Photo: Spanish Winter Championship

Campos Racing’s Noah Monteiro extended his Spanish Formula 4 Winter Championship lead on Sunday at Jarama with pole and a victory.

Qualifying took place in the morning, and MP Motorsport’s Rocco Coronel was first to top the timesheet. G4 Racing’s Philippe Armand Karras brought the laptime to beat down to a more representative pace, before Coronel reclaimed first place with a 1m32.138s. However he would not improve on that, and in the last four minutes dropped down to 12th.

Ty Fisher was first to beat him, by 0.019 seconds, then Campos team-mate Vivek Kanthan went quickest by 0.047s. Monteiro was just behind and outpaced him by 0.057s, then both improved on their next laps.

Kanthan crossed the line in 1m31.844s, and a second later Monteiro posted a 1m31.646s. Andrej Petrovic was third fastest, 0.382s off pole and 0.009s ahead of Tecnicar Motorsport team-mate Nacho Tunon. MP’s Kasper Schormans was 0.401s behind in fifth, denying Campos’s Daniel Kelleher by 0.006s and Drivex School’s Nathan Tye by 0.01s. Fisher ended up eighth, 0.455s back, and MP’s Reno Francot was ninth fastest. Under 0.9s covered the top 24.

Four of the drivers in the top 24 were eliminated on lap one of the weekend’s third race, in a five-car incident that led to a lengthy red flag period. Before racing was stopped, Tunon had fallen to 17th and Francot had passed Fisher to be seventh.

The safety car led the field for two laps before the field was free to race again on lap four of 18, and there was action straight away. Tye got alongside Kelleher through the first two turns, and although he looked to have taken fifth they were later side-by-side once more and contact sent Kelleher spinning.

Monteiro had a quiet race thereon, setting the fastest lap but otherwise controlling his pace until the safety car returned on lap 11 due to two drivers outside of the top 10 colliding. Only two laps remained once green flags returned, and Monteiro locked up twice but held on to win by a second.

Tye passed Schormans on lap 10, but was far behind Petrovic until the second safety car period. When racing resumed, Kanthan defended from Petrovic who in turn was defending against Tye.

Coronel took sixth on lap nine, after Fisher had lunged past Francot at turn two but left room on the inside for Coronel to overtake both. Francot got past Fisher again and almost Coronel too before racing was interrupted, then on the final lap an incident led to Fisher crashing out and Coronel finishing 21st with a damaged car.

Campos’s Jacob Micallef profited from the chaos to steal sixth, ahead of Francot and Tecnicar’s Aleix Pinera.

Race results (18 laps)

The post Monteiro grows Spanish F4 WC lead with another Jarama victory appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: Spanish Winter Championship

Noah Monteiro and Boris Lyzen won the first two Spanish Formula 4 Winter Championship races at Jarama.

There was several moments of major drama that interrupted race one, which Campos Racing’s Monteiro was triumphant in. He started on pole ahead of team-mate Vivek Kanthan, MP Motorsport’s Rocco Coronel, Campos’s Ty Fisher and Drivex School’s Nathan Tye.

Kanthan looked to Monteiro’s outside at turn two on the opening lap, but lost out to Coronel a few corners later and was sent off slightly. Tye overtook Fisher, and MP’s Kasper Schormans passed Tecnicar Motorsport’s Andrej Petrovic for ninth before the safety car was called.

MP’s Louis Cochet, TC Racing’s Maria Germano Neto and Monlau Motorsport’s Miki Blascos had all got beached in the gravel at turn two, and the clean-up operation meant racing did not resume until lap 10. During the interruption, the safety car appeared to shed its own debris which Coronel drove over.

On the restart, Tye ploughed into Kanthan’s rear under braking for turn two and sent him spinning. He caught Coronel’s rear-right wheel, and both went off into the gravel but were able to rejoin at the back of the field. Monteiro was left with a sizeable lead over Fisher, and continued pulling away until the race was ended by red flags just as lap 15 began.

Tye overtook Fisher on lap 11, but a 10s penalty meant Fisher reclaimed second and Tye finished 15th. That also cost Tye the points lead to Monteiro.

TC Racing’s Beau Lowette was third, and fourth place was disputed by Tecnicar’s Nacho Tunon and Schormans until a huge crash that ended the race. Tunon was classified fourth when the results were taken from the last completed lap, while a five-second penalty demoted Schormans to 12th. Campos’s Daniel Kelleher profited to finish fifth, and MP’s Reno Francot was sixth after Petrovic was another to get a five-second penalty and dropped to 17th.

