Sebastian Wheldon tops huge pre-season Italian F4 test at Imola

Photo: Gavin Baker Photography

Prema’s Sebastian Wheldon was fastest in Italian Formula 4’s three-day pre-season test at Imola.

The entry list was split into several groups, with the first two of those in action on Tuesday.

Wheldon kicked things off in Group A by setting a 1m47.225s to top session one, leading team-mate Sasha Bondarev by 0.314 seconds. Real Racing Team’s Luca Viisoreanu and Prema’s Tomass Stolcermanis also lapped sub-1m48s.

In Group B, Bart Harrison posted a 1m47.473s to go top by 0.629s in a Jenzer Motorsport lockout of the top four spots. Enea Frey, Artem Severiukhin and Javier Sagrera in fourth were split by 0.057s.

Wheldon lowered the pace to 1m46.296s when Group A returned to track, with Stolcermanis 0.166s behind in second. Bondarev was narrowly slower than him, and three other drivers lapped in the 1m46s.

Harrison similarly was the benchmark again in his group, a 1m46.486s putting him 0.27s clear of Frey.

A new time to beat was set in session three, as Bondarev recorded a 1m46.141s. He was fastest by 0.432s in his group, but Frey slashed his advantage in the combined timesheet to 0.049s when Group B headed back out. Harrison was now third overall, having set a 1m46.34s.

The day ended with a slower pace in Group A, as a 1m49.884s was enough to put US Racing’s Jan Koller on top, while in Group B a 1m46.644s from Harrison edged him ahead of Frey by 0.118s

Group B ran first for their next two sessions on Wednesday, and Frey set a 1m47.357s to lead session five by a tiny 0.01s over Severiukhin.

US’s Luka Sammalisto was ahead in Group A with a 1m46.618s, as only Wheldon also broke the 1m47s barrier during that period of track action.

The morning ended with Frey and Severiukhin close once more, the latter only 0.022s off the former’s session-topping 1m46.665s, and Wheldon returning to the very top with a rapid 1m45.636s lap. Team-mates Stolcernamis, Newman Chi and Bondarev also got into the 1m45s.

Group C was out next, and US’s Maxim Rehm laid down a 1m46.361s to lead Prema’s Kean Namaura Berta by 0.018s in their first session. The only driver in Group D to get near their pace was R-ace GP’s Emanuele Olivieri, who set a 1m46.463s.

The day ended with more competitive laptimes, as Nakamura and Rehm set a 1m46.012s and 1m46.097s respectively, and Van Amersfoort Racing’s Maximilian Popov earned first place in Group D with a 1m46.438s. Olivieri was 0.056s slower than him.

Group D went out first each time on Thursday, and a 1m46.787s made Olivieri fastest in the first session. Nakamura got close to Wheldon’s benchmark, setting a 1m45.681s in Group C.

Olivieri improved to 1m46.146s next time, leading team-mate Alex Powell by 0.044s, as Nakamura got achingly close to Wheldon again with a 1m45.643s. Rehm was second fastest, setting a 1m45.973s.

Popov made a huge gain to 1m45.992s in the afternoon, beating team-mate Alexander Ruta by 0.285s, then US’s Kabir Anurag did the same with a 1m45.872s putting him ahead of the improving Rehm and Nakamura.

Olivieri broke the 1m46s barrier in Group D’s final session by 0.014s, with Powell trailing by 0.2s, then Anurag was quickest again with a 1m45.779s but was unable to beat Wheldon. Rehm set another personal best in second, a 1m45.831s.

Test results