Home Formula 4Italian F4 Sztuka assumes Italian F4 points lead with sixth straight win

Sztuka assumes Italian F4 points lead with sixth straight win

by Ida Wood

Photo: ACI Sport

US Racing’s Kacper Sztuka has returned to the top of the Italian Formula 4 standings after he took his sixth straight win in race three at Mugello.

It was a lights-to-flag win for the Pole, who finished 2.885 seconds ahead of Prema’s Ugo Ugochukwu. James Wharton was not too far behind in third in another of Prema’s cars, while Sztuka’s team-mate Akshay Bohra resisted late pressure from Prema’s Tuukka Taponen for fourth.

The race featured an extra formation lap due to AKM Motorsport’s Frederik Lund stopping on track during the first one, and on lap two there was plenty of drama as Ivan Domingues went off while fighting Van Amersfoort Racing team-mate Matheus Ferreira, Prema’s Niko Lacorte lost his front wing and BVM Racing’s Alfio Spina got beached in the gravel.

The safety car came out and Lacorte was able to pit for a new wing, with team-mate Alex Powell following him in and retiring.

On the next lap PHM Racing’s Nandhavud Bhirombhakdi ploughed into the back of US Racing’s Kabir Anurag and destroyed the front-left of his car, leading to him retiring in the gravel. Anurag got back to the pits but also retired.

The safety car stayed out until the end of lap four, and Sztuka repeated his trick from the earlier races of delaying his acceleration until the final moment. The top four broke away, before Taponen closed back in, and VAR’s Brando Badoer finished sixth.

Prema’s Arvid Lindblad was seventh until the final lap, when he dropped to 10th and therefore lost his points lead to Sztuka. US Racing’s Zachary David had been fighting with Lindblad and he finished seventh, while Prema’s Rashid Al Dhaheri threw away his chance of scoring by going off through the gravel mid-race.

Race result (15 laps)
Pos Driver Team Time
1 Kacper Sztuka US Racing 30m36.019s
2 Ugo Ugochukwu Prema +2.885s
3 James Wharton Prema +4.096s
4 Akshay Bohra US Racing +6.656s
5 Tuukka Taponen Prema +7.040s
6 Brando Badoer Van Amersfoort Racing +12.304s
7 Zachary David US Racing +14.172s
8 Ivan Domingues Van Amersfoort Racing +16.252s
9 Matheus Ferreira Van Amersfoort Racing +16.627s
10 Arvid Lindblad Prema +18.369s
11 James Egozi PHM Racing +18.627s
12 Ariel Elkin Jenzer Motorsport +23.975s
13 Ruiqi Liu US Racing +26.415s
14 Jack Beeton Van Amersfoort Racing +26.817s
15 Gianmarco Pradel US Racing +27.389s
16 Matteo Quintarelli R-ace GP +28.136s
17 Niko Lacorte Prema +29.247s
18 Kim Hwarang Jenzer Motorsport +30.981s
19 Ethan Ischer Jenzer Motorsport +32.975s
20 Tina Hausmann AKM Motorsport +33.029s
21 Giacomo Pedrini PHM Racing +33.710s
22 Aurelia Nobels Prema +34.446s
23 Viktoria Blokhina PHM Racing +34.792s
24 Guido Luchetti Airflow Racing +45.670s
25 Diego de la Torre AKM Motorsport +50.696s
26 Rashid Al Dhaheri Prema +1m36.906s
27 Freddie Slater Van Amersfoort Racing +1 lap
28 Raphael Narac R-ace GP +1 lap
29 Davide Larini PHM Racing +1 lap
Ret Kabir Anurag US Racing
Ret Nandhavud Bhirombhakdi PHM Racing
Ret Alfio Spina BVM Racing
Ret Alex Powell Prema
Ret Frederik Lund AKM Motorsport
Fastest lap: Sztuka, 1m49.628s

Championship standings
1
Sztuka 258   2 Lindblad 256.5   3 Ugochukwu 240   4 Wharton 176.5   5 Taponen 143   6 Badoer 136   7 David 122   8 Bohra 113   9 Lacorte 71   10 Al Dhaheri 65