Strauven turns pole into victory and Spanish F4 points lead at Algarve

Photo: Spanish F4

Campos Racing’s Thomas Strauven converted pole into victory and the Spanish Formula 4 points lead in race one at Algarve.

At the start he held the lead into turn one, as MP Motorsport’s Ean Eyckmans overtook Campos’s Jan Przyrowski for second.

There was drama at turn 13 when MP’s Niklas Schaufler carried a lot of speed into the corner and flew past Eyckmans and Przyrowski. To avoid driving into Eyckmans’ rear, Przyrowski then locked up. Schaufler exited the corner back behind the pair, but then overtook Przyrowski into the final corner.

Watching closely was MP’s Juan Cota, and he went to the inside of those two as they began lap two. He took fourth from Schaufler before turn one, as MP’s pre-race points leader Rene Lammers moved up into sixth. At the end of the lap he climbed another spot by passing Schaufler.

Strauven was unchallenged up front, as a battle for seventh emerged as lap three began. Tecnicar Motorsport’s Andrej Petrovic was defending from MP’s Reno Francot but went off at turn one and dropped behind him and Drivex School’s Christopher Feghali. Trying to profit too was Campos’s Vivek Kanthan, but Petrovic ran him off at the turn five hairpin.

The next moment of drama came on lap five, as Przyrowski went down the inside of Eyckmans at turn five. Rodin Motorsport’s Nathan Tye passed Kanthan into turn one a lap later, then the safety car appeared as Monlau Motorsport’s Andre Rodriguez got beached in the turn two gravel.

Racing resumed on lap eight and Przyrowski defended the inside line on the restart. At turn five he locked up and did not even attempt to make the corner, instead retiring his car in the run-off. That promoted Cota to third, and he was busy defending from Lammers and Francot.

Lammers went around the outside of Cota at turn one on lap nine, but made his move on the kerbs and when he rejoined the track he spun around the front of Cota’s car. Both got fired off into the gravel at turn two, and the safety car returned.

Francot was now third, ahead of Schaufler and Feghali. Kanthan passed Tye for sixth before racing was neutralised, which eliminated the top two’s gap.

The next restart was on lap 13 and as Francot weaved in defence it allowed Strauven and Eyckmans to break away once more. Schaufler went down the inside of Francot at turn one, as Petrovic cleared Kanthan then also overtook Tye and Feghali.

Tye reclaimed fifth from Petrovic at turn five and Kanthan passed Feghali, as Eyckmans looked to the outside of Strauven. The leader could not be shaken, and in the remaining laps he pulled away.

A five-second penalty for track limits abuse dropped Schaufler from third to ninth, meaning Francot completed the podium.

Tye held off Petrovic for what became fourth, and after a three-wide moment Feghali and Kanthan passed Campos’s Noah Monteiro. Their fights were decided in photo finishes.

Race results (16 laps)