The top 12 from qualifying were reversed to form the front of race two’s grid, putting MP’s Lyzen on pole ahead of Petrovic and Schormans.

Lyzen led the 14-lap race lights-to-flag, but results were taken from lap 12 and then lap 11.

Tunon started fourth and had a half-spin on lap one that dropped him to 14th. Coronel also fell down the field as he did get off the grid until lap two. That meant the field had to be guided by the safety car through the pits at the end of lap one, and racing resumed on lap three with Lyzen streaking away.

Schormans attacked Petrovic hard, but on lap four Francot starting pressuring him. On lap 10 he started locking up, and a huge one a lap later allowed Francot to get past. He continued locking up, and after the chequered flag waved on lap 12, he lost five further places as drivers continued racing through to the end of lap 14.

The final results put him back into fourth, between Francot and Tye. Kanthan was sixth, while Kelleher and Monteiro got from row six up to seventh and eighth.

Results round-up
Race 1 (13 laps)
1 Noah Monteiro Campos Racing 24m58.257s
2 Ty Fisher Campos Racing +3.004s
3 Beau Lowette TC Racing +5.211s
4 Nacho Tunon Tecnicar Motorsport +5.523s
5 Daniel Kelleher Campos Racing +6.669s
6 Reno Francot MP Motorsport +8.155s
7 Fausto Arnaudo Monlau Motorsport +8.511s
8 Borys Lyzen MP Motorsport +8.828s
9 Jensen Burnett Drivex School +9.237s
10 Simon Bulbarella Drivex School +9.696s
Fastest lap: Monteiro, 1m32.603s

Race 2 (11 laps)
1 Lyzen 18m20.225s
2 Andrej Petrovic Tecnicar Motorsport +5.454s
3 Francot +7.461s
4 Kasper Schormans MP Motorsport +7.840s
5 Nathan Tye Drivex School +7.899s
6 Vivek Kanthan Campos Racing +8.382s
7 Kelleher +9.138s
8 Monteiro +9.538s
9 Tunon +11.402s
10 Fisher +11.977s
FL: Lyzen, 1m32.439s

Championship standings
1 Monteiro 64   2 Tye 62   3 Tunon 40   4 Francot 38   5 Petrovic 37   6 Kanthan 35   7 Kelleher 26   8 Rocco Coronel 23   9 Schormans 22   10 Fisher 19

The post Monteiro and Lyzen win first two Spanish F4 WC races at Jarama appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: Spanish Winter Championship

Campos Racing’s Noah Monteiro claimed pole position in the first qualifying session of the second Spanish Formula 4 Winter Championship round at Jarama.

Friday began with pre-event testing, which was topped by Rocco Coronel. He set a 1m32.125s to lead MP Motorsport team-mate Reno Francot by 0.166 seconds, Campos’s Daniel Kelleher by 0.187s and MP’s Borys Lyzen by 0.195s. A second covered the top 24 in the 32-car field.

Two free practice sessions followed later in the day, and Kelleher was quickest in both. His 1m32.231s in FP1 put him 0.078s ahead of Coronel, his closest rival in FP2, and 0.085s clear of Francot.

Nathan Tye (Drivex School), Vivek Kanthan (Campos), Monteiro and Lyzen were next up, with Lyzen improving in FP2 to be 0.205s off.  A quarter of a second split the top nine, and 23 drivers were within a second of the pace once again.

Qualifying one was on Saturday morning, and Lysen was first to the top in the 20-minute session. It was not until six-and-a-half minutes in that he was pushed off top spot, with Coronel setting a 1m32.487s to lead team-mate Kasper Schormans by 0.313s and Lyzen by 0.466s.

Fracnot lapped 0.035s shy of Coronel as Lyzen pitted, the only driver to do so. MP’s Felipe Reijs got into third place after eight minutes, 0.008s ahead of Schormans, at which point only 14 drivers had laid down representative laptimes.

That number soon increased to 20, and G4 Racing’s Jean Paul Karras went seventh fastest with a laptime 0.535s off Coronel’s benchmark and 0.015s quicker than brother Philippe Armand’s best.

Coronel headed to the pits at the end of the session’s first half, and was promptly demoted to second by Tye who set a 1m32.254s. His team-mate Jensen Burnett jumped up to fourth, before TC Racing’s Maria Germano Neto went third fastest with a 1m32.501s.

