Home Formula 4Italian F4 Sztuka fastest again on second day of huge F4 test at Spa

Sztuka fastest again on second day of huge F4 test at Spa

by Ida Wood

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