Photo: Gedlich Racing

Dries Van Langendonck tops the Formula Winter Series after last weekend’s season-opening round at Estoril.

The Rodin Motorsport driver started on pole for a very wet race one on Saturday. Heavy rain led to the safety car leading the field through to lap three, at which point red flags waved.

After a 13-minute stoppage, the safety car led the field out of the pits for a second attempt at race three. Green flags waved on lap five, and there was drama by turn two as Alexander Ruta (Van Amersfoort Racing) and Ary Bansal (US Racing) collided while fighting over fifth and went into the gravel.

There were several others who spun or went off, while Ethan Lennon (Rodin) struck trouble before even reaching turn one, and once he parked up there the safety car was summoned. It stayed out until the chequered flag waved at the end of lap seven, meaning Van Langendonck won ahead of team-mate Alfie Slater, Levi Arn (Jenzer Motorsport), Alisha Palmowski (Campos Racing) and Noah Killion (US).

Only three drivers technically qualified for race two on Sunday, which also took place in gloomy conditions so wet-weather tyres were the go-to. Palmowski and AKM Motorsport’s Felipe Reijs and Vittorio Orsini filled the grid’s top three spots, and Ruta started fourth thanks to his laptimes from pre-event testing.

The next places were filled by Van Langendonck, Rocco Coronel (VAR), Thomas Bearman (VAR), Bansal, Lennon and Slater. There was drama on the formation lap as Olexander Savinkov (US) spun, but it proved inconsequential.

Palmowski was slow off the line and Reijs was ahead on the inside, but the pole-sitter had the grippier line down the hill to turn one so actually pulled back ahead. On the outside, Coronel swept into second and he was in the lead after turn two.

There was a three-wide fight for second at turn three, and Van Langendonck took the position. Bearman flew off at the turn six hairpin but rejoined in fourth alongside Ruta. Palmowski made a mistake at Gancho lost out to Ruta, with Slater and Lennon in sixth and seventh ahead of Reijs.

Bearman dived down Palmowski’s inside at turn six on lap two but went deep again and conceded the place he briefly claimed. He instead got past at turn seven, with the Rodin duo following through in the next corners.

As Coronel gradually pulled away from Van Langendonck, Ruta was dropped by several seconds and on lap four he came under attack from Bearman at turn one. His team-mate went past on the outside, but ventured too deep and was back behind with Lennon on his tail. Bearman repeated his turn six error, tried passing at turn seven then at Gancho contact led to Slater spinning down the order.

Eventually Bearman did get past his team-mate, and by the time Lennon cleared Ruta he and Bearman were over 13 seconds behind Coronel. That gap was then eliminated on lap six as the safety car appeared.

The restart was two laps later, and Coronel nailed his timing to prevent Van Langendonck from attacking. When his chaser showed suprerior pace on the next lap, Coronel responded with the fastest lap and began lap 13 with a 5.8s gap to Bearman who was being attacked by Lennon.

AKM’s Abdullah Kamel triggered another safety car period at the end of that lap, but the field was able to race again on the 15th and final lap and Coronel comfortably claimed victory.

Bansal had overtaken Ruta on lap 13, and after Lennon made a failed overtaking attempt on Bearman around the outside of turn one he came under attack for fourth. At turn six Bansal made a lunge, Lennon ran off but they maintained their positions. Savinkov and Pedro Lima (VAR) finished seventh and eight from 16th and 18th on the grid respectively, and Palmowski was shuffled down to 11th on the final lap.

Drivers headed to race three’s grid on slick tyres, but the track was damp and Chiara Battig (Campos) started from the pitlane rather than 29th after opting to change to the grooved rubber.

Van Langendonck had pole and moved to the inside to cover off Lennon, allowing Coronel to go from fourth to second on the outside. But he braked early for turn one and Lennon got back past. A four-car crash at turn two meant the safety car was called, with the boards being shown as the leading drivers reached turn six. Lennon, Bearman and Coronel narrowly avoided colliding.

