Photo: F4 CEZ
Jenzer Motorsport’s Oscar Wurz grew his Formula 4 Central European Zone points lead with his first two wins in round three at the Slovakiaring.
Wurz topped all three practice sessions, and in qualifying set a 2m03.213s to take pole by 0.179 seconds over Maffi Racing’s Kirill Kutskov. JMT Racing’s Miroslav Mikes was 0.498s back in third, Jenzer’s Max Karhan and Teodor Borenstein were fourth and fifth, and Gender Racing Team’s Jonathan Correrella was 0.874s back in sixth.
Wurz controlled the pace to win race one by 1.678s over Kutskov, although Borenstein was initially in second after a rapid start.
Kutskov regained the place on the inside of turn one on lap two, Borenstein got back past at turn two, and Kutskov got ahead again at the hairpin. Borenstein then dropped to last, and the safety car appeared on lap five after Maffi’s Kornelia Olkucka crashed out.
Racing resumed on lap seven and Wurz sprinted away, as Kutskov escaped the fight for third. Correrella passed Mikes at the hairpin, Karhan followed him through, and contact with Correrella sent Mikes spinning to the back.
Karhan took third at turn 13 on lap 10, and Correrella spent most of lap 11 trying to reclaim the position and successfully did so. He then weaved on every straight through the final lap to keep Karhan at bay, beating him by 0.125s.
Maffi’s Gabriel Holguin and Borenstein had a race-ending collision on the last lap.
Race one’s results set race two’s grid. Wurz stalled so Kutskov led into turn one, and Correrella tried passing him at turn three. The safety car then appeared due to two cars going off, and on the lap four restart Wurz got up to fifth as Karhan passed Mikes for third.
Mikes took the position back on lap five, then got into second as Wurz made a double move. Kutskov’s defences against Mikes on lap seven helped Wurz then claim second, and after three corners of side-by-side action he took the lead at turn four on lap eight.
Two laps later Mikes slipstreamed past Kutskov, and Karhan beat Correrella to fourth after their own dicey duel.
The top five from race one were reversed for race three’s grid, putting AS Motorsport’s Michalina Sabaj on pole. Except she started from the pits, meaning Karhan led the field.
Wurz and Kutskov got into second and third on lap one before the safety car came out after Holguin and Borenstein had a big crash, and Correrella – who had challenged for the lead – spun down from the order from fourth after that.
Red flags waved late in lap three, and the race restarted with a lap behind the safety car. Wurz immediately passed Karhan once the track went green on lap five of 11, but could not escape him and they ran side-by-side for much of lap seven.
Karhan went for the outside of turn one on laps eight, nine and 10, with his third attempt clinching him the win. Correrella fought his way past Kutskov on lap six then hunted down the top two.
Results round-up
Race 1 (12 laps)
1 Oscar Wurz Jenzer Motorsport 26m13.129s
2 Kirill Kutskov Maffi Racing +1.678s
3 Jonathan Correrella Gender Racing Team +8.344s
4 Max Karhan Jenzer Motorsport +8.469s
5 Michalina Sabaj AS Motorsport +13.018s
6 Franciszek Halatnik Janik Motorsport +22.665s
7 Miroslav Mikes JMT Racing +24.432s
8 Michelle Jandova Sape Motorsport +27.328s
9 Gabriel Holguin Maffi Racing +1 lap
10 Teodor Borenstein Jenzer Motorsport +1 lap
Pole: Wurz, 2m03.213s
Fastest lap: Wurz, 2m03.642s
Race 2 (12 laps)
1 Wurz 27m00.350s
2 Mikes +3.331s
3 Kutskov +4.930s
4 Karhan +10.075s
5 Correrella +12.779s
6 Borenstein +17.622s
7 Kornelia Olkucka Maffi Racing +42.943s
8 Halatnik +57.136s
Ret Holguin
Ret Sabaj
FL: Wurz, 2m03.758s
Race 3 (11 laps)
1 Karhan 38m39.442s
2 Wurz +0.853s
3 Correrella +1.143s
4 Kutskov +4.299s
5 Sabak +9.965s
6 Mikes +19.847s
7 Halatnik +29.951s
8 Olkucka +43.176s
9 Jandova +2 laps
Ret Holguin
FL: Correrella, 2m04.468s
Championship standings
1 Wurz 170 2 Kutskov 103 3 Karhan 74 4 Mikes 68 5 Correrella 66 6 Davide Larini 48 7 Maximilian Popov 46 8 Kamal Mrad 46 9 Andrej Petrovic 43 10 Shimo Zhang 41