Wheldon pips Prema team-mates in Italian F4 testing at Monza

Photo: ACI Sport

Prema’s Sebastian Wheldon narrowly topped the times in Italian Formula 4 testing at Monza this week.

The 44-car entry list was split into two groups, and Kean Nakamura Berta set the pace in the opening session for group A. He set a 1m52.768s on his final lap to sit half a second clear of Jenzer Motorsport’s Bart Harrison and 0.621s up on Prema team-mate Salim Hanna Hernandez. Wheldon was only 16th.

It was tighter in group B, with R-ace GP’s Emanuele Olivieri setting a 1m52.826s to lead US Racing’s Luka Sammalisto by 0.283s. Van Amersfoort Racing’s Maximilian Popov and US’s Maxim Rehm were split by 0.021s in third and fourth, a third of a second off the pace.

Prema’s Sacha Bondarev lowered the pace in group A’s second session, setting a 1m52.391s and edging Nakamura by 0.163s. Jenzer’s Enea Frey was 0.472s back in third, pipping Wheldon by 0.003s.

R-ace’s Alex Powell was quickest by a tiny margin in group B, a 1m52.81s earning him top spot by 0.067s over Sammalisto. Rehm was 0.2 behind in third.

Nakamura was quickest again in session three, posting a 1m52.654s on his final lap to move ahead of Bondarev by 0.032s. Hanna and Wheldon completed an all-Prema top four covered by 0.116s.

AKM Motorsport’s Evan Michelini surprised to be the long-time pacesetter in group B’s third session, but eventually he was beaten by 0.188s as Popov set a 1m52.859s.

Bondarev did not quite reach his previous best in session four, but topped the times with a 1m52.553s. He had a 0.21s gap to Frey, whose team-mates Teo Schropp and Harrison were next up.

In Thursday’s final session, Andrija Kostic led a US Racing 1-2-3 as drivers did more laps than in earlier periods on track. Kabir Anurag and Rehm were second and third as a second covered the top 10.

Group B ran first on Friday and it was super close in session five. Sammalisto set a 1m52.988s to deny Real Racing Team’s Luca Viisoreanu by 0.037s and VAR’s Marcus Saeter by 0.066s. In group A, Wheldon peaked early on with a 1m52.605s lap that proved enough to stay on top by 0.142s over Nakamura and 0.305s to his other team-mate Newman Chi.

Viisoreanu posted a 1m53.283s on his final effort to top group B’s session six, outpacing VAR’s Alexander Ruta by 0.074s. Sammalisto, Anurag and Popov were all within 0.2s of him.

Prema was in control again in group A, and Chi set a new fastest lap for the test: a 1m52.340s. That was beaten late on by Nakamura, who went quickest by 0.076s. Bondarev, Frey and Wheldon were close behind.

Viisoreanu was fastest again in session seven, and one of only a few drivers improving on their later runs. A 1m53.131s earned him top spot by 0.151s over Kostic.

The pace was lowered once more in group A, and Wheldon set a 1m52.258s that would not be beaten. His team-mates completed the top four but none set personal bests, and Jenzer’s Bader Al Sulaiti was fifth.

The excellent Friday for Viisoreanu continued in session eight, and this time he posted a 1m52.12s to go fastest. Anurag was 0.147s slower in second and Rehm was third.

Testing ended with Schropp jumping up to third overall in the combined classification as he got within 0.047s of Wheldon’s earlier benchmark in group A. He was almost 0.6s quicker than anyone else in session eight, with Bondarev, Wheldon and PHM Racing’s Andrea Dupe the only drivers within a second of him.

Test results