Pedro Clerot doubles up in Spanish F4 at Spa

Photo: Fotocar13

MP Motorsport’s Pedro Clerot doubled up in Spanish F4 race two at Spa-Francorchamps after coming out on top of a last lap battle with team-mate Valerio Rinicella.

Sainteloc Racing’s Theophile Nael claimed the last podium place from ninth on the grid, having made the most of two safety car restarts.

A good getaway gave Clerot the lead of the race as the lights went out, passing poleman Keanu Al Azhari.

Campos Racing’s Noah Stromsted, who had passed Rinicella at the start, overtook Al Azhari on lap two to gain second place.

The safety car was deployed towards the end of the lap to clear the car of MP’s Alvise Rodella, who had come to a halt at the exit of La Source after contact with Campos’s Christian Ho.

The track went green again with nine minutes remaining on the clock. Stromsted placed himself alongside Clerot at the Kemmel Straight and went for the move at Les Combes. Clerot touched Stromsted’s rear-right tyre, which resulted in both drivers cutting the corner and the latter becoming the new race leader.

Behind them, an aggressive overtaking attempt from Campos’s Enzo Deligny on Rodin Carlin’s Alex Ninovic at that same corner led to contact between them. The safety car was out for a second time as Ninovic spun and got stuck in a gravel trap.

Al Azhari was also forced to retire at turn nine while he was running in third place.

The race restarted with just over two minutes on the clock for two laps of racing. Stromsted dropped from first to fifth place after Les Combes, with Clerot reclaiming the lead of the race. The Dane would yet lose two more places in the following corners, but eventually repassed team-mate Matteo de Palo to come home in sixth.

On the last lap, Rinicella drove past Clerot at Kemmel, but the Brazilian reclaimed first place around the outside of the first apex at Les Combes thanks to a strong braking into the corner.

The race was run to 18 minutes plus one lap, despite the championship having announced an extended length for all three races of the weekend before the start of the season.

Race result (7 laps)