Savinkov and Orsini pitted for wet tyres, and a majority of drivers made the same decision in the next laps as it started raining. Bearman and Coronel went in on lap four, leaving Lennon to attack Van Langendonck on the lap five restart. Savinkov was up to fourth by turn three, and by turn six the sliding Bansal led him, Battig and Orsini as Van Langendonck fell down the order before slithering into the pits along with his team-mates.

Mathilda Paatz (Mathilda Racing) was among those on a charge, while Palmowski lost ground and her front wing.

The top two were testing the limits of worsening track conditions, and on lap eight Savinkov got alongside Bansal exiting turn six then swept around the outside of him through turn seven. Battig went down Bansal’s inside at turn three two laps later, and Paatz did the same on lap 11.

Savinkov ended up winning the treacherous 13-lap encounter by 7.725s, with Bansal holding off Orsini for fourth while Samuel Ifrid took sixth after battling past his early-pitting Cram Motorsport team-mate Andre Rodriguez and then Arn.

Palmowski finished 15th, two places ahead of Coronel. Bearman was 20th, and Van Langendonck was Rodin’s top driver in a very distant 22nd with fastest lap.

Results round-up
Race 1 (7 laps)
1 Dries Van Langendonck Rodin Motorsport 37m52.840s
2 Alfie Slater Rodin Motorsport +1.050s
3 Levi Arn Jenzer Motorsport +2.026s
4 Alisha Palmowski Campos Racing +2.789s
5 Noah Killion US Racing +3.593s
6 Arjen Kraling US Racing +4.618s
7 Felipe Reijs AKM Motorsport +5.865s
8 Tomas Rudokas Renauer Motorsport +6.999s
9 Ginevra Panzeri AS Motorsport +8.160s
10 Ludovico Busso US Racing +9.051s
Fastest lap: Kraling, 2m12.718s

Race 2 (15 laps)
1 Rocco Coronel Van Amersfoort Racing 33m59.657s
2 Van Langendonck +0.857s
3 Thomas Bearman Van Amersfoort Racing +2.570s
4 Ethan Lennon Rodin Motorsport +2.991s
5 Ary Bansal US Racing +3.553s
6 Alexander Ruta Van Amersfoort Racing +4.534s
7 Olexander Savinkov US Racing +5.755s
8 Pedro Lima Van Amersfoort Racing +6.079s
9 Oscar Repetto Cram Motorsport +6.518s
10 Samuel Ifrid Cram Motorsport +7.461s
FL: Coronel, 1m55.819s

Race 3 (13 laps)
1 Savinkov 33m09.777s
2 Chiara Battig Campos Racing +7.725s
3 Mathilda Paatz Mathilda Racing +8.802s
4 Bansal +14.253s
5 Vittorio Orsini AKM Motorsport +14.933s
6 Ifrid +15.712s
7 Arn +16.399s
8 Andre Rodriguez Cram Motorsport +17.336s
9 Abdullah Kamel AKM Motorsport +22.388s
10 Busso +23.823s
FL: Van Langendonck, 1m59.979s

Championship standings
1 Van Langendonck 48   2 Savinkov 31   3 Coronel 26   4 Bansal 22   5 Arn 21   6 Battig 18   7 Slater 18   8 Bearman 15   9 Paatz 15   10 Palmowski 12

The post Van Langendonck on top after FWinter Series round one at Estoril appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: Gedlich Racing

The 2026 Formula Winter Series began in chaotic fashion at a wet Estoril last Saturday.

A two-day test immediately preceded the season opener, and Alexander Ruta (Van Amersfoort Racing) was the driver to beat. He set a 1m40.653s to edge Dries Van Langendonck (Rodin Motorsport) by 0.075 seconds. Alisha Palmowski (Campos Racing) and Rocco Coronel (VAR) were also within 0.2s of his pace, and a second covered the top 12 in the 31-driver field.