Tye lowered the pace to 1m31.999s, as team-mate Simon Bulbarella matched Germano. Everyone was now on track, and had recorded flying laps.

Kanthan trimmed Tye’s advantage to 0.286s with eight minutes to go, then Tecnicar Motorsport’s Nacho Tunon reduced it further to 0.248s. Kanthan found himself in fifth, as Kelleher and Bulbarella outpaced him. At the same time, Tecnicar’s Andrej Petrovic jumped 10 spots to sixth, while Campos’s Ty Fisher languished in 26th.

Monteiro hit the top with less than six-and-a-half minutes remaining of qualifying, posting a 1m31.839s, and half a minute later TC Racing’s Beau Lowette surprised by going third fastest after previously being in 23rd place. Fisher also improved to sit fifth, 0.411s off the provisional poleman.

Tunon took third place with five minutes to go, but failed to break the 1m32s barrier, and Petrovic set a personal best to be fourth. A few seconds later they were each demoted two places as Monteiro set a new 1m31.644s benchmark. Kanthan got within 0.234s of it, and Kelleher pipped Tunon by 0.011s to fourth.

Fisher lapped 0.027s shy of Kanthan three minutes from the end, and Coronel climbed from 17th to sixth before another improvement on his next lap put him third and just 0.001s ahead of Fisher.

Francot also re-entered the top 10 in the last two minutes, and just before the chequered flag Kelleher got into second with a laptime 0.197s off Monteiro’s best but has a five-place grid penalty to serve. The poleman was in the pits along with Germano, and no other drivers improved.

Qualifying results

The post Noah Monteiro on Spanish F4 Winter Championship pole at Jarama appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: Jakob Ebrey Photography

Elite Motorsport, Fox Motorsport and Hillspeed have added to their 2026 GB4 line-ups.

Belgium-based Venezuelan racer Emmilio Valentino Del Grosso has been signed by Elite, and the 16-year-old steps up to GB4 from entry-level sportscar series Ginetta Junior where he also raced for the team. He came 18th in the standings there last year as a car racing rookie, with a best finish of seventh.

Ginetta Junior runner-up Fred Green is also moving across from Elite’s sportscar squad to its GB4 counterpart, and the USF Juniors-experienced Matan Achituv is another of the team’s drivers for 2026.

Jasser Iskander and Enzo Rujugiro, both 15, will be joining Fox for their single-seater racing debuts. Iskander is the reigning champion of IAME Series Saudi Arabia’s X30 Junior class, a feat he achieved in his second year of karting. He did tests in GB4 cars later in 2025, and is aiming for podiums from his rookie campaign in the championship.

Rujugiro put his focus into car tests through 2025, but did not sample a GB4 chassis until this week when he first worked on track with Fox at Snetterton. The South African had raced in junior karting from the end of 2022 through to 2024, with 13th in the 2022 LeCont Trophy (in the OK Junior class) being his best result on the international scence. He also came 21st in the 2024 WSK Champions Cup in the OK-N Junior class.

Hillspeed has brought in American duo Demitri Nolan and Connor Willis. The 21-year-old Nolan came 10th in the Ligier Junior Formula Championship on home soil two years ago as a single-seater rookie, then switched from first to second-generation Formula 4 chassis in 2025 by racing in United States F4. He came sixth with two podiums, but was last of the full-timers in a depleted field.

Willis knows the tracks visited by GB4 well, having spent the last two years racing in United Formula Ford. In 2024 he was 14th in the standings, and made the final of Formula Ford 1600’s illustrious Walter Hayes Trophy event at Silverstone.

He improved to seventh in United FFord’s points table last year, and at the FFord Festival made the podium in his heat and was ninth in the final. Recovery drives were required at the WHT, where Willis won the last chance race and charged from 29th to 10th in the final.

Hillspeed has done a propert winter testing programme with Willis to prepare him for the switch from FFord to slicks-and-wings cars.

The post Elite Motorsport, Fox Motorsport and Hillspeed add to GB4 line-ups appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: Spanish Winter Championship

Drivex School’s Nathan Tye leads the Spanish Formula 4 Winter Championship, also known as E4, after round one at Algarve.

The top 12 from qualifying one were reversed to form the front of race two’s grid on Saturday, putting Luna Fluxa (Campos Racing) on pole ahead of Simon Bulbarella (Drivex) and Daniel Kelleher (Campos). Race one winner Tye started 11th, and Andrej Petrovic (Tecnicar Motorsport) lined up fifth.

