Photo: Formula Winter Series
US Racing’s Kacper Sztuka was fastest again on day two of a winter Formula 4 test at Spa-Francorchamps that attracted 67 cars.
Sztuka was fastest by 0.271 seconds on day one, and although slower on day two had an advantage of 0.636s over the day’s next fastest driver.
Tuesday’s action started in very wet conditions, and Prema’s James Wharton set a 2m42.951s as the day’s first benchmark.
The next session was for teams from Spanish F4, and Theophile Nael was fastest before red flags came out. After the session restart, Campos Racing’s Noah Stromsted was the only driver to improve and went fastest by 5.677s with a 2m46.262s lap. Only 19 of the session’s 34 drivers posted laptimes.
Ivan Domingues caused an early red flag stoppage in the next session for Italian F4 teams, as Wharton lowered the pace to 1m41.054s. Giacomo Pedrini and Kim Hwarang caused further stoppages and nobody was able to beat Wharton’s benchmark. Domingues and Arvid Lindblad failed to set any timed laps.
Nael started the next Spanish F4 session by bringing out red flags. Christian Ho was on top when Alexander Bolduev caused the next stoppage, during which time the track started drying. Stromsted brought the pace down into the 1m38s, and Ho finished on top with a 1m38.070s lap to lead Stromsted by 0.120s.
The track was even driver in the afternoon, and Wharton lapped in the 2m30s and then the 2m28s. Valentin Kluss set a 2m27.441s to go fastest, then Alfio Spina posted a 2m26.199s.
Zachary David was first into the 2m25s, then team-mate Sztuka went eight tenths of a second faster before then lapping in the 2m24s. David improved to the the only other driver to lap sub-2m25s, 0.443s behind.
It took a while for Spanish F4 teams to match that pace, with Nael leading their next session until Ricardo Gracia set a 2m25.031s. Enzo Deligny went to the top with a 2m24.781s before Flavio Olvieri caused a red flag period, and after that Nael responded with a 2m24.738s lap.
Following the final stoppage caused by Alessandro Silvaggi, Nael improved to 2m24.183s. Rinicella and Daniel Macia set no timed laps in the session.
It didn’t take long in the final Italian F4 session for Sztuka to break into the 2m23s, with Prema’s drivers doing the same, and he then set a 2m22.910s before Aurelia Nobels brought out red flags.
After that he set a 2m22.241s, with Brando Badoer, Lindblad and Tuukka Taponen joining him in setting sub-2m23s laps. Kabir Anurag and Pedrini became the only drivers not to set their fastest lap of the day in their final session as they failed to record any timed laps.
The day ended with Spanish F4 teams on track again, and Nael quickly set a new 2m23.978s personal best. Pedro Clerot bettered it with a 2m23.747s, and later Deligny and Rinicella traded top spot. The latter finished on top, a 2m22.940s putting him 0.03s ahead of Deligny and 0.063s clear of Nael.
Day two results
| Pos | Driver | Team | Italian | Spanish | Gap | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kacper Sztuka | US Racing | 2m22.241s | 52 | ||
| 2 | Brando Badoer | Van Amersfoort Racing | 2m22.877s | +0.636s | 53 | |
| 3 | Arvid Lindblad | Prema | 2m22.885s | +0.644s | 49 | |
| 4 | Tuukka Taponen | Prema | 2m22.895s | +0.654s | 45 | |
| 5 | Valerio Rinicella | MP Motorsport | 2m22.940s | +0.699s | 42 | |
| 6 | Enzo Deligny | Campos Racing | 2m22.970s | +0.729s | 48 | |
| 7 | Theophile Nael | Sainteloc Racing | 2m23.003s | +0.762s | 40 | |
| 8 | Zachary David | US Racing | 2m23.022s | +0.781s | 48 | |
| 9 | Ugo Ugochukwu | Prema | 2m23.024s | +0.783s | 52 | |
| 10 | Christian Ho | Campos Racing | 2m23.099s | +0.858s | 51 | |
| 11 | Noah Stromsted | Campos Racing | 2m23.111s | +0.870s | 49 | |
| 12 | Valentin Kluss | PHM Racing | 2m23.172s | +0.931s | 54 | |
