Photo: AGI Sport

Noah Killion became AU4 champion in the final round at Sydney Motorsport Park on September 27/28, and won all three of the weekend’s races.

Pre-event testing took place at night, free practice was on Friday then qualifying filled Saturday morning.

In Q1, Killion was beaten to top spot by Harrison Duske, who took pole by 0.1518 seconds.

Cohen Kokotovich was 0.2697s off Duske in third, while Isaac McNeill was 0.6211s back in fourth.

Brock Burton beat Imogen Radburn to fifth by 0.0094s, and both were within 0.73s of pole.

Killion improved by 0.4982s in Q2 to 1m28.8878s, and topped the times by 0.3237s over Duske. Kokotovich and Burton were both over 0.7s behind, and McNeill trailed by 0.8552s in fifth.

Duske had to get defensive straight away at the start of race one, but it was fruitless as Killion went straight past on the inside into a lead he would not give up. He built a 1.7s gap before the race was neutralised following a huge crash in which Chloe Lane went off, then rejoined the track at high speed and ploughed into Koby Wilson.

The restart was not until lap 10 of 12, and Kokotovich took second around the outside of turn one. Duske got back past at turn two on lap 11, then Kokotovich got a five-second penalty that demoted him to fifth. McNeill and Radburn profited, and Burton would have too if not for their own five-second penalty that put them sixth.

Andrew Fitzpatrick won the class for first-generation F4 cars in seventh place.

Killion started on pole for race two the next day, and led lights-to-flag. Kokotovich dropped behind Burton and McNeill to fifth on lap one, but approaching turn two on lap two pulled off a double move on the outside after McNeill defended heavily on the preceding straight.

McNeill later overtook Burton, then passed Kokotovich exiting turn two on lap three.

De’argo Stewart crashed out by spinning on a kerb exiting turn five on lap five, then Radburn crashed exiting turn seven on lap six, prompting a safety car period that left just one lap of racing after. JesseJames Samuels had a huge crash as the last lap began, while Killion held on up front for victory. Fitzpatrick again took Gen1 honours in seventh.

The season ended with Killion’s ninth victory. He had severe wheelspin off the line from pole and Duske the lead into turn one, with McNeill rising to third. The trio squabbled, with Kokotovich right behind, until the safety car appeared on lap four due to Stewart stopping.

Duske created a gap for the lap six restart, and McNeill attacked Killion into turn two. But by the end of the lap, the top two were close again and there was a fight further back for third. Killion tried a switchback move at turn two on lap seven and a squirm led to he and Duske colliding.

McNeill and Kokotovich passed Killion, while Duske spun down to last. He recovered to seventh, while Kokotovich ended up outside of the top 10 after breaking his front wing on McNeill and needing to pit.

Killion reclaimed the lead by passing McNeill through turn four on lap 11 of 14, then sprinted away. McNeill resisted intense attacks from Burton and Radburn, but a five-second penalty dropped him to fifth as Fitzpatrick picked up another win in sixth.

Results round-up
Race 1 (12 laps)
1 Noah Killion AGI Sport 26m55.7312s
2 Harrison Duske Tim Macrow Racing +1.1315s
3 Isaac McNeill Volante Rosso +5.4024s
4 Imogen Radburn AGI Sport +6.0894s
5 Cohen Kokotovich AGI Sport +7.5051s
6 Brock Burton +10.6962s
7 Andrew Fitzpatrick Fitzpatrick Racing +13.3470s
8 De’argo Stewart AGI Sport +15.8854s
9 JesseJames Samuels AGI Sport +21.1537s
10 Christian Ayrouth AGI Sport +23.8933s
Pole: Duske, 1m29.2342s
Fastest lap: Killion, 1m29.8930s

Race 2 (12 laps)
1 Killion 27m07.9048s
2 Duske +0.3465s
3 McNeill +0.9289s
4 Kokotovich +1.4032s
5 Burton +2.2723s
6 Chloe Lane Tim Macrow Racing +4.9481s
7 Fitzpatrick +6.5785s
8 Koby Wilson AGI Sport +6.7087s
9 Jamie Lee-Su AGI Sport +8.4046s
10 Ayrouth +11.1315s
FL: Killion, 1m30.7053s

Race 3 (14 laps)
1 Killion 26m46.1094s
2 Burton +7.4524s
3 Radburn +7.7725s
4 Lane +8.9559s
5 McNeill +11.7780s
6 Fitzpatrick +28.8333s
7 Duske +32.2132s
8 Xavier Babbage Hocke AGI Sport +37.5085s
9 Wilson +41.3312s
10 Lee-Su +41.4724s
P: Killion, 1m28.8878s
FL: Duske, 1m30.4446s

Championship standings
Gen2 1 Killion 311   2 McNeill 271   3 Duske 226   4 Radburn 153   5 Burton 149   6 Kokotovich 146   7 Georgia Morgan 60   8 Lane 29   9 Nathan Gotch 20

Gen1 1 Jensen Marold 313   2 Fitzpatrick 278   3 Wilson 213   4 Stewart 128   5 Samuels 126   6 Lane 122   7 Babbage Hocke 70   8 Lawrence Katsidis 64   9 Lee-Su 55   10 Ayrouth 32

The post Noah Killion wins AU4 title by going unbeaten in Sydney finale appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: AU4

Noah Killion won twice in round four of AU4’s season at Sydney Motorsport Park.