There were two qualifying sessions on Saturday morning, and in Q1 a combination of bad weather and red flag periods triggered by Oscar Repetto (Cram Motorsport), Rafaela Ferreira (Campos Racing) and Pedro Lima (VAR) led to only 16 drivers registering laptimes fast enough (within 107% of the pole pace) to qualify for race one.

Van Langendonck claimed pole with a 1.79s gap to team-mate Alfie Slater, and Palmowski was 3.508s off the pace in third. Teodor Borenstein (Jenzer Motorsport) was 3.591s behind in fourth, and the only other drivers within five seconds of Van Langendonck were Levi Arn (Jenzer), Ruta and Ary Bansal (US Racing).

Thomas Bearman and team-mate Coronel were among the ‘non-qualifiers’ in 21st and 24th, with the next seven drivers (including those who caused the red flag periods) ending qualifying with no laptimes next to their name at all.

Following the session, stewards decided that the pace shown by drivers in testing meant that all 31 could contest race one.

The order of the top 16 was set by Q1’s results, but they had no bearing on the starting positions beyond that. Stewards decided to use testing’s results for the rest of the order, putting Coronel and Bearman 17th and 18th on the grid, with Ethan Lennon (Rodin) 19th having registered no laptimes at all in qualifying.

Repetto got to start 20th, despite causing a red flag period, and at the back of the grid were Ferreira and Mathilda Paatz (Mathilda Racing).

Drivers’ second-best laps in Q1 set the grid for race two at FWinter Series events, but only three drivers put down a second laptime that could count. Palmowski set a 2m02.045s to earn pole by 1.575s over Felipe Reijs, whose AKM Motorsport team-mate Vittorio Orsini was a further 0.826s behind.

Pre-event testing’s results again set the rest of the grid, meaning Ruta qualified fourth ahead of Van Langendonck, Coronel, Bearman and Bansal.

Q2 was faster, and disrupted far less. AKM’s Abdullah Kamel was the only driver who failed to lap fast enough to qualify for race three, and Lima was absent from the session, but permission was still granted to race.

Van Langendonck set a 1m56.953s late on to beat Lennon to pole by 0.312s. Slater completed a Rodin 1-2-3, 1.169s behind his pole-setting team-mate and 0.17s ahead of Coronel in fourth. Bearman and Repetto were also within two seconds of pole, and three seconds covered the top 15.

Qualifying round-up
Race 1 grid
1 Dries Van Langendonck Rodin Motorsport 1m58.349s
2 Alfie Slater Rodin Motorsport +1.790s
3 Alisha Palmowski Campos Racing +3.508s
4 Teodor Borenstein Jenzer Motorsport +3.591s
5 Levi Arn Jenzer Motorsport +4.048s
6 Alexander Ruta Van Amersfoort Racing +4.629s
7 Ary Bansal US Racing +4.696s
8 Noah Killion US Racing +5.088s
9 Felipe Reijs AKM Motorsport +5.100s
10 Arjen Kraling US Racing +5.112s

Race 2 grid
1 Palmowski 2m02.045s
2 Reijs +1.575s
3 Vittorio Orsini AKM Motorsport +2.401s
4 Ruta -21.392s
5 Van Langendonck -21.317s
6 Rocco Coronel Van Amersfoort Racing -21.240s
7 Thomas Bearman Van Amersfoort Racing -21.179s
8 Bansal -21.159s
9 Ethan Lennon Rodin Motorsport -21.155s
10 Slater -20.727s

Race 3 grid
1 Van Langendonck 1m56.953s
2 Lennon +0.312s
3 Slater +1.169s
4 Coronel +1.339s
5 Bearman +1.609s
6 Oscar Repetto Cram Motorsport +1.637s
7 Borenstrein +2.030s
8 Olexander Savinkov US Racing +2.141s
9 Arn +2.270s
10 Ruta +2.366s

The post Formula Winter Series season starts with qualifying chaos at wet Estoril appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: Eurocup-3

MP Motorsport had the perfect afternoon at Estoril on Sunday as they clinched a lockout of the podium in Eurocup-3 race two.

