Photo: Spanish F4
Thomas Strauven won the first two Spanish Formula 4 races of the weekend at Valencia’s Ricardo Tormo circuit, and wrapped up the title with five races to spare.
He started on pole for race one on Saturday, and already had a gap up front by the time he reached the opening corner. It was an easy day thereon, finishing 2.585 seconds clear of Campos Racing team-mate Jan Przyrowski to become champion.
Ean Eyckmans overtook MP Motorsport team-mates Rene Lammers and Reno Francot on lap one for third, then soaked up pressure from Lammers — who was Strauven’s closest rival — for the rest of the 20-lap race.
Campos’s Vivek Kanthan jumped two spots to sixth on the opening lap, while MP’s Niklas Schaufler dropped down the order and later had an incident with Rodin Motorsport’s Kyuho Lee that led to the latter losing their rear wing.
On lap nine, Monlau Motorsport’s Lorenzo Campos spun after lap nine contact with Global Racing Service’s Alexandar Bogunovic.
The only overtake in the top 18 after lap one was when Rodin’s Nathan Tye overtook Campos’s Miguel Costa for ninth on lap two, and post-race nine track limits penalties were issued.
Strauven claimed his ninth victory of the season in race two, which was the 200th race in Spanish F4 history.
He made a flying start from pole, as fellow front row man Pzyrowski bogged down and had to defend from Francot. He squeezed him onto the grass, as Eyckmans and Lammers went side-by-side to their right.
Lammers took second into turn one, ahead of Przyrowski, and Eyckmans had fourth place secured by turn three.
Tye and TC Racing’s Alfio Spina crashed out at turn five while battling for 12th, and at turn six Tecnicar Motorsport’s Wiktor Dobrzanski mounted the top of Rodin driver Emma Felbermayr’s car.
The safety car was summoned, and Drivex School’s Christopher Feghali became the fifth retiree when he pitted at the end of the lap.
Racing resumed on lap five, and Strauven could not shake off Lammers. He usually had a gap of around 0.6s, but it was down to 0.43s entering the 15th and final lap as he locked up into the downhill last corner.
Lammers was never close enough to force Strauven into defence though, and they finished 0.683s apart. Przyrowski was a further 1.845s back.
Lee broke his front wing on lap six and did not see the chequered flag, with Bogunovic stopping terminally at the side of the track and Drivex’s Ricardo Baptista crashing out on lap 13.
Written by Ida Wood and Jacob Awcock
Results round-up
Race 1 (20 laps)
1 Thomas Strauven Campos Racing 31m37.996s
2 Jan Przyrowski Campos Racing +2.585s
3 Ean Eyckmans MP Motorsport +5.039s
4 Rene Lammers MP Motorsport +5.612s
5 Reno Francot MP Motorsport +10.358s
6 Vivek Kanthan Campos Racing +11.950s
7 Santino Panetta TC Racing +17.804s
8 Noah Monteiro Campos Racing +18.738s
9 Nathan Tye Rodin Motorsport +23.870s
10 Miguel Costa Campos Racing +24.702s
Fastest lap: Strauven, 1m34.162s
Race 2 (15 laps)
1 Strauven 27m00.528s
2 Lammers +0.683s
3 Przyrowski +2.528s
4 Eyckmans +3.667s
5 Francot +4.856s
6 Costa +5.182s
7 Niklas Schaufler MP Motorsport +7.269s
8 Kanthan +8.186s
9 Monteiro +8.851s
10 Panetta +10.255s
FL: Strauven, 1m34.393s
Championship standings
1 Strauven 327 2 Lammers 195 3 Eyckmans 187 4 Przyrowski 176 5 Cota 111 6 Francot 100 7 Tye 98 8 Monteiro 86 9 Kanthan 63 10 Schaufler 61