He was comfortably quickest in the first qualifying session, taking pole by 0.5623 seconds over title rival Isaac McNeill. Harrison Duske was 0.936s behind in third, and Andrew Fitzpatrick topped the class for first-generation Formula 4 cars.

McNeill went faster in Q2 to claim race three pole, leading Duske by 0.215s and Killion by 0.2371s. Fitzpatrick was top Gen1 runner again by 0.1359s over Jensen Marold.

Race one later in the day was delayed by cleaning up oil on track, leaving it covered in cement dust. Cohen Kokotovich stalled from fourth, and McNeill tried going around Killion’s outside at turn two. He attempted again at turn four, which gave him the inside for turn five where he got ahead.

Chloe Lane spun before the final corner and stopped, which led to the safety car being called on lap two just as she got going again. That disrupted the Gen1 lead battle, which continued after the lap four restart while Kokotovich recovered to sixth.

Marold passed Fitzpatrick at turn two on lap five, and McNeill almost took the overall lead when lap six began as Kokotovich dropped to eighth.

A big turn two crash for JesseJames Samuels meant the safety car returned at the end of lap eight, and two laps remained when racing resumed.

Kokotovich had recovered to sixth but now dropped to 13th, and McNeill locked up at turn two but was still able to edge ahead of Killion at the end of the penultimate lap.

Killion had the inside line for turn one and reclaimed the lead, which he would not relinquish, while Marold gapped himself from Fitzpatrick. Lane recovered to 10th, ahead of Kokotovich.

The race one fastest lap put Killion on race two pole the next day, and he converted it into victory again.

However he lost the lead almost immediately, as McNeill had the inside for the opening corner. They went side-by-side there on lap two and McNeill flew off, managing to avoid the barriers by spinning and then returning to track at the back.

Jamie Lee-Su spun off at turn one, and only returned to the asphalt after race control summoned the safety car.

The field was released again on lap four, and Kokotovich went down Duske’s inside at turn two for second. Killion rapidly pulled away, and only the inside line kept Kokotovich in second into turn one on lap six.

Duske tried the first two corners again on lap seven, then got back ahead later in the lap. Soon Kokotovich was in 13th, as he stopped after turn one on lap eight.

Meanwhile McNeill had got up to ninth on the restart lap, was seventh next time by, and in sixth by lap six. He went past Kokotovich’s car while passing Nathan Gotch, then hunted down Brock Burton.

He squeezed past on the inside at turn two on lap 11, but went deep and Burton reclaimed third. McNeill was ahead again by turn four, and kept it despite a five-second penalty. De’Argo Stewart crashed approaching the last corner with a lap remaining but it proved non-disruptive.

McNeill made a great start to race three, and Samuels spun at turn two again. The action heated up on lap eight as a wide moment for McNeill put Duske on his gearbox and Burton spun in fifth yet kept the position.

Duske started slowing at turn two on lap 12 and had to retire in the pits. It left McNeill with a 2.1s lead, but Killion cut it to 0.36s before he got a five-second penalty. Kokotovich was third, and the Gen1 win was settled in new champion Marold’s favour on lap two.

Results round-up
Race 1 (13 laps)
1 Noah Killion AGI Sport 28m00.3009s
2 Isaac McNeill Volante Rosso +0.4482s
3 Harrison Duske Tim Macrow Racing +2.1732s
4 Brock Burton +3.0936s
5 Nathan Gotch AGI Sport +6.4430s
6 Jensen Marold AGI Sport +7.6790s
7 Andrew Fitzpatrick Fitzpatrick Racing +9.4177s
8 Georgia Morgan Tim Macrow Racing +12.2530s
9 Koby Wilson AGI Sport +13.0264s
10 Chloe Lane Tim Macrow Racing +13.2858s
Pole: Killion, 1m30.5201s
Fastest lap: Killion, 1m32.1807s

Race 2 (14 laps)
1 Killion 27m25.8822s
2 Duske +2.3775s
3 McNeill +19.9020s
4 Burton +20.0925s
5 Gotch +28.0597s
6 Marold +32.8512s
7 Fitzpatrick +40.5841s
8 Wilson +41.5113s
9 Cohen Kokotovich AGI Sport +41.9704s
10 Lane +54.3950s
FL: Killion, 1m31.6935s