An amazing launch lifted Rocco Coronel from eighth to third by the opening corner, and MP Motorsport team-mate Reno Francot took a few corners to rise from 10th to sixth. Petrovic tried taking the lead from Fluxa around the turn five hairpin but was sent off and then attacked through turn 10 as well before the safety car neutralised the action. Pablo Riccobono (Global Racing Service) had been wheeled off the pit straight, and Aleix Pinera (Tecnicar) had stopped further around the lap.

Kelleher sat third after starting slowly but then passing Coronel, and there was crash drama on lap two that put Felipe Reijs (MP) and Beau Lowetter (TC Racing) out.

Racing resumed on lap six, and Petrovic got alongside Fluxa twice before making an overtake stick. He then maintained a gap that did not allow her to fight back, and won by 0.865 seconds. Coronel went down Kelleher’s inside into turn one on lap seven, and Francot then attacked Kelleher hard through lap nine until he found a way past.

Kasper Schormans (MP) and Tye finished sixth and seventh, and Noah Monteiro (Campos) charged from 31st to 10th.

Sunday morning began with qualifying two, and Tye edged Monteiro to pole by 0.041s. Vivek Kanthan (Campos) was 0.183s off in third, and 0.071s split Francot, Petrovic and Nacho Tunon (Tecnicar) in the next places. Ty Fisher (Campos), Coronel, Schormans and Kelleher were also within 0.5s of pole, and one second covered the top 19.

Tye was not pressured at first in race three, as Kanthan resisted Francot’s attacks for third place. Monteiro was filling Tye’s mirrors from lap four onwards, then the safety car appeared on lap eight as Schormans had stopped on track. On the lap 11 restart, Tye left it as late as possible to return to racing speeds but did not spend long at pace as Philippe Armand Karras (G4 Racing), Kelleher and Fisher collided at turn five and Jacob Micallef (Campos) retired after spinning.

Two laps remained when racing resumed, and Tye held off Monteiro for a points lead-extending second win.

Francot had attacked Kanthan again at turn five on lap five but gone off, twice on the lap 15 restart, then on the final lap squeezed down Kanthan’s inside at turn five and forced him deep. That left room on the inside for Coronel to slip past for third, and contact with Francot heading to turn six then dropped Kanthan behind Petrovic and Tunon.

Results round-up
Race 2 (11 laps)
1 Andrej Petrovic Tecnicar Motorsport 23m13.549s
2 Luna Fluxa Campos Racing +0.865s
3 Rocco Coronel MP Motorsport +1.771s
4 Reno Francot MP Motorsport +3.590s
5 Daniel Kelleher Campos Racing +4.235s
6 Kasper Schormans MP Motorsport +6.286s
7 Nathan Tye Drivex School +6.970s
8 Nacho Tunon Tecnicar Motorsport +7.613s
9 Vivek Kanthan Campos Racing +7.884s
10 Noah Monteiro Campos Racing +9.172s
Fastest lap: Francot, 1m45.957s

Race 3 (16 laps)
1 Tye 33m25.892s
2 Monteiro +0.361s
3 Coronel +1.860s
4 Francot +2.263s
5 Petrovic +2.650s
6 Tunon +3.127s
7 Kanthan +3.775s
8 Fluxa +4.534s
9 Jean Paul Karras G4 Racing +5.218s
10 Simon Bulbarella Drivex School +7.434s
Pole: Tye, 1m44.796s
FL: Kanthan, 1m45.142s

Championship standings
1 Tye 56   2 Monteiro 31   3 Kanthan 30   4 Petrovic 28   5 Tunon 26   6 Coronel 23   7 Francot 22   8 Schormans 15   9 Fluxa 13   10 Kelleher 12

The post Petrovic takes a win as Tye leaves Portugal with Spanish F4 WC lead appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: Spanish Winter Championship

The Spanish Formula 4 Winter Championship, also known as E4, began this weekend at Portugal’s Algarve circuit.

Pre-event testing kicked off track action on Friday, and Vivek Kanthan (Campos Racing) was fastest. He led Reno Francot (MP Motorsport) by 0.34 seconds, with Noah Monteiro (Campos) 0.474s behind in third.

After a break, the 32-car field headed back out for free practice and Monteiro set a 1m45.048s to pip Francot by 0.003s and Kanthan by 0.033s in FP1. Nathan Tye (Drivex School) trailed by 0.102s in fourth, and only three other drivers were within half a second of the pace but the top 23 were covered by a second.