It was an all-Campos fight for pole in the morning, with Esteban Masson and Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak continually trading top spot. Eventually Inthraphuvasak came out on top, his final lap putting him back ahead of Masson by 0.248 seconds.

MP’s Mari Boya was a further 0.041s slower in third place, and his team-mate Bruno del Pino went fourth fastest with his final lap. Sebastian Ogaard, Masson’s closest title rival, was half a second off the pace in fifth.

Boya made the strongest start in the race but the two Campos drivers ahead immediately swept to the inside to cover him off. At turn one Masson moved back to the outside and overtook his team-mate at turn two, while Boya demoted Inthraphuvasak at Curva VIP.

Masson already had a 1.8s lead at the end of lap one, and was three seconds clear of Boya on lap four when the safety car was summoned due to Jorge Campos beaching his car on a kerb after a clash with Daniel Mavlyutov.

The restart did not take place until lap eight, and Masson left it as late as possible to return to racing speeds. He weaved multiple times down the pit straight before accelerating, and was put under investigation by the stewards.

Inthraphuvasak was passed by Sebastian Ogaard and then Bruno del Pino as he went off track twice, while Masson streaked away again. He built a lead of 1.2s, but then that started to be reduced by Boya and he was only a third of a second ahead when he served a drive-through penalty at the end of lap 13.

That left Boya comfortably at the front of an MP 1-2-3-4, until the last lap when Inthraphuvasak reclaimed fourth from del Pino. Jose Garfias finished third, having passed Javier Sagrera early on and then del Pino and Inthraphuvasak mid-race.

Masson recovered one spot after exiting the pits in 15th, but his non-score means his championship lead over Ogaard has now been reduced to five points. Boya is one further point behind.

Race result (18 laps)

The post Boya leads MP 1-2-3 after Eurocup-3 leader Masson gets penalty appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: F4 Spain

Enzo Deligny reduced the points lead of Theophile Nael during Spanish Formula 4’s Sunday races at Estoril, although his title chances remain slim.

The day’s action began with the weekend’s second qualifying session, and five different drivers spent time atop the timesheet. Sainteloc Racing’s Nael was fastest at first, then Global Racing Service’s Carl Bennett was briefly on top before Campos Racing’s Christian Ho brought the pace down into the 1m42s.

Nael went 1.625 seconds faster than Ho on his next lap, but Ho then went 1.037s faster than him. He improved again on his next two laps, and a 1m38.679s laptime kept him on top for two-and-a-half minutes before team-mate Deligny posted a 1m38.5580s. Nael beat that by 0.045s, then MP Motorsport’s Valerio Rinicella shaved another 0.101s off, before Ho secured race three pole by 0.017s over Deligny with a 1m38.335s.

The race two grid was set from each driver’s second-best lap from qualiftying, and Nael took pole by 0.199s with a 1m38.616s lap. He converted that into victory, with Deligny weaving down the pit straight after a slow start but successfully turning his front row spot into second place in the race.

George Zhuravskiy’s car set on fire at the end of the formation lap, meaning another formation lap was required and the race was shortened by a lap. One driver pitted at the end of that formation lap, and when the race did begin Jeronimo Berrio failed to get off the line. Marshals pushed his car to eventually get it going, leading to him being black-flagged, while title contener Valerio Rinicella got spun around at turn one and Jesse Carrasquedo retired in the pits at the end of lap one.

Ho and Matteo De Palo established themselves in third and fourth before the safety car appeared due to Juan Cota spinning. Nael went incredibly early on the lap four restart, while behind Pedro Clerot and Keanu Al Azhari fought over sixth. Clerot got his pass done on the next lap, and Al Azhari later lost another spot to Noah Stromsted who started 13th.

Alex Ninovic was involved in their battles but finished ninth following a failed move on Al Azhari, dropping him behind Valentin Kluss.

Race three was also dramatic, with Al Azhari having a big trip through the gravel on lap one, and the safety car appearing on lap two due to Isaac Barashi, Sebastian Murray and Zhuravskiy colliding. Lin Hodenius pitted for a new front wing following that, and when racing resumed on lap six Deligny took the lead around the outsie of turn one while Andres Cardenas passed Noah Lisle for fifth.

