Rodin’s Thomas Strauven wins Spanish F4 race two at Jarama

Photo: Spanish F4

Rodin Motorsport’s Thomas Strauven converted pole into victory in the second Spanish Formula 4 race at Jarama.

There was drama at the start as fellow front row starter Luca Fluxa but spun around by Maciej Gladysz at turn one, with Mattia Colnaghi driving over the top of Fluxa’s car while Ernesto Rivera got stuck behind the immobile vehicles.

Lots of drivers went off in avoidance of the crash site, and Yevan David got spun around which dropped him to the back. Red flags waved shortly after, and the race restarted 20 minutes later with the original grid order but with the field now on lap two rather than lap one.

There were two laps behind the safety car before the field was released to race, with Strauven leading Gladysz, Keanu Al Azhari, James Egozi, Peter Bouzinelos and Andres Cardenas.

Egozi took third from Al Azhari at turn one, and on the next lap Nathan Tye passed Enzo Tarnvanichkul for seventh place at the same corner. The order settled down up front despite the gaps being close, and on lap six Jan Przyrowski passed Griffin Peebles for 11th. Peebles regained the place only to then spin around and fall to the back of the order, with Daniel Nogales profiting to also get past Przyrowski.

Tarnvanichkul lost a spot to Rene Lammers on lap seven, as Gladyz started to close in on the leader. He was 0.4 seconds behind him for several laps before the safety car appeared on lap 14 as Maxi Restrepo retired from 13th.

Racing resumed on the 16th and final lap, and Strauven nailed the restart to secure himself victory while Al Azhari reclaimed third from Egozi. He had been pressuring his Red Bull Junior Team stablemate heavily before the safety car period.

Tarnvanichkul got back past Lammers for eighth, and Matteo Quintarelli completed the top 10.

Race results (16 laps)