Red flag periods caused by Aleix Pinera (Tecnicar Motorsport) and Kasper Schormans (MP) disrupted FP2, as a 1m45.747s put Monteiro on top by 0.193s over Kanthan.

It went wrong for Monteiro the next morning, as he caused a stoppage in qualifying one that meant he lined up 31st for the day’s races.

Kanthan clinched race one pole on his final lap, outpacing Tye by 0.013s and Francot by 0.124s. Schormans, Rocco Coronel (MP), Ty Fisher (Campos) and Jensen Burnett (Drivex) occupied the next places, and a second covered the top 18.

Those all drivers headed to the inside after launching off the line in race one, and Coronel made the best start to be third into the first turn. Tye got alongside Kanthan at turn three, and they pulled away as Schormans had a wide moment and Coronel broke his front wing.

Andrej Petrovic (Tecnicar) inherited third from eighth on the grid, Fisher took fourth from Coronel as lap two began and Coronel then bounced over turn one’s run-off kerbs and lost more places.

He parked up on lap four, as Philippe Armand Karras (G4 Racing), Dante Cima (Global Racing Service) and Simon Bulbarella (Drivex) had a big crash. The safety car was summoned, with Monteiro already into 11th.

Racing resumed on lap nine, and Tye took the lead into turn three. Kanthan tried getting back past on the outside of turn one next time by. That was the closest he got to reclaiming first place, and Tye won the 17-lap race by 0.571s.

Petrovic was busy holding off Nacho Tunon (Tecnicar) and Fisher through lap 10, but a lock-up on lap 11 meant Tunon got through while Fisher was demoted to sixth by a double dive from Burnett.

Monteiro cleared Daniel Kelleher (Campos) and Fisher early in lap 12, and when Schormans (who ended lap one in 22nd) overtook Kelleher a lap later he also joined the fight for fourth as Tunon escaped ahead.

Schormans and Fisher eached gained back a spot on lap 14, and Monteiro dived down Petrovic’s inside on lap 15 to lead the pack. He had the pace to pull away as Petrovic continued defending but still lost fifth to Schormans.

Race results (17 laps)

The post Spanish F4 Winter Championship starts at Algarve with win for Tye appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: Williams

British Formula 4 has announced that a day working with the Williams Formula 1 team will be one of the prizes for this year’s champion.

The day will take place at Williams’ Grove headquarters rather than trackside at an F1 event, and will include a development session on its simulator in which they will be guided by one of the engineers who works with Williams’ junior drivers.

They will also do a training session in the team gymnasium with one of the Williams Driver Academy’s coaches.

The 2026 British F4 grid has recently grown with the additions of Jaber Al Sabah at Xcel Motorsport and Haarni Sadiq at JHR Developments.

Kuwaiti racer Al Sabah made his British F4 debut with Xcel in last year’s non-championship round at Silverstone that supported F1’s British Grand Prix. He finished 22nd in both races. He has remained with the team since then for a double programme in the Middle East.

At the end of 2025 he contested two of the three rounds in the United Arab Emirates-based Formula Trophy, netting a best finish of sixth, scoring nine points and coming 17th in the standings. Over the last month he has raced in UAE4, where he went points-free.

Sadiq, 16, is also continuing an existing partnership. He was part of JHR’s British F4 line-up for three rounds in 2025, and two 16th places were his best results from his first single-seater campaign as he stepped up to cars. In the Ultimate Karting Championship’s Rotax Junior class, Sadiq came 44th last year as a part-timer.

The post British F4 announces Williams F1 prize for 2026 champion appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: Gedlich Racing

Alexander Ruta and Arjen Kraling were the winners of Formula Winter Series’ second and third races around Valencia’s Ricardo Tormo circuit.

Drivers’ second-best laptimes from qualifying set race two’s grid, putting Van Langendonck on pole. The laptime used was 0.001 seconds slower than the one that earned him pole for race one.

Van Amersfoort Racing’s Ruta qualified second, 0.171s behind, with Pedro Lima (VAR), Ludovico Busso (US Racing), Thomas Bearman (VAR), Jensen Burnett (Mathilda Racing) and Rocco Coronel (VAR) filling the next places on the grid.

Ruta and Lima either side of Van Langendonck at the start, and at turn one Ruta took the lead on the inside while Lima passed on the outside. The team-mates ran side-by-side through turn two, and Coronel was into fourth but got spun by Bearman which led to the latter being penalised five seconds.