The safety car soon returned to track due to Fernando Barrichello and Alexander Abkhazava colliding, and on the next restart there was further drama as Nael’s rear wing broke and fell down the order. He and Carl Bennett retired in the pits, while Deligny won by 1.35s over Ho who has moved ahead of Rinicella for third in the standings.

Results round-up
Race 2 (14 laps)
1 Theophile Nael Sainteloc Racing 24m47.206s
2 Enzo Deligny Campos Racing +0.807s
3 Christian Ho Campos Racing +1.479s
4 Matteo De Palo Campos Racing +2.387s
5 Pedro Clerot MP Motorsport +2.959s
6 Noah Stromsted Campos Racing +4.270s
7 Keanu Al Azhari MP Motorsport +8.442s
8 Valentin Kluss MP Motorsport +9.295s
9 Alex Ninovic Carlin +10.718s
10 Andres Cardenas Campos Racing +11.070s
Pole: Nael, 1m38.616s
Fastest lap: Stromsted, 1m39.196s

Race 3 (15 laps)
1 Deligny 32m22.873s
2 Ho +1.350s
3 Valerio Rinicella MP Motorsport +2.254s
4 Cardenas +4.737s
5 Clerot +5.402s
6 Noah Lisle Carlin +8.894s
7 Kluss +9.219s
8 Juan Cota Drivex School +10.275s
9 De Palo +11.169s
10 Hiyu Yamakoshi Tecnicar Motorsport +12.810s
P: Ho, 1m38.335s
FL: Clerot, 1m38.968s

Championship standings
1 Nael 242   2 Deligny 181   3 Ho 167   4 Rinicella 164   5 Clerot 140   6 De Palo 109   7 Stromsted 103   8 Cardenas 87   9 Al Azhari 83   10 Lisle 40

The post Deligny boosts his Spanish F4 title hopes with Estoril win appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: Eurocup-3

Campos Racing’s Esteban Masson extended his Eurocup-3 points lead with victory at Estoril.

MP Motorsport’s Mari Boya was fastest in the first free practice session, a 1m34.963s putting him 0.056 seconds ahead of team-mate Bruno del Pino in second place. Campos Racing’s Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak was 0.1s behind in third, and his team-mate Masson was the slowest driver of all as he was 6.51s off the pace in 17th place.

Boya was on top again in FP2, setting a 1m35.001s to lead by Inthraphuvasak by 0.022s. Masso showed his true pace, going 0.115s slower than Boya in third, and del Pino was fourth. Palou Motorsport’s Jorge Campos was unable to set a representative laptime in the session.

Masson went even faster in qualifying, taking pole with a 1m34.869s lap. Boya could not match his pace from earlier in the day, qualifying 0.638s off the pace in fourth and behind Campos’s Francesco Braschi and Sebastian Ogaard. Drivex School’s Nick Gilkes and Inthraphuvasak were within 0.04s of him.

The FP1 struggles were a distant memory for Masson by the end of race one, as he claimed his fifth win of 2023 by 6.357s.

Braschi was similarly unrivalled in second, whiole Ogaard had to resist attacks from Boya for third on lap seven, then keep him at bay through lap nine before going too aggressively to the inside down the pit straight on lap 11 and enabling Boya to easily sweep past on the outside before turn one.

Gilkes was pressuring Ogaard by the end of the 20-lapper, and Jose Garfias was a lonely sixth.

Miron Pingasov finished seventh, passing Suleiman Zanfari on lap three and then Dario Cabanelas on lap 16 to get into the position. Cabenelas conceded his position with an unforced error that sent him off track, and at the start of the next lap he lost eighth to del Pino.

Zanfari had fallen behind del Pino on lap six, then behind Inthraphuvasak – whose attempted lap one pass on Gilkes dropped him to 10th – on lap seven and behind Daniel Nogales on lap 10 to eventually finish 12th.

