US Racing’s Gabriel Gomez tops in-season Italian F4 test at Vallelunga

Photo: Formula Winter Series

US Racing’s Gabriel Gomez topped Italian Formula 4’s in-season test at Vallelunga this week.

The 37-car entry list was split into two groups, with eight sessions each. Group A ran first on Tuesday, and R-ace GP’s Emanuele Olivieri set the pace. A 1m34.530s put him just 0.043 seconds ahead of younger team-mate Niccolo Maccagnani, who is yet to debut in Italian F4 but has already tested a Euroformula car.

Alex Powell completed an R-ace 1-2-3, 0.166s off the top, and Van Amersfoort Racing’s Maximilian Popov and Dante Vinci were the only other drivers within a second of the pace.

Gomez came 0.058s shy of Olivieri’s benchmark when he topped group B with his final lap, and was fastest by 0.199s over team-mate Maxim Rehm. There was a gap of 0.515s to US’s Andrija Kostic in third and the same margin separated him from 12th place.

Olivieri improved to 1m34.46s in session two, pipping Maccagnani by 0.08s. Powell was again third, 0.336s off, with nobody else able to go sub-1m35s. However a second did cover the top eight.

Gomez moved into first place overall by setting a 1m34.387s in group B, and led Rehm by just 0.067s. Tomass Stolcermanis beat Kostic to third, and Prema team-mates Sebastian Wheldon, Kean Nakamura Berta and Sasha Bondarev all broke into the 1m34s.

Laptimes were slower for many group A runners in session three, but a new personal best of 1m34.717s put Vinci on top. Olivieri and Maccagnani were both within 0.05s of him, and the top 13 were split by a second.

Gomez was on top again in group B, setting a 1m34.508s to deny Stolcermanis by 0.03s, Rehm by 0.039s and Kostic by 0.085s. US’s Kabir Anurag and Jenzer Motorsport’s Artem Severiukhin were among the nine who went sub-1m35s.

Maccagnani laid down a new 1m34.319s benchmark in session four, and was comfortably quickest. He had a 0.257s gap to Olivieri, and 0.597s in hand over Powell who was just 0.002s faster than Vinci.

Luka Sammalisto led a US 1-2-3 in Tuesday’s final session, and a 1m34.641s put him ahead of Gomez who had recorded a 1m34.682s early on but was unable to improve on it. Kostic got within 0.094s of Sammalisto on his penultimate lap, as Enea Frey (Jenzer) and Newman Chi (Prema) joined those in the 1m34s.

Group B went first on Wednesday, and Stolcermanis set a 1m34.7s to pip Nakamura by 0.031s in session five. There was 0.09s between Kostic in third and and Bondarev in seventh.

Viola Formula Racing’s Ludovico Busso challenged Maccagnani in group A, getting within 0.149s of his session-topping 1m34.827s.

Rehm improved to 1m34.383s in session six, and Kostic also set a personal best 0.157s behind. Powell got closer to the overall pace by dominating group A, his 1m34.411s putting him 0.622s ahead of Maccagnani.

The pace was lowered in the mid-afternoon, with Gomez posting a 1m34.275s to top session seven by 0.792s over Rehm. It was closer but slower in group A, as a 1m35.121s earned Popov top spot. PHM Racing’s David Cosma Cristofor, Maccagnani and Vinci were all within 0.1s of him.

Gomez ended his day as fastest again, setting a 1m34.712s to lead Stolcermanis by 0.298s, and group A concluded the test with unrepresentative pace. Popov’s final lap, a 1m38.577s, made him quickest once more.

Test results