Race 3 (15 laps)
1 McNeill 26m40.8962s
2 Killion +5.3618s
3 Kokotovich +12.1562s
4 Burton +20.5641s
5 Marold +44.0924s
6 Fitzpatrick +55.9040s
7 Wilson +58.4944s
8 Morgan +1m08.0264s
9 Lane +1m09.1231s
10 De’argo Stwart AGI Sport +1m22.1458s
P: McNeill, 1m30.3789s
FL: Killion, 1m31.7891s

Championship standings
Gen2 1 Killion 247   2 McNeill 229   3 Duske 181   4 Imogen Radburn 123   5 Kokotovich 118   6 Burton 106   7 Morgan 60   8 Gotch 20

Gen1 1 Marold 313   2 Fitzpatrick 198   3 Wilson 180   4 Lane 122   5 De’Argo Stewart 110   6 JesseJames Samuels 101   7 Lawrence Katsidis 48   8 Xavier Babbage Hocke 42   9 Nicholas Filipetto 20   10 Jamie Lee-Su 20

The post Killion victorious twice in AU4 round four at Sydney Motorsport Park appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: JCR Multi Media

Noah Killion moved into the lead of AU4’s class for second-generation Formula 4 cars in round three at Phillip Island by winning twice.

In free practice one he set a 1m46.1997s to go fastest in tricky conditions, and Jensen Marold was his surprise closest rival in his first-generation car. There was a 0.6041-second gap between the two.

A representative pace got to be set in FP2, and Harrison Duske spent little time on track but with his final lap posted a 1m33.1802s to go fastest by 0.2822s over then-points leader Isaac McNeill. Cohen Kokotovich was third, 2.8522s off the pace.

Duske remained fastest in the first qualifying session, earning race one pole with a 1m30.6476s lap. Killin was just 0.1627s slower, and McNeill was 0.4377s beind in third. Brock Burton completed a top four covered by 1.2827s, and Marold claimed Gen1 pole for race one in seventh.

Laptimes were faster in Q2, and Duske improved to 1m30.3682s to deny Killion race three pole by 0.1631s. McNeill was a further 0.0233s behind, and Kokotovich was 0.8563s back in fourth. Marold repeated his Q1 performance.

Saturday ended with race one, and Duske did not have to worry about pressure on the opening lap as Killion had a bad start. But the pace advantage belonged to the chasing driver, and he went around the outside of Duske at the sweeping turn one on lap two.

Killion then built a gap, before a mistake brought Duske back into play, but he was able to distance himself again late on and won by 1.4204s.

McNeill had hoped to stay in contention for victory but did not have the pace, and was 6.8655s behind by the finish. Marold had a “straighforward” time dominating the Gen1 class, with rival Andrew Fitzpatrick over 14s behind him in eighth overall.

Killion started on pole for race two the next day and led lights-to-flag on a track that was damp in places.

He was 3.3s clear within a few laps as Duske and McNeill fought over second, with the latter ahead until a high-speed off at turn one that left him with a gap to Duske ahead. But a safety car period then brought them back together, and on the penultimate lap restart McNeill reclaimed the runner-up spot.

Killion finished 1.9121s clear and weaved across the finish line, but copped a five-second penalty that demoted him to fourth and put Imogen Radburn on the podium. Marold was Gen1 winner in fifth.

Duske lost the lead on lap one of race three, then was overtaken by McNeill on lap two. By the time he had recovered a spot, on lap eight when McNeill pitted, he then had to contend with Kokotovich behind him.

Killion won by 1.2848s over Kokotovich, as Duske got a five-second penalty. Fourth-placed Radburn and the lapped McNeill were also penalised, and Marold was class winner again in fifth.

Results round-up
Race 1 (16 laps)
1 Noah Killion AGI Sport 28m02.1112s
2 Harrison Duske Tim Macrow Racing +1.4204s
3 Isaac McNeill Volante Rosso +6.8655s
4 Cohen Kokotovich AGI Sport +9.6049s
5 Imogen Radburn AGI Sport +11.5994s
6 Brock Burton Tim Macrow Racing +13.5450s
7 Jensen Marold AGI Sport +54.7685s
8 Andrew Fitzpatrick Fitzpatrick Racing +1m09.0717s
9 JesseJames Samuels AGI Sport +1m20.8633s
10 Chloe Lane Tim Macrow Racing +1m20.8692s
Pole: Duske, 1m30.6476s
Fastest lap: Killion, 1m31.0265s

Race 2 (13 laps)
1 McNeill 26m39.5536s
2 Duske +0.5006s
3 Radburn +0.8276s
4 Killion +3.0879s
5 Marold +8.1045s
6 Fitzpatrick +11.9532s
7 Samuels +12.3547s
8 Koby Wilson AGI Sport +12.6286s
9 Lane +12.7437s
10 De’argo Stewart AGI Sport +14.1112s
FL: Killion, 1m31.2965s