Ruta went off into the gravel exiting turn five kept the lead and actually began pulling away despite lock-ups. He was 1.4s clear when the safety car was summoned on lap three due to AKM Motorsport’s Vittorio Orsini crashing out. Coronel had also retired from the race, and Rodin Motorsport’s Alfie Slater was at the back after pitting.

The field was bunched up at the last corner by Ruta before the lap six restart, which he nailed to build a 1.9s lead within a lap. He was unchallenged thereon, taking his maiden victory.

Lima went off exiting turn one on the restart, allowing Van Langendonck to dive down his inside at turn two. There was a lock-up, contact, Lima went off again and Bearman went past both on the inside of turn three. Bearman held onto second place despite his penalty, and Lima got back past Van Langendonck on lap 11 of 13 but then a track limits penalty demoted him to seventh.

Van Langendonck completed the podium, and was hounded by Busso after Lima, and US’s Ary Bansal won a lengthy pack battle with Burnett for sixth before his own five-second track limits penalty was applied and put him ninth.

Cram Motorsport’s Oscar Repetto was another to be penalised but retained 10th place as the drivers behind also got penalties.

Arjen Kraling set the fastest lap in a lapped 29th place, putting him on race three pole ahead of Bearman, Ruta, US’s Olexandar Savinkov, Bansal and Slater. Van Langendonck lined up 12th, and Coronel was last. Kraling and Savinkov had been late to leave the pits for race two so they could focus on taking the fastest lap.

Ruta got alongside Kraling on the run to the opening corner of race three, but had to tuck in behind as they went through the corner. Bearman held third, Slater lost four places while fighting, and Coronel broke his front wing so had to pit.

The safety car then came out due to Cram’s Andre Rodriguez crashing out, and racing resumed on lap four. Kraling was unchallenged up front, and when a second safety car period was called for on lap nine after Jenzer Motorsport’s Levi Arn crashed he was left with two laps of racing.

There was no change in the top four, completed by Savinkov, and initially Bansal was fifth ahead of Lima and Busso. Lima had to hold off Busso several times, and when he saw the opportunity to pass Bansal into turn 11 on the penultimate lap he took it. Busso also then got past as Bansal nursed front wing damage, and after the second restart Van Langendonck rose from 11th to ninth with clinical overtakes. Coronel recovered to 15th, three spots behind Slater.

Results round-up
Race 2 (13 laps)
1 Alexander Ruta Van Amersfoort Racing 22m26.498s
2 Thomas Bearman Van Amersfoort Racing +5.978s
3 Dries Van Langendonck Rodin Motorsport +6.988s
4 Ludovico Busso US Racing +7.172s
5 Jensen Burnett Mathilda Racing +8.590s
6 Teodor Borenstein Jenzer Motorsport +10.272s
7 Pedro Lima Van Amersfoort Racing +10.332s
8 Roman Kamyab US Racing +11.615s
9 Ary Bansal US Racing +12.517s
10 Oscar Repetto Cram Motorsport +17.463s
Pole: Van Langendonck, 1m34.818s
Fastest lap: Arjen Kraling, 1m34.614s

Race 3 (12 laps)
1 Kraling US Racing 21m50.876s
2 Ruta +0.685s
3 Bearman +1.595s
4 Olexandar Savinkov US Racing +1.982s
5 Lima +3.414s
6 Busso +4.278s
7 Bansal +5.609s
8 Samuel Ifrid Cram Motorsport +6.136s
9 Van Langendonck +6.225s
10 Repetto +6.738s
FL: Kraling, 1m34.452s

Championship standings
1 Van Langendonck 153   2 Ruta 92   3 Bansal 84   4 Bearman 78   5 Savinkov 71   6 Rocco Coronel 70   7 Alfie Slater 48   8 Ethan Lennon 47   9 Busso 47   10 Kraling 36

The post Alexander Ruta and Arjen Kraling win at Valencia in FWinter Series appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: Gedlich Racing

Dries Van Langendonck won race one of Formula Winter Series’ third round at Valencia’s Ricardo Tormo circuit.

There were new faces on the grid, and Eric Poulsen replaced Victor Snebjoern Poulsen (of no relation) at AS Motorsport. Caitlyn McDaniel and Jensen Burnett joined Mathilda Racing’s line-up, with Mathilda Paatz absent due to F1 Academy testing.

