Uguchukwu fastest in F4 UAE practice as Ibrahim returns to series

Photo: F4 UAE

Prema’s Ugo Ugochukwu was fastest in free practice for the final Formula 4 United Arab Emirates round of the season at Yas Marina Circuit.

The majority of the track action came in the first half of the 30-minute session on Friday, with first place being traded between lots of drivers early on.

Yas Heat Academy’s Matteo Quintarelli was fastest at first, then Cram Motorsport’s Sebastian Murray and Yas Heat team-mate Keanu Al Azhari. The three rotated between the top three places until Sainteloc Racing’s Theodor Jensen set a 1m59.426s lap to go fastest, then PHM Racing’s Noah Stromsted went a second faster than anyone.

Hamda Al Qubaisi, another Yas Heay driver, got within 0.033 seconds of Stromsted before he improved by three tenths, but she then improved too to stay in second and 0.142s behind.

Hitech GP’s Arvid Lindblad brought the pace down into the 1m57s, only for Stromsted to return to top spot a minute later. Ugochukwu then headed the timesheet for the first time, a 1m57.420 lap puttinh him 0.243s clear.

He spent a minute in first place before title rival James Wharton took over at the top for Mumbai Falcons, then with just over 12 minutes remaining of the session Al Qubaisi went quickest.

Ugochukwu reclaimed top spot by a slim 0.027 seconds, and Wharton went 0.055s slower than him in third, then there were few improvements across the 40-car field in the final eight minutes.

R2Race’s Lena Buhler rose up to 15th, and MP Motorsport’s Valerio Rinicella went from ninth to eighth, but the order at the top was settled.

Down in 18th place was Muhammad Ibrahim, who this weekend returns to the Mumbai Falcons car driven by Rishon Rajeev the past two rounds. Ibrahim got two 11th place finishes from the first two rounds.

Free practice results