| 13 | Niko Lacorte | Prema | 2m23.177s | +0.936s | 50 | |
| 14 | Ethan Ischer | Jenzer Motorsport | 2m23.349s | +1.108s | 54 | |
| 15 | Alfio Spina | BVM Racing | 2m23.421s | +1.180s | 51 | |
| 16 | Matteo de Palo | Campos Racing | 2m23.443s | +1.202s | 51 | |
| 17 | James Wharton | Prema | 2m23.457s | +1.216s | 53 | |
| 18 | Andres Cardenas | Campos Racing | 2m23.507s | +1.266s | 54 | |
| 19 | Akshay Bohra | US Racing | 2m23.544s | +1.303s | 55 | |
| 20 | Ruiqi Liu | US Racing | 2m23.739s | +1.498s | 52 | |
| 21 | Pedro Clerot | MP Motorsport | 2m23.747s | +1.506s | 54 | |
| 22 | Davide Larini | AKM Motorsport | 2m23.753s | +1.512s | 36 | |
| 23 | Rashid Al Dhaheri | Prema | 2m23.843s | +1.602s | 50 | |
| 24 | James Egozi | PHM Racing | 2m23.891s | +1.650s | 54 | |
| 25 | Jesse Carrasquedo Jr | Campos Racing | 2m23.968s | +1.727s | 52 | |
| 26 | Gianmarco Pradel | US Racing | 2m24.028s | +1.787s | 38 | |
| 27 | Daniel Nogales | Drivex School | 2m24.051s | +1.810s | 51 | |
| 28 | Jeronimo Berrio | MP Motorsport | 2m24.111s | +1.870s | 49 | |
| 28 | Ivan Domingues | Van Amersfoort Racing | 2m24.161s | +1.920s | 49 | |
| 29 | Ricardo Gracia | Monlau Motorsport | 2m24.165s | +1.924s | 57 | |
| 30 | Matheus Ferreira | Van Amersfoort Racing | 2m24.183s | +1.942s | 50 | |
| 31 | Jack Beeton | Van Amersfoort Racing | 2m24.206s | +1.965s | 56 | |
| 32 | Frederik Lund | AKM Motorsport | 2m24.277s | +2.036s | 49 | |
| 33 | Nandhavud Bhirombkakdi | PHM Racing | 2m24.439s | +2.198s | 53 | |
| 34 | Reno Francot | Jenzer Motorsport | 2m24.441s | +2.200s | 53 | |
| 35 | Eric Gene | Tecnicar Motorsport | 2m24.463s | +2.222s | 55 | |
| 36 | Alex Ninovic | Carlin | 2m24.486s | +2.245s | 53 | |
| 37 | Keanu Al Azhari | MP Motorsport | 2m24.489s | +2.248s | 55 | |
| 38 | Theodor Jensen | Sainteloc Racing | 2m24.555s | +2.314s | 54 | |
| 39 | Aurelia Nobels | Prema | 2m24.642s | +2.401s | 41 | |
| 40 | Griffin Peebles | Tecnicar Motorsport | 2m24.661s | +2.420s | 56 | |
| 41 | Matteo Quintarelli | R-ace GP | 2m24.689s | +2.448s | 52 | |
| 42 | Raphael Narac | R-ace GP | 2m24.758s | +2.517s | 50 | |
| 43 | Victoria Blokhina | PHM Racing | 2m24.773s | +2.532s | 53 | |
| 44 | Ariel Elkin | Jenzer Motorsport | 2m24.797s | +2.556s | 55 | |
| 45 | Daniel Macia | GRS | 2m24.805s | +2.564s | 32 | |
| 46 | Noah Lisle | Carlin | 2m24.861s | +2.620s | 58 | |
| 47 | Pablo Sarrazin | Monlau Motorsport | 2m24.875s | +2.634s | 52 | |
| 48 | Luciano Morano | Sainteloc Racing | 2m24.927s | +2.686s | 54 | |
| 49 | Federico Al Rifai | Carlin | 2m25.009s | +2.768s | 49 | |
| 50 | Alvise Rodella | MP Motorsport | 2m25.071s | +2.830s | 50 | |
| 51 | Alexander Bolduev | Drivex School | 2m25.100s | +2.859s | 39 | |
| 52 | Simon Birch | MP Motorsport | 2m25.142s | +2.901s | 49 | |
| 53 | Ismail Akhmed | 2m25.338s | +3.097s | 59 | ||
| 54 | Juan Cota | Drivex | 2m25.397s | +3.156s | 52 | |
| 55 | Tina Hausmann | AKM Motorsport | 2m25.490s | +3.249s | 54 | |
| 56 | Fernando Barrichello | Monlau Motorsport | 2m25.605s | +3.364s | 46 | |
| 57 | Carl Bennett | GRS | 2m25.622s | +3.381s | 58 | |
| 58 | Alexander Abkhazava | Drivex School | 2m25.729s | +3.488s | 42 | |
| 59 | Kim Hwarang | Jenzer Motorsport | 2m25.848s | +3.607s | 51 | |
| 60 | Manuel Quondamcarlo | AS Motorsport | 2m25.969s | +3.728s | 56 | |
| 61 | George Zhuravskiy | Drivex School | 2m26.120s | +3.879s | 46 | |
| 62 | Matheus Comparatto | GRS | 2m26.749s | +4.508s | 47 | |
| 63 | Flavio Olivieri | Cram Motorsport | 2m27.083s | +4.842s | 46 | |
| 64 | Maxi Restrepo | Drivex School | 2m27.106s | +4.865s | 47 | |
| 65 | Alessandro Silvaggi | Cram Motorsport | 2m27.403s | +5.162s | 39 | |
| 66 | Giacomo Pedrini | AS Motorsport | 2m27.420s | +5.179s | 35 | |
| 67 | Kabir Anurag | R-ace GP | 2m38.555s | +16.314s | 32 |