Race result (20 laps)

The post Masson extends Eurocup-3 lead with Estoril win appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: F4 Spain

Sainteloc Racing’s Theophile Nael claimed his sixth Spanish Formula 4 win on Saturday at Estoril.

The day kicked off with a 40-minute practice session, and Campos Racing’s Enzo Deligny and Christian Ho traded top spot through the first half of it. Deligny’s 1m38.443s set 20 minutes in was not beaten until 10 minutes later when Nael set a 1m38.361s and MP Motorsport’s Pedro Clerot was just 0.01 seconds slower than him.

His team-mate Jeronimo Berrio slotted into fifth place, 0.197s off the pace, and there was no charge to the order until MP’s Valerio Rinicella went eighth fastest with eight minutes to go. On his next lap he went fastest by 0.05s to end FP1 on top, and in the final minute MP’s Keanu Al Azhari was black flagged for track limits abuse.

FP2 took place several hours later and Nael was fastest with a 1m38.375s lap. Deligny was 0.265s behind in second place, with Ho and team-mate Andres Cardenas in third and fourth.

Alex Ninovic, Al Azhari and Deligny had each spent time at the top when the session was red flagged “due to the collapse of the TL system”. When it restarted, the previous fastest laps had been deleted and Al Azhari was back on top. Campos’s Matteo De Palo was therefore officially the first driver into the 1m39s later on. Ho then Nael lowered the pace, before another red flag stoppage caused by Isaac Barashi striking trouble at turn two.

Luciano Morano, Al Azhari, Sebastian Murray, Kai Daryanani and Fernando Barrichello were all black flagged during the session, and Barashi even got a stop-go penalty.

The first qualifying session followed not too long after FP2, and Nael pipped fellow Frenchman Deligny to race one pole by 0.179s. Ho and De Palo were third and fourth fastest, with Clerot and Cardenas in fifth and sixth.

Nael had to resist an attempted turn one move from Deligny on lap one of the race, then pulled away for a points lead-extending win. Deligny had Ho in his mirrors throughout but an overtake was never attempted, and Clerot held fourth over Cardenas despite a lengthy side-by-side battle on lap four after he had a brief off.

There was drama further down the order as Valentin Kluss retired following a lap one collision at the hairpin, Noah Lisle had to pit at the end of that lap and Morano suffered sidepod damage before leaving the race a few laps later.

Alexander Abkhazava ended up in the gravel on lap two, Fernando Barrichello ended his race in the pits on lap five and later Alvise Rodella and Theodor Jensen had contact.

Race result (19 laps)

The post Theophile Nael turns pole into victory in Spanish F4 race one at Estoril appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: Eurocup-3

Esteban Masson outpaced two-time IndyCar champion Alex Palou to top Eurocup-3’s pre-event test at Estoril.

Campos Racing driver Masson topped the day’s first 55-minute session by 0.342 seconds over Palou, driving for his own Palou Motorsport team. Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak (Campos) and Mari Boya (MP Motorsport) were 0.405s and 0.471s behind in third and fourth, with only two other drivers within a second of the pace.

Emmo Fittipaldi, who will be making his series debut this weekend with Global Racing Service, and Drivex School’s Nick Gilkes did not record any laptimes.

Masson set the benchmark laptime of the session then pitted with 10 minutes to go, with Boya his closest rival at that point. Boya could not improve his pace, while Palou was able to go faster on one lap to rise from third to second, and Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak jumped from 12th to fourth, then improved again in the final minute to take third place.

Campos’s Suleiman Zanfari was first to the top in session two, then Inthraphuvasak. Palou was the first person in the afternoon to lap in the 1m35s, and he was on top when red flags waved 22 minutes in as Miron Pingasov stopped at turn seven with session-ending issues.

It was a long wait for everyone else before they could head back on track, but Masson and Inthraphuvasak did not take long to beat Palou’s pace. Masson set a 1m35.019s, and Inthraphuvasak was 0.172s slower than him. At the very end he improved to get within 0.12s of him.

