Photo: ACI Sport
US Racing’s Edu Robinson was fastest in a post-season Italian Formula 4 test at Imola this week.
The 26-car entry list was split into two groups, and the driver of AKM Motorsport’s #73 car topped Group A’s first session on Tuesday with a 1m46.936s lap. He was quickest by 0.075 seconds over Prema’s Kean Nakamura Berta, with Jenzer Motorsport’s Enea Frey 0.61s behind in third.
Robinson led a US Racing 1-2-3 when Group B headed out, and lowered the pace to 1m46.303s. His team-mates Kabir Anurag and Maxim Rehm were just 0.109s and 0.161s slower than him.
Another new benchmark was set in Group A’s second session, with Nakamura setting a 1m46.107s. The driver of #73 also improved in second, 0.281s off Nakamura’s pace.
R-ace GP’s Alex Powell topped the times next for Group, a 1m36.334s lap putting him 0.274s ahead of US’s Luka Sammalisto.
Nakamura was fastest again but failed to improve in session three for Group A, with CL Motorsport’s Newman Chi now his closest rival, then Anurag pipped Rehm by 0.048s in Group B.
The day’s two fastest laps were set in Group A’s fourth session. Chi posted a 1m45.732s mid-session, and the driver of #73 was three hundredths of a second slower than him.
Sammalisto put himself fourth overall by topping the final session, setting a 1m46.162s.
Group B went on track first on Wednesday, and Robinson pipped Anurag by 0.004s with a 1m46.050s lap in the first session of the day.
Chi set a 1m46.170s to top Group A’s first session, fastest by a sizeable 0.652s.
#12 lowered the pace to 1m45.559s in the next session, with Anurag coming just shy of Chi’s Tuesday benchmark. Rehm and Sammalisto also broke the 1m46s barrier.
There was a muted response from Chi when Group A headed back out, as he set a 1m46.188s and was only 0.024s faster than the driver of #73.
The track was already very cold, and it got very wet next, with Rehm being able to top the times with a 2m03.621s in a soaked seventh session for Group B.
Those weather conditions continued as Prema’s Tomass Stolcermanis and Rehm led the way in the final three sessions. Prema’s Sasha Bondarev got his car stuck in the gravel during the day.
Test results
| Pos | Driver | Team | Time | Gap | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Edu Robinson | US Racing | 1m45.559s | 96 | |
| 2 | Newman Chi | CL Motorsport | 1m45.732s | +0.173s | 134 |
| 3 | #73 | AKM Motorsport | 1m45.762s | +0.203s | 130 |
| 4 | Kabir Anurag | US Racing | 1m45.795s | +0.236s | 102 |
| 5 | Maximn Rehm | US Racing | 1m45.827s | +0.268s | 108 |
| 6 | Luka Sammalisto | US Racing | 1m45.880s | +0.321s | 105 |
| 7 | Kean Nakamura Berta | Prema | 1m46.107s | +0.548s | 127 |
| 8 | Alex Powell | R-ace GP | 1m46.334s | +0.775s | 105 |
| 9 | Enea Frey | Jenzer Motorsport | 1m46.335s | +0.776s | 116 |
| 10 | Maximilian Popov | Van Amersfoort Racing | 1m46.371s | +0.812s | 110 |
| 11 | Tomass Stolcermanis | Prema | 1m46.437s | +0.878s | 131 |
| 12 | #21 | Jenzer Motorsport | 1m46.517s | +0.958s | 133 |
| 13 | Alp Hasan Aksoy | Van Amersfoort Racing | 1m46.664s | +1.105s | 121 |
| 14 | #24 | Jenzer Motorsport | 1m46.822s | +1.263s | 121 |
| 15 | Andrea Dupe | AS Motorsport | 1m46.865s | +1.306s | 104 |
| 16 | Mathilda Paatz | AS Motorsport | 1m46.970s | +1.411s | 82 |
| 17 | Sebastian Wheldon | Prema | 1m47.164s | +1.605s | 125 |
| 18 | Sasha Bondarev | Prema | 1m47.245s | +1.686s | 113 |
| 19 | #31 | US Racing | 1m47.369s | +1.810s | 81 |
| 20 | Dante Vinci | Van Amersfoort Racing | 1m47.384s | +1.825s | 115 |
| 21 | Salim Hanna Hernandez | Prema | 1m47.748s | +2.189s | 125 |
| 22 | #23 | Jenzer Motorsport | 1m47.865s | +2.306s | 52 |
| 23 | Payton Westcott | Van Amersfoort Racing | 1m48.432s | +2.873s | 116 |
| 24 | Knud Nielsen | Van Amersfoort Racing | 1m48.633s | +3.074s | 100 |
| 25 | Gilles Renmans | BVM Racing | 1m49.901s | +4.342s | 68 |
| 26 | Emma Segattini | AKM Motorsport | 1m50.554s | +4.995s | 76 |
| 27 | Ginevra Panzeri | AKM Motorsport | 1m51.268s | +5.709s | 120 |