Race 3 (11 laps)
1 Killion 27m17.4900s
2 Kokotovich +1.2848s
3 Duske +5.6343s
4 Radburn +8.1178s
5 Marold +14.9423s
6 Fitzpatrick +15.9817s
7 Wilson +21.9458s
8 Lane +30.8296s
9 Stewart +31.3182s
10 Lawrence Katsidis +53.4387s
P: Duske, 1m30.3682s
FL: Duske, 1m31.1516s

Championship standings
Gen2 1 Killion 175   2 McNeill 170   3 Duske 148   4 Radburn 123   5 Kokotovich 89   6 Burton 70   7 Georgia Morgan 36

Gen1 1 Marold 235   2 Fitzpatrick 142   3 Wilson 135   4 Stewart 90   5 Samuels 89   6 Lane 86   7 Katsidis 48   8 Nicholas Filipetto 20   9 Xavier Babbage Hocke 18

The post Noah Killion takes AU4 lead at Phillip Island appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: Australian F4

James Piszcyk became Australian Formula 4 champion in round four at Malaysia’s Sepang circuit.

Evans GP’s Kai Daryanani topped practice on Friday morning, setting a 2m09.616s to pip team-mate Tiago Rodrigues by 0.023 seconds. Cooper Webster made it a 1-2-3 for the team, 0.663s behind.

There was then almost a day of rest before the two qualifying sessions. Reigning Chinese F4 champion Rodrigues comfortably took race one pole in the first, posting a 2m10.101s on his final lap to put 0.407s between himself and AGI Sport’s Costa Toparis in second. His team-mate Piszcyk was the only other driver within a second of Rodrigues, with Webster and Daryanani lining up fourth and fifth.

Daryanani returned to the top in Q2, lowering the pace to 2m09.020s. That earned him race three pole by 0.151s over Rodrigues, with Webster and Topari 0.553s and 0.739s behind respectively.

Later on Saturday a lights-to-flag win was delivered by Rodrigues, who in 13 laps built a lead of 7.341s.

Toparis fell to fourth on lap one, with Webster and Piszcyk moving ahead after lots of three-wide action through the first corners. Piszcyk took second place on lap two from Webster, who had run deep into turn one and the last corner but then got back past on lap three.

Piszcyk was then under attack from Toparis, but he could not maintain the pace of the podium contenders who finished 0.441s apart after battling hard through the last three laps.

The battle for eighth was even closer. Initially BlackArts Racing’s Inigo Anton was involved, but once he got ahead he pulled clear, and then Jam Motorsport’s Sebastien Amadio and AGI’s Seth Gilmore were left fighting. Amadio took the place on the penultimate lap, and held on to it by just 0.191s.

Those results set the grid for race two on Sunday morning, meaning Rodrigues was on pole again. But his car did not get going on the formation lap, and after multiple attempts at push starts he had to begin the race from the pits.

Webster therefore occupied the top grid spot and after holding off Piszcyk through the first corners pulled away to win by 1.966s.

Piszcyk and Rodrigues got drive-through penalties for having team personnel on the grid for too long, and after serving his Piszcyk recovered from ninth to sixth while Rodrigues remained in last. Toparis was the next driver to occupy second, and finished there.

Daryanani came third, a position secured having held off Stati in a wheel-to-wheel fight through lap three, and followed that up with a dominant race three win.

Rodrigues started slowly and fell to fourth, with Toparis winning the squabble for second in the opening corners as Stati passed Piszcyk for fifth.

The field spread out, although on lap 10 Piszcyk briefly nosed ahead of Stati and on Rodrigues was all over Webster for third on lap 11. Fifth place for Piszcyk clinched him the title with a round to go.

Results round-up
Race 1 (13 laps)
1 Tiago Rodrigues Evans GP 28m33.355s
2 Cooper Webster Evans GP +7.341s
3 James Piszcyk AGI Sport +7.782s
4 Costa Toparis AGI Sport +9.473s
5 Kai Daryanani Evans GP +13.658s
6 Nicolas Stati AGI Sport +14.659s
7 Inigo Anton BlackArts Racing +27.387s
8 Sebastien Amadio Jam Motorsport +32.191s
9 Seth Gilmore AGI Sport +32.382s
10 Imogen Radburn AGI Sport +1m01.290s
Pole: Rodrigues, 2m10.101s
Fastest lap: Rodrigues, 2m10.510s

Race 2 (13 laps)
1 Webster 28m39.557s
2 Toparis +1.966s
3 Daryanani +4.803s
4 Stati +7.008s
5 Anton +7.553s
6 Piszcyk +22.335s
7 Amadio +23.026s
8 Gilmore +24.733s
9 Radburn +33.003s
10 Rodrigues +34.004s
FL: Rodrigues, 2m11.023s

