Photo: Chinese F4
There were four different winners in Chinese Formula 4’s Ningbo round.
Oscar Pedersen topped the first qualifying session on Saturday, setting a 1m47.829s to claim race one pole by 0.343 seconds over Fukang Jiang. Kaishun Liu was 0.433s behind in third, and Alex Sawer was 0.639s back in fourth.
Jiang was fastest in Q2, lowering the pace to 1m46.975s to beat Pedersen to race three pole by 0.206s. Liu and Sawer were third and fourth.
Pedersen was one of many on the right hand side of the the grid to suffer with wheelspin starting race one, and Jiang claimed the lead by taking the inside line through turns one and two.
At turn six, Pedersen went around the outside of Jiang an Sawer took third at turn seven. Pedersen already had a small gap by the end of the lap, which he grew until lap six when the safety car appeared due to Robert Lin crashing out. Ke Shi retired in the pits, while Chenjie Wu also headed to the pitlane then rejoined a lap down.
When racing resumed on lap nine Pedersen sprinted away. Jiang came under attack but managed to keep second place, and on lap 10 the safety car returned due to Ye Lu stopping at the side of the track. Liu took third from Sawer before racing was neutralised.
There was a penultimate lap restart, and Pedersen was again untouchable to win by 2.493s. Liu took second after some wheel-to-wheel action on the final lap in which he almost went off.
Pedersen and Liu were the drivers to beat again in race two. Liu won the 17-lap race by 8.378s over Pedersen, with Jiang a further 1.918s back. There was then a 11.174s gap to Yuzhe Wang in fourth.
Reversed-grid poleman Yi Wang initially held the lead, as a collision at turn one led to the safety car coming out. After the restart it was Peng Yang who led, and Jiang was on the attack but ende up actually dropping back as Liu and Pedersen came through.
Yuzhe Wang and Liu passed Yang on lap six, and Liu soon cleared Wang too then pulled away to win as Pedersen and then Jiang eventually passed Wang.
Jiang just about converted pole into victory in a sunny race three, winning by 0.77s.
The safety car led the field for most of the first three laps due to Lin crashing out, and Pedersen (who was briefly behind Liu) pressured Jiang on the restart. On lap five Zhanbin Jia stopped by the track and the safety car returned.
Pedersen kept with Jiang on the next restart, attempting a move on lap 10, but was sliding around too much to pose a serious threat. Liu could not match them in third, and Sawer won a lengthy battle with Yuhao Fu for fourth with a last lap move.
Race four was another reversed-grid encounter, which Sawer won. Pedersen climbed to second to extend his points lead, and Jun Fei was a distant third and just ahead of Yuzhe Wang. Liu retired on lap five.
Results round-up
Race 1 (15 laps)
1 Oscar Pedersen Venom Motorsport
2 Kaishun Liu Black Blade Racing +2.493s
3 Fukang Jiang Blackjack Racing +3.430s
4 Alex Sawer Blackjack Racing +4.578s
5 Yuhao Fu Black Blade Racing +5.475s
6 Yuzhe Wang Venom Motorsport +5.876s
7 Zhanbin Jia Team KRC +7.945s
8 Jun Fei Geeke ACM Racing +9.782s
9 Peng Yang Venom Pole Motorspot +10.266s
10 Yi Wang Champ Motorsport +12.347s
Pole: Pedersen, 1m47.829s
Fastest lap: Pedersen, 1m47.139s
Race 2 (17 laps)
1 Liu 33m02.171s
2 Pedersen +8.378s
3 Jiang +10.296s
4 Yuzhe Wang +21.470s
5 Fei +26.415s
6 Yi Wang +33.549s
7 Ke Shi Pointer Racing +42.056s
8 Jia +42.601s
9 Waifu Wong Henmax Motorsport +1m13.739s
10 Ye Lu Asia Racing Team +1m21.645s
FL: Liu, 1m47.227s
Race 3 (16 laps)
1 Jiang 32m55.924s
2 Pedersen +0.770s
3 Liu +1.764s
4 Sawer +7.170s
5 Fu +8.169s
6 Yuzhe Wang +12.113s
7 Fei +22.486s
8 Shi +23.074s
9 Yi Wang +24.664s
10 Jia Li Wolf.51GT3.COM +46.044s
P: Jiang, 1m46.975s
FL: Liu, 1m48.158s
Race 4 (16 laps)
1 Sawer 32m41.976s
2 Pedersen +1.898s
3 Fei +13.361s
4 Yuzhe Wang +13.789s
5 Jia +17.582s
6 Shi +18.292s
7 Lu +32.180s
8 Li +33.517s
9 Robert Lin Asia Racing Team +34.088s
10 Chenjie Wu Pointer Racing +47.585s
FL: Sawer, 1m47.668s
Championship standings
1 Pedersen 189 2 Kaishun Liu 158 3 Jiang 156 4 Sawer 84 5 Yuzhe Wang 76 6 Xizheng Huang 69 7 Jia 60 8 Fei 43 9 Shi 30 10 Yi Wang 31