Photo: ACI Sport
Freddie Slater put in a composed drive to win Euro 4 race one at the Red Bull Ring, as Akshay Bohra charged up the order to keep the points lead.
The race started dry, with front row duo Slater and Maxim Rehm pulling away from the pack. But by the time they had reached turn three at the top of the hill it was raining, and Tomass Stolceramis went to the inside of Rehm at turn four to make a Prema one-two.
Kean Nakamura Berta was next to attack Rehm, sticking his nose in though the last two corners of lap two then getting his move done on the US Racing driver at turn one on lap three. Van Amersfoort Racing’s Hiyu Yamakoshi was soon alongside Rehm too, going around the outside of him at turn three and getting ahead before turn four.
Prema now had a podium lockout, and Rehm lost another spot to one of their drivers on lap 10. Rashid Al Dhaheri attacked him at turn three, then swept around the outside of him at turn seven in an incredible move on an increasingly slippy track.
On lap 12 the race was neutralised after Prema’s Dion Gowda and US’s Jack Beeton collided at turn three. Racing resumed on lap 15, and Al Dhaheri moved up to fourth when Yamakoshi went off at turn three. He fell to seventh behind PHM Racing’s Davide Larini and US’s Gianmarco Pradel, then got hit out of the race at turn four a lap later and the safety car returned.
Al Dhaheri had sunk to 11th on the previous restart, with Rehm returning to fourth. On the final lap restart he attacked Nakamura at turn two, ran wide at turn three and lost out to team-mate Bohra.
Nakamura tried passing Stolcermanis at turn four, which enabled Slater to pull away for victory and jump to second in the standings. Bohra had started 13th, and was still there a third of the way through the race.
Various incidents meant he got into the points on lap eight, then he picked off rivals for an unexpected result.
Al Dhaheri eventually finished ninth, ahead of Real Racing Team’s Luca Viisoreanu, and British Formula 4 dominator Deagen Fairclough was 12th on debut. His Hitech GP team-mate Thomas Bearman finished his first ever car race in 20th.
Race result (18 laps)
| Pos | Driver | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Freddie Slater | Prema | 32m01.897s |
| 2 | Tomass Stolcermanis | Prema | +1.591s |
| 3 | Kean Nakamura Berta | Prema | +1.878s |
| 4 | Akshay Bohra | US Racing | +2.939s |
| 5 | Maxim Rehm | US Racing | +3.112s |
| 6 | Davide Larini | PHM Racing | +3.192s |
| 7 | Gustav Jonsson | Van Amersfoort Racing | +3.843s |
| 8 | Alex Powell | Prema | +4.094s |
| 9 | Rashid Al Dhaheri | Prema | +4.156s |
| 10 | Luca Viisoreanu | Real Racing Team | +4.235s |
| 11 | Gianmarco Pradel | US Racing | +4.653s |
| 12 | Deagen Fairclough | Hitech GP | +4.771s |
| 13 | Enea Frey | Jenzer Motorsport | +4.955s |
| 14 | Maximilian Popov | PHM Racing | +5.230s |
| 15 | Everett Stack | PHM Racing | +5.477s |
| 16 | Reza Seewooruthun | Hitech GP | +6.507s |
| 17 | Kai Daryanani | Cram Motorsport | +6.736s |
| 18 | Lin Hodenius | Van Amersfoort Racing | +6.885s |
| 19 | Andrija Kostic | Van Amersfoort Racing | +7.367s |
| 20 | Thomas Bearman | Hitech GP | +8.394s |
| 21 | Edu Robinson | US Racing | +9.313s |
| 22 | Kabir Anurag | US Racing | +10.762s |
| 23 | Alvise Rodella | Van Amersfoort Racing | +11.830s |
| 24 | Enzo Yeh | R-ace GP | +36.572s |
| 25 | Hiyu Yamakoshi | Van Amersfoort Racing | +3 laps |
| Ret | Jack Beeton | US Racing | |
| Ret | Dion Gowda | Prema | |
| Ret | Ethan Ischer | Jenzer Motorsport | |
| Ret | Luka Sammalisto | R-ace GP | |
| Fastest lap: Nakamura, 1m35.119s
Championship standings |
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