Race 3 (13 laps)
1 Daryanani 28m32.256s
2 Toparis +5.633s
3 Webster +10.127s
4 Rodrigues +11.170s
5 Stati +19.598s
6 Piszcyk +20.332s
7 Radburn +27.923s
8 Gilmore +28.875s
9 Amadio +34.229s
Ret Anton
P: Daryanani, 2m09.020s
FL: Daryanani, 2m10.997s

Championship standings
1 Piszcyk 256   2 Stati 175   3 Amadio 124   4 Gilmore 110   5 Blake Purdie 97   6 Radburn 74   7 Webter 58   8 Daryanani 50   9 Toparis 48   10 Nathan Gotch 46

The post James Piszcyk crowned Australian F4 champion in Malaysia appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: Australian F4

AGI Sport’s James Piszcyk made it nine wins out of nine in Australian Formula 4 this season with a triple victory at Sydney Motorsport Park.

There were three practice sessions over Thursday and Friday, and James Piszcyk set a 1m28.993s in FP1 to be fastest by a huge 1.3115 seconds over team-mate Nicolas Stati. Piszcyk topped FP2 with a slower pace, and Stati came 0.1s short of matching his personal best when he led FP3.

Piszcyk’s pace advantage continued into qualifying on Saturday, setting a 1m29.5597s to top Q1 by 0.947s over Stati and 1.9691s over other team-mate Seth Gilmore, then in Q2 improving to 1m29.3228s to be fastest by 0.9669s over Stati. This time Jam Motorsport’s Sebastien Amadio was third fastest, 1.6981s slower than Piszyck.

Formula Race Academy’s Lawrence Katsidis and Tim Boydle exceeded the 110% qualifying time in both qualifying sessions, meaning permission to race was required.

Piszcyk turned the first of his poles into a comfortable 5.4547-second victory over Stati in race one, with Gilmore fading to a very distant fifth behind Amadio and AGI’s Imogen Radburn.

Those results set the race two grid, and the top five held their positions throughout. Piszcyk was almost a second per lap faster than closest rival Stati, winning by 15.8738s. A further 10s back was Amadio, who had a 1.5s gap to Radburn.

It was a similar story in race three, with Piszcyk taking 18 laps to put 17.1787s between himself and Stati. Radburn made the podium but was half a minute behind the winner.

There are set to be two more rounds this season, but only one of them has a date and location determined. If the fifth round does not go ahead, then Piszcyk has provisionally already won the title with his current perfect points tally.

Results round-up
Race 1 (15 laps)
1 James Piszcyk AGI Sport 26m37.8981s
2 Nicolas Stati AGI Sport +5.4547s
3 Sebastien Amadio Jam Motorsport +13.5543s
4 Imogen Radburn AGI Sport +21.6870s
5 Seth Gilmore AGI Sport +31.6667s
6 Nathan Gotch Formula Race Academy +42.3166s
7 Nicholas Filipetto Formula Race Academy +45.9873s
8 Lawrence Katsidis Formula Race Academy +1m22.4467s
9 Tim Boydle Formula Race Academy +1m25.3132s
Ret Mark Wilson Formula Race Academy
Pole: Piszyck, 1m29.5597s
Fastest lap: Piszyck, 1m30.6019s

Race 2 (16 laps)
1 Piszcyk 26m57.1063s
2 Stati +15.8738s
3 Amadio +26.6297s
4 Radburn +28.1371s
5 Gilmore +36.0948s
6 Gotch +56.1466s
7 Filipetto +59.5770s
8 John Paul Drake Jam Motorsport +1m24.5490s
9 Boydle +1 lap
10 Wilson +1 lap
FL: Piszcyk, 1m30.2809s

Race 3 (18 laps)
1 Piszcyk 27m20.2988s
2 Stati +17.1787s
3 Radburn +30.0271s
4 Amadio +37.8997s
5 Gilmore +45.2353s
6 Gotch +1m10.8664s
7 Filipetto +1m13.4430s
8 Drake +1m30.1398s
9 Wilson +1 lap
10 Katsidis +1 lap
P: Piszcyk, 1m29.3228s
FL: Piszcyk, 1m30.1767s

Championship standings
1 Piszcyk 225   2 Stati 145   3 Amadio 112   4 Gilmore 100   5 Blake Purdie 97   6 Radburn 65   7 Gotch 46   8 Drake 33   9 Filipetto 26   10 Mark Rosser 16

The post Piszcyk dominant yet again in Australian F4 round three at Sydney appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: Australian F4

Round two of the revived Australian Formula 4 championship took place at The Bend Motorsport Park, and James Piszcyk dominated the event.

