Slater wins Italian F4 race at Vallelunga shortened by last corner pile-up

Photo: ACI Sport

Prema’s Freddie Slater was victorious in Italian Formula 4’s opening race at Vallelunga, which was shortened by a last corner pile-up.

US Racing’s Jack Beeton started on pole, but lurched off the line and then had wheelspin, leaving the path free for Slater to take the lead. Van Amersfoort Racing’s Hiyu Yamakoshi passed Beeton’s team-mate Matheus Ferreira for third, and at turn seven Beeton tried getting back ahead by going around the outside of Slater but went off.

Lap one ended with the top three far ahead of the battle for fourth between Ferreira and Prema’s Rashid Al Dhaheri, then behind them Prema’s Alex Powell and Dion Gowda were fighting over sixth. That ended in chaos as both Gowda and Powell lost their front wings, meaning they had to pit, and then R-ace GP’s Enzo Yeh was spun into the barriers.

The safety car appeared on lap three, with US’s Akshay Bohra now in sixth ahead of Prema’s Kean Nakamura Berta, Jenzer Motorsport’s Reno Francot and Ethan Ischer, and US’s Gianmarco Pradel.

VAR’s Andrija Kostic stopped on lap five, leaving one less car on track for when racing resumed on lap seven. Al Dhaheri passed Ferreira mid-lap, and at the final corner there was a huge crash as Jenzer’s Shimo Zhang went over the back of the car of PHM Racing’s Andrej Petrovic and also made contact with two others. He slammed into the barriers, but was able to exit his car unaided, and the safety car was needed again. Nakamura fell to the back of the pack following the incident.

The next restart was on lap 11, and Ferreira was again slow to return to racing speed so this time came under pressure from VAR’s Gustav Jonsson. He kept him at bay until the end of the lap, when there was another big crash. Jenzer’s Enea Frey and Ischer collided, with US Racing’s Maxim Rehm and Kabir Anurag unable to avoid them without going off, and R-ace’s Luka Sammalisto also having his race ended by the incident.

With multiple cars to clear the safety car was called out again, and race control decided to put out race-ending red flags on lap 13, meaning the results were taken from lap 12 and those involved in the crash were counted as retirees.

Race results (12 laps)