Two days of pre-event testing preceded the event getting underway, and US Racing’s Ary Bansal set a 1m34.511s to the top the times. He led team-mate Olexandar Savinkov by 0.174 seconds, Van Amersfoort Racing’s Rocco Coronel by 0.236s and Rodin Motorsport’s Van Langendonck by 0.311s. Alexander Ruta (VAR), Chiara Battig (Campos Racing) and Oscar Repetto (Cram Motorsport) also lapped sub-1m35s.

An announcement was put out at the end of Friday, stating “Circuit Ricardo has cancelled all activities scheduled for tomorrow, Saturday 14 February, due to a weather alert for strong winds”. That led to a revised schedule and qualifying kicking off a compressed Sunday timetable with races being shortened.

The blustery conditions continued, and Van Langendonck topped qualifying to claim race one. His late 1m34.817s lap put him on top by 0.154s. Ruta was second, and Burnett pipped US’s Ludovico Busso to third by 0.001s as both trailed the poleman by 0.27s.

VAR’s Pedro Lima, Thomas Bearman and Coronel were split by 0.073s in the next three positions, and Bansal was 0.492s off the pace in eighth. A second covered the top 18.

Burnett’s strong qualifying result was undone at the start of race one as he stalled, and Coronel was in second by turn one. He tried a diving move on Van Langendonck at turn six, then the safety car was called due to Campos’s Zoe Florescu Potolea crashing out. Cram’s Max Kammerlander and Andre Rodriguez also retired after heading to the pits.

Bearman had got into fourth ahead of Busso, Lima and Rodin’s Alfie Slater before racing was neutralised, and on the lap four restart Ruta had to defend third place against Bearman into turn one. At the next corner there was room for Bearman to aim for Ruta’s inside, and his team-mate went off slightly but kept ahead through turn four as the top two pulled away.

Busso sought to pass Bearman around the outside at turn seven, then at turn 10 they collided. While Busso only dropped to ninth, behind Bansal, Slater, US’s Noah Killion and Rodin’s Ethan Lennon, Bearman fell to 17th.

Van Langendonck ended lap five with a 1.1s lead, and grew it to 1.7s before Coronel closed back in late on despite pressure from Ruta.

Slater had a queue of cars behind him in the race’s second half, and was attacked by Killion on the penultimate lap. That bunched up the pack behind and Busso slipped past Lennon. He then overtook Killion too, and when Lima went off at turn one on the last lap it looked like Bansal could start a fight for fourth too.

Positions were maintained, and Bearman only recovered to 15th after getting stuck behind Battig for many laps. Burnett made his way up to 21st, and had a clash with Jenzer Motorsport’s Markas Silkunas on his way up the order.

Race results (13 laps)

The post Van Langendonck grows huge FWinter Series lead with Valencia win appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: Mumbai Falcons

Andy Consani won twice in the final UAE4 round at Losail, but it was not enough to deny Sasha Bondarev the title.

Formula 4 Middle East race-winner Tomass Stolcermanis joined PHM Racing’s line-up and Ben Nguyen returned to Evans GP’s garage for the races in Qatar.

Pre-event testing was up first, and R-ace GP’s Kenzo Craigie pipped Mumbai Falcons’ Bondarev by 0.098 seconds. Hitech GP’s Scott Lindblom was third, 0.327s behind.

In free practice, Bondarev set a 1m55.645s to lead R-ace’s Consani by 0.018s and Yas Heat Academy’s Adam Al Azhari by 0.11s as a second split the top 19.

Trident’s Bernardo ‘Beco’ Bernoldi was first to set a representative laptime in qualifying for race one, then Pinnacle Motorsport’s Rowan Campbell-Pilling led the way. Consani and Bondarec were on top after that, with Consani prevailing by 0.176s.

Mumbai Falcons’ Alp Aksoy Hasan and Craigie were next up, 0.426s and 0.496s off pole respectively, then it was Al Azhari, Lindblom and his team-mate Theo Palmer.

In Q2, setting race three’s grid, Evans GP’s Thomas Ingram Hill were Palmer were the drivers to beat mid-session. Craigie went quickest for 0.911s before Prema’s David Cosma Cristofor lowered the pace in his tow, then Bondarev bettered that benchmark by 0.071s.

Prema’s Christian Costoya went even faster by 0.002s, and that kept him on top until after the chequered flag when Consani laid down a lap that earned him pole by 0.208s over Cosma Cristofor.