There were two test sessions on Friday, with only four drivers contesting the first. AGI Sport’s Nicolas Stati set a 2m01.713s to be fastest by 2.605 seconds over team-mate Seth Gilmore. There were 11 cars in the longer second session, and Piszcyk lowered the pace to 1m49.9789s. He led Stati by 0.1016s, with Jam Motorsport’s Blake Purdie 0.7874s behind in third.

Saturday began with practice, and Piszcyk was fastest by 1.0959s over Stati after setting a 1m50.8431s. Purdie trailed by 1.4537s, and Gilmore was 2.2388s back in fourth as 13 drivers took part.

Qualifying began just over two hours later, with the field back down to 11 cars, and Piszcyk topped both sessions. He claimed race one pole in Q1 by 0.4213s over Purdie, with Stati 0.7767s behind, and in Q2 improved to 1m49.3115s to take three pole by 0.3772s over Purdie. There was again big gaps at the top, with Stati 0.947s off pole in third.

Piszcyk led lights-to-flag in race one, building a three-second lead in six laps. After that Purdie closed in, and was 1.2s behind at the end of the 15-lap race. Stati lost touch with them in the race’s final third and finished 7.7s behind, and Jam’s Sebastien Amadio was an even lonelier fourth.

Gilmore spun but still finished fifth, and AGI’s Imogen Radburn passed Nathan Gotch at turn one on lap three and overtook John-Paul Drake on lap five before soaking up pressure from both to finish sixth.

Race one’s results set race two’s grid, and Piszcyk had another lights-to-flag victory despite a bit of a lurching start. Mark Wilson spun off on lap one and it meant the afety car led the field for three laps, then after racing resumed on lap five Piszcyk pulled away from Purdie.

It took him three laps to get a second clear, and he finished the 13-lap race 2.661s ahead. Stati lost third to Amadio on lap one, and tried reclaiming the place at multiple corners on laps two, five and six before finally getting past Amadio aroud the outside of turn one on lap seven.

Jayden Hamilton had a big spin on lap eight and finished ninth, having previously been in seventh.

Race three had lap one drama as Drake went into the back of Hamilton, resulting in him going through the gravel and Hamilton losing his rear wing. The safety car was called, and the restart took place on lap four of 13.

Piszcyk was dominant after that, winning by 8.3728s and setting the lap record on the final tour. Stati finished second after passing Purdie just before the last corner on the penultimate lap.

The fast-starting Amadio overtook Gilmore for fourth on lap one, then was holding him off after the restart. That allowed Radburn to keep with them and then get involved in their fight. On the last lap Radburn snatched sixth in a photo finish.

Results round-up
Race 1 (15 laps)
1 James Piszcyk AGI Sport 27m44.5415s
2 Blake Purdie Jam Motorsport +1.2055s
3 Nicolas Stati AGI Sport +7.7967s
4 Sebastien Amadio Jam Motorsport +27.6666s
5 Seth Gilmore AGI Sport +39.4911s
6 Imogen Radburn AGI Sport +52.7834s
7 John-Paul Drake Jam Motorsport +53.9820s
8 Nathan Gotch Formula Race Academy +54.6137s
9 Jayden Hamilton Tim Macrow Racing +1m32.0925s
10 Mark Wilson Formula Race Academy +1m36.9746s
Pole: Piszcyk, 1m49.6313s
Fastest lap: Purdie, 1m50.2433s

Race 2 (13 laps)
1 Piszcyk 27m36.0557s
2 Purdie +2.6615s
3 Stati +8.4205s
4 Amadio +16.5293s
5 Gilmore +20.3134s
6 Radburn +25.2987s
7 Drake +40.5658s
8 Gotch +41.1637s
9 Hamilton +47.6014s
10 Tim Boydle Formula Race Academy +1 lap
FL: Piszcyk, 1m50.3758s

Race 3 (13 laps)
1 Piszcyk 28m18.2416s
2 Stati +8.3728s
3 Purdie +9.4371s
4 Amadio +21.4776s
5 Radburn +21.6134s
6 Gilmore +21.9748s
7 Gotch +47.9766s
8 Wilson +54.9327s
9 Boydle +1 lap
Ret Drake
P: Piszcyk, 1m49.3115s
FL: Piszcyk, 1m50.1051s

Championship standings
1 Piszcyk 150   2 Purdie 97   3 Stati 91   4 Gilmore 70   5 Amadio 70   6 Radburn 26   7 Drake 25   8 Gotch 22   9 Mark Rosser 16   10 Joanne Ciconte 14

The post Piszcyk dominates Australian F4 round two at The Bend Motorsport Park appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: Top Speed

Australian Formula 4 returned from a four-year hiatus at The Bend Motorsport Park this weekend, and James Piszcyk was the star driver.