They were among six drivers to better their session one pace, and this time Sebastian Ogaard and Jose Garfias skipped the action. Nobody could beat Masson and Inthraphuvasak’s times in the last two sessions, with Masson skipping session three and Inthraphuvasak absent from session four, but Boya was able to match Inthraphuvasak’s pace as he topped both sessions.

Sainteloc Racing’s Dario Cabenelas was fastest at first in session three, and after a red flag period Gilkes knocked the pace down to 1m36.247s. Palou Motorsport’s Javier Sagrera then broke into the 1m35s, but found a pace ceiling and was shuffled down to fourth place behind Boya, who set a 1m35.139s, Inthraphuvasak and Campos’s Francesco Braschi.

There was little track action early in session four, with Fittipaldi and Campos’s Suleiman Zanfari the fastest two but also the only two going on proper runs.

Once Palou joined in he immediately went 0.469s faster than Zanfari, but Cabanelas then bettered Palou by 0.17s. Braschi brough the pace down into the 1m35s in the session’s second half, before Boya went on a run of improvements and ended the session with a 1m35.202s. Palou was 0.429s behind in second place, and just 0.013s ahead of Braschi.

Garfias and Sebastian Gravlund were two of the slowest drivers on track, and the only ones not to improve after session one.

Pre-event test results

The post IndyCar champion Palou makes test cameo for his own Eurocup-3 team appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: Andres Cardenas

Campos Racing’s Andres Cardenas was the pace-setter in Spanish Formula 4’s pre-event test day at Estoril.

The first of the day’s four sessions was topped by MP Motorsport’s Keanu Al Azhari, a 1m39.288s putting him just 0.013 seconds ahead of Cardenas.

There was a mix of drivers who were able to improve late on along with those who found their peak pace earlier in the session, with Al Azhari’s fastest lap coming on the 11th of 21 laps of the track he did.

His team-mate Valerio Rinicella was 0.051s behind in third, and just 0.001s split him and Sainteloc Racing’s Theophile Nael in fourth. Christian Ho, another of Campos’s drivers, completed a top five covered by 0.059s and the top 26 were spread by 0.946s.

The pace improved slightly in session two, as Ho moved to the top of the day’s combined timesheet with a 1m39.111s laptime.

Tecnicar Motorsport’s Hiyu Yamakoshu was fastest when the first red flag stoppage occurred a few minutes in due to Flavio Olivieri stopping in the second sector. When the session eventually resumed, Rinicella lowered the pace to 1m40.203s. That only put him on top for two minutes before MP’s Pedro Clerot set a 1m39.501s.

His team-mate Alvise Rodella got within 0.006s of him, then Jeronimo Berrio went the top by 0.028s over Valentin Kluss and 0.048s over Al Azhari with a 1m39.415s lap.

Kluss moved ahead by 0.048s on his next lap just before red flags waved again as GRS’s Isaac Barashi struck trouble at turn four. The session resumed with 15 minutes left on the clock, and Kluss was not beaten until Campos’s Matteo De Palo set a 1m39.254s with eight minutes to go.

That was then beaten by Cardenas and Jesse Carrasquedo, and later Ho set the session’s benchmark which was 0.029s faster than Cardenas’s time. Cardenas did not get a chance to respond as session-ending red flags appeared due to Fernando Barrichello having an issue at turn three.

A 1m39.419s from De Palo was the benchmark time a third of the way into session three, but going into the second half it was Cardenas on top with a 1m39.076s – the day’s fastest lap.

Ho was 0.187s behind in second when red flags waved due to Carrasquedo striking trouble at turn three, and there was no change to the top seven places after the restart. Noah Stromsted was third fastest, and one of five to set their fastest lap in session three.

There were red flags before anyone set a laptime in session four, and eventually action got going with Ricardo Gracia setting the pace. Al Azhari then moved ahead, staying there until his 1m39.193s lap was deleted with a few minutes to go. That promoted Rinicella to the top, by 0.132s over Al Azhari. Rinicella, Gracia, who was fourth fastest, and Kai Daryanani were the only two drivers to improve in that session. Meanwhile Al Azhari was among the six who failed to imrove after session one.