Lindblom qualified fifth, ahead of Aksoy, R-ace’s Elia Weiss, Al Azhari and title outsider Craigie.

Consani held off Bondarev’s attacks through the first corners of race one, while Al Azhari stalled and fell down the order. The safety car was then summoned due to PHM’s Platon Kostin crashing out at turn one.

Red flags waved on lap four due to Cosma Cristofor stopping on track, and green flags did not wave again until lap six by which point the sun was setting.

Several incidents meant the safety car returned on lap seven, and only one lap of racing remained once it left.

Consani led a weaving snake down the pit straight, held off Bondarev on his outside through turn one then led the field to the finish. His win cut Bondarev’s championship lead to 17 points.

Lindblom tried taking fourth, and Xcel Motorsport’s Joseph Smith claimed reversed-grid pole for race two the next day by coming home 12th.

Smith defended at the start but was passed by Mumbai Falcons’ Niccolo Maccagnani and a fast-starting Stolcermanis before turn one. He also briefly lost out to Weiss, and Consani had a terrible launch that dropped him outside of the top 20.

Bondarev passed Craigie for seventh at the end of lap two, and Consani recovered to 17th before being eliminated in a huge crash with Al Azhari on lap five. The safety car was called then red flags waved.

A lap behind the safety car occurred at the restart, then the field was released. Smith forced Stolcermanis into defending turn one, and Bondarev hassled Costoya multiple times as Maccagnani sprinted off.

Lindblom overtook Craigie for eighth after several corners of battling on lap eight, just before the safety car was needed again due to a collision down the field.

The race was then red flagged on lap nine, and process was repeated for the next restart which meant one lap of racing. Maccagnani was unrivalled again, and PHM’s Iacopo Martinese took fourth from Weiss who then lost several more places.

Craigie and Lindblom’s continued battle cost them places, and Bondarev got into fifth but then race-ending red flags waved again due to his team-mate Kingsley Zheng crashing so results were taken from the previous lap.

Maccagnani won, and seventh for Bondarev meant Consani remained in title contention.

Race three was also interrupted, with the safety car heading out on lap one after Stolcermanis crashed. Racing could continue by lap three though, and Bondarev had an off that cost him fourth to Lindblom.

The safety car returned on lap eight, as Kostin had crashed out and Craigie had stopped on track, eradicating Consani’s 1.9s lead.

Four laps remained on the next restart, and Consani built a huge 2.7s lead. Cosma Cristofor and Costoya completed the podium, and Bondarev was crowned in fifth place. From 12th on the grid, Martinese charged up to seventh.

Results round-up
Race 1 (11 laps)
1 Andy Consani R-ace GP 45m09.622s
2 Sasha Bondarev Mumbai Falcons +0.736s
3 Alp Aksoy Hasan Mumbai Falcons +1.503s
4 Kenzo Craigie R-ace GP +1.935s
5 Scott Lindblom Hitech GP +2.579s
6 Theo Palmer Hitech GP +3.359s
7 Iacopo Martinese PHM Racing +3.698s
8 Christian Costoya Prema +4.228s
9 Tomass Stolcermanis PHM Racing +4.720s
10 Elia Weiss R-ace GP +5.250s
Pole: Consani, 1m55.393s
Fastest lap: Consani, 1m56.079s

Race 2 (10 laps)
1 Niccolo Maccagnani Mumbai Falcons 37m01.397s
2 Stolcermanis +1.913s
3 Joseph Smith Xcel Motorsport +3.794s
4 Weiss +6.422s
5 Martinese +8.978s
6 Costoya +10.554s
7 Bondarev +11.668s
8 Craigie +12.888s
9 Lindblom +14.798s
10 Aksoy +15.798s
FL: Bondarev, 1m57.113s

Race 3 (14 laps)
1 Consani 30m58.767s
2 David Cosma Cristofor Prema +2.741s
3 Costoya +3.183s
4 Lindblom +3.836s
5 Bondarev +4.416s
6 Aksoy +4.759s
7 Martinese +5.914s
8 Weiss +6.905s
9 Palmer +8.671s
10 Smith +9.802s
P: Consani, 1m54.921s
FL: Consani, 1m56.479s

Championship standings
1 Bondarev 191   2 Consani 183   3 Craigie 118   4 Maccagnani 98   5 Cosma 97   6 Costoya 86   7 Lindblom 71   8 Aksoy 70   9 Martinese 46   10 Emily Cotty 37

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