The 11-car field got a two-day test, then a single practice session, two qualifying sessions and race one on Saturday.

Piszcyk was fastest by a huge 1.312 seconds over Nicolas Stati in practice, with Blake Purdie the only other driver within two seconds of him. Nobody did more than four laps and at least four drivers did not attempt reaching a representative pace since five seconds covered the top seven and everyone else was more than 12.7s slower than Piszcyk.

Purdie reduced his advantage to 0.4478s in Q1, with Stati 1.012s behind in third. The top 10 were covered by 8.2688s, and Mark Wilson was absent due to an accident in practice.

Piszcyk was more dominant in Q2, which set race three’s grid, going fastest by 0.8487s over Stati and 1.5117s over Purdie. The field was covered by 10.2775s, with Nick Filipetto exceeding 107% of the absolute pace in Q1 and Wilson doing so in Q2. That is the point where many series rule drivers out of races for being too slow.

A 1.25s lead was built by Piszcyk on the opening lap of race one, and it stood at 2.3s on lap six when the safety car appeared after Mark Rosser spun off at the last corner. Racing resumed on lap nine and Purdie attacked Piszcyk through several corners before the safety car was summoned again due to Nathan Gotch spinning off.

The next restart was on lap 11 of 12 and Piszcyk weaved down the pit straight to try breaking the tow. He finished 0.9688s ahead of Purdie, with Stati losing third to a five-second penalty for jumping the start. That meant Seth Gilmore completed the podium, 5.9593s behind. Joanne Ciconte finished seventh despite spinning off mid-race.

Race one’s results set race two’s grid, but John-Paul Drake had to start from the pits due to work having taken place on his car.

Piszcyk made a great start and was 1.7s clear of Purdie within a lap, with that gap at 5.7386s by the end of the 15-lap race.

Sebastien Amadio passed Gilmore for third into turn one the first time, with Stati taking fourth from him at the same corner on lap two and then passing Amadio there on lap four. He finished 16.6699s behind Piszcyk.

Gilmore got back past Amadio on lap six, and they briefly traded places again on lap 13 as they lost more than two seconds per lap to the top two. The only dramatic moment was Drake spinning while attempting a double diving pass mid-race.

Piszcyk won race three by 8.3456s. Stati resisted Purdie’s attempts to take second on lap three, then lost out to him in a photo finish by 0.1548s. But Purdie’s overtake came as he went past a yellow flag, waved due to Filipetto’s car being abandoned at the final corner for four laps, and a 30s penalty dropped him to fifth. Gilmore inherited third, 29.2785s behind Piszcyk.

Results round-up
Race 1 (12 laps)
1 James Piszcyk AGI Sport 28m22.8398s
2 Blake Purdie Jam Motorsport +0.9688s
3 Seth Gilmore AGI Sport +5.9593s
4 Sebastien Amadio Jam Motorsport +7.0840s
5 Nicolas Stati AGI Sport +7.1314s
6 John-Paul Drake Jam Motorsport +10.6689s
7 Joanne Ciconte Formula Race Academy +12.9159s
8 Nick Filipetto Formula Race Academy +15.6052s
9 Mark Wilson Formula Race Academy +27.5393s
Ret Nathan Gotch Formula Race Academy
Pole: Piszyck, 1m49.4471s
Fastest lap: Piszcyk, 1m50.332s

Race 2 (15 laps)
1 Piszcyk 27m37.3754s
2 Purdie +5.7386s
3 Stati +16.6699s
4 Gilmore +34.3399s
5 Amadio +36.3521s
6 Mark Rosser Jam Motorsport +1m07.1824s
7 Ciconte +1m12.4172s
8 Filipetto +1m16.2087s
9 Gotch +1m17.0761s
10 Drake +1m27.7938s
FL: Piszcyk, 1m49.8767s

Race 3 (15 laps)
1 Piszcyk 27m45.6771s
2 Stati +8.3456s
3 Gilmore +29.2785s
4 Amadio +30.2988s
5 Purdie +38.1908s
6 Rosser +56.1563s
7 Gotch +1m08.1134s
8 Drake +1m09.8846s
9 Ciconte +1m33.1265s
10 Wilson +1 lap
P: Piszcyk, 1m48.8938s
FL: Piszyck, 1m50.0871s

Championship standings
1 Piszcyk 75   2 Purdie 46   3 Stati 43   4 Gilmore 42   5 Amadio 34   6 Rosser 16   7 Ciconte 14   8 Drake 13   9 Gotch 8   10 Filipetto 8

The post Piszcyk dominant on Australian F4’s return at The Bend Motorsport Park appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: Chinese F4

There will be 35 drivers in Formula 4 United Arab Emirates’ season opener at Yas Marina Circuit, with eight late additions to the entry list.

All eight are already on track for pre-season testing, which takes place on Wednesday and Thursday of this week.