Sebastian Murray (Sainteloc) and Valentin Kluss (MP) were new additions to the Spanish F4 paddock.

Pre-event test results

The post Andres Cardenas quickest in Spanish F4’s pre-event test at Estoril appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: ACI Sport

The 2023 calendars for the Italian and Spanish Formula 4 championships have been revealed, with big changes to the international aspect of their schedules.

Italian F4 raced exclusively within the borders of Italy from 2014 to 2017, then for its fifth season it added a round at France’s Paul Ricard circuit.

That was dropped in favour of visits to the Hungaroring and Red Bull Ring in 2019, and the Austrian venue has remained on the calendar since. However it is dropped for 2023, with Italian F4 instead going to Paul Ricard for the first time in two years.

Next season will kick off at Imola on April 21-23, then round two is provisionally down to take place at Misano on May 5-7.

Having joined the calendar this year, Spa-Francorchamps remains on the schedule and hosts the championship on May 26-28.

Monza is up next on June 23-25, then Paul Ricard appears on July 21-23. After the summer break the series concludes with races at Mugello (September 29-October 1) and Vallelunga (October 13-15).

It is understood that the Imola, Paul Ricard and Mugello rounds could be on the Formula Regional European Championship support bill. FREC’s provisional calendar has been shown to teams but is yet to be finalised.

The final versions of the FREC and Italian F4 calendars will be settled in December, and there are big changes from the previous provisional calendar which was distributed publicly by F4’s promoter WSK just two days before series organiser ACI released the current one.

Vallelunga had been down for a May date, Misano was due to host the series in June on the days that Monza now occupies, and Italian Grand Prix venue Monza was to appear in September on the third or fourth weekend of the month.

For the second time in three years, the Spanish F4 season will start at Spa in 2023. The Belgian track joined the calendar in 2021 as the season opener, and also appeared on the schedule this year alongside Algarve as international rounds. Next year it will host Spanish F4 on May 5-7.

The series then heads to Motorland Aragon (May 26-28) and Navarra (June 23-25), before a big break that leads into a busy end of season.

Jerez hosts round four on September 22-24, and a week later the series heads to Portugal. Algarve has been swapped out though, with Estoril appearing on the calendar for the first time since 2017 in its place.

After that are the final two rounds at Valencia (October 20-22) and Barcelona (November 10-12).

The post Italian F4 returns to Paul Ricard, Spanish F4 goes back to Estoril in 2023 appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: Fotospeedy

Sebastian Ogaard took a lights-to-flag victory for Van Amersfoort Racing in the final Euroformula race of the weekend at Estoril.

The Danish rookie, who came second in Spanish Formula 4 last year, led away from pole and resisted an early challenge from Frederick Lubin before coming home 0.182 seconds clear of the Motopark driver. 

Lubin tried to take the lead at the start of the second lap but, on the outside line through turns one and two, eventually had to concede. 

CryptoTower Racing Team’s Christian Mansell made another strong start to take third away from his team-mate Vladislav Lomko, and race two winner Oliver Goethe made amends for poor getaways in the first two races by passing Josh Mason for fifth.

Motopark’s Goethe was soon past Lomko into fourth, with the top six drivers running nose-to-tail in the first half of the 20-lap contest.

Ogaard and Lubin eventually pulled over two seconds clear as Mansell fended off a challenge from Goethe behind to finish third.

Despite missing out on a podium spot, Goethe ended the first round with a three-point lead over his countryman Ogaard.

Lomko came home fifth, while VAR’s Nicola Marinangeli passed Mason for sixth in the closing stages.

Mason also lost a further place to Marinangeli’s team-mate Filip Ugran, who recovered from an early error to finish seventh. 

BVM Racing’s Francesco Simonazzi was ninth ahead of Drivex School’s Alex Peroni.

Race result (20 laps)

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