from Nakamura following that, winning the 16-lap encounter by 2.836 seconds.

Powell passed Stolcermanis in the hotel section on lap two, and the top four spread our after that.

Bondarev meanwhile dropped behind Al Azhari and Mumbai Falcons’ Salim Hanna Hernandez before the end of lap one, and the two ahead on lap two swapped places on lap two due to Al Azhari locking up at the hairpin. But Al Azhari got back ahead and then spent several laps holding off Hanna.

Eventually his defences broke, and in the race’s second half Hanna got ahead and pulled away. By lap 11 there was a battle again with Bondarev, who dived past Al Azhari at the hairpin. Al Azhari tried to get back past at turn one next time by, then he dived down Bondarev’s inside at the final chicane but locked up and fell behind Prema’s Newman Chi.

They ran in formation to the finish, with Akcel GP by PHM Racing’s Reno Francot not far behind them in ninth. He had attacked Chi through the race’s first half.

Race results (16 laps)