Having already named two drivers, Hitech GP has now announced a four-car line-up with Deagen Fairclough and Gabriel Stilp joining. Both raced in British F4 last year, with Fairclough taking three wins and third in the standings while 2022 British Karting champion Stilp took one victory en route to ninth in the points table. Fairclough will be part of Hitech’s 2024 British F4 line-up.

Xcel Motorsport has signed Chinese F4 title rivals Tiago Rodrigues and Kaishun Liu as full-time drivers for F4 UAE, then will field Yuanpu Cui and Alvise Rodella part-time.

Rodrigues drove for Champ Motorsport in Chinese F4 last year and with seven wins claimed the title with a race to spare. Smart Life Racing driver Liu also won seven races, including three in the final round, but several non-scores cost him the crown. In 2022 he was eighth in the standings with four podiums from four starts.

The pair also raced in F4 South East Asia part-time last year, with Rodrigues coming fifth and Liu 17th in the standings.

Rodella began 2023 in the Formula Winter Series then came 20th in Spanish F4. He also cameoed in British and Italian F4. After contesting this month’s two F4 UAE rounds, he will hand over his seat for the rest of the season to Mercedes-AMG Formula 1 junior Cui who will be making his single-seater debut.

Australian outfit AGI Sport has signed Carrie Schreiner, Peter Bouzinelos and Nicolas Stati to be team-mates to its F4 SEA champion Jack Beeton. Stati and Bouzenilos, both karting graduates from Australia, were ninth and 19th in F4 SEA last year.

Schreiner is best known for her sportscar exploits, but the 25-year-old German made a return to F4 last year and now expands her single-seater focus.

In 2015 she came 44th in ADAC F4 as a rookie, and was 43rd in 2016 while also coming 17th in a part-time British F4 campaign. She then switched to GT racing, first competing in Lamborghini Super Trofeo events – coming second in the Middle East championship’s top Pro class in 2017 and winning its Pro-am class in 2018 as well as sharing a car with Sebastian Vettel’s brother Fabian in the European series – then joining Germany’s Gran Tourismo Touring Car Cup.

Schreiner won its Class 1 title in an Audi R8 LMS in 2018, and was 24th in ADAC GT Masters in 2019. She was part of a class-winning all-female entry in the 2021 Nurburgring 24 Hours, as well as racing in Italian GT where she was fifth in the Endurance standings.

Her open-wheel comeback in 2023 came about when the all-female F1 Academy series was created. She joined ART Grand Prix and came 11th in the standings with one win. This season she will switch to Campos Racing and represent the Sauber Academy.

The post Chinese F4 rivals and F1 Academy racer Schreiner join F4 UAE grid appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: F4 SEA

The all-Australian combination of Jack Beeton and AGI Sport, 2023’s Formula 4 South East Asia champions, head to Abu Dhabi this weekend to race in Formula 4 United Arab Emirates.

The F4 SEA season lasted little longer than a month and began last October at Chinese track Zhuzhou. Beeton set the pace in the first qualifying session by a huge 2.473 seconds, and he converted that into victory in a wet opening race. A collision meant he retired from the reversed-grid race two, but he bounced for another lights-to-flag win in race three by 16.818s.

He finished fifth and fourth in the two non-championship races in Macau, then three podiums across the remaining two rounds at Sepang meant he comfortably won the title.

Beeton joined Nicolas Todt’s All Road Management stable at the start of 2023, and came 23rd in F4 UAE with the Pinnacle VAR team. Following that he drove for Van Amersfoort Racing in Europe, coming 15th in Euro 4 and 23rd in Italian F4.

AGI Sport has recently been testing with three cars in the UAE, but is yet to confirm if Beeton will have any full-time team-mates in the country’s F4 championship.

Pinnacle will be competing in F4 UAE this year indpendently of VAR, and has signed Kai Daryanani and Yuhao Fu.

Daryanani came 18th in GB4 with one win, 24th in British F4, 27th in Euro 4 and 36th in F4 UAE last year, while Fu took part in a post-season British F4 test last year then joined Pinnacle for F4 SEA’s two Sepang rounds and scored points twice.

The post F4 South East Asia’s Australian title winners to tackle F4 UAE appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: F4 SEA

AGI Sport’s Jack Beeton won the Formula 4 South East Asia title in the Sepang season finale.

Prema’s Kean Nakamura Berta topped pre-event testing, practice and qualifying. In Q1 he took pole by a sizeable 0.655s over team-mate Rashid Al Dhaheri, with other team-mate Doriane Pin 0.772s behind in third. Beeton was the only other driver within a second of the pace.

Nakamura Berta went even faster in Q2 to claim race three pole, setting a 2m07.293s. His opposion got closer, with Al Dhaheri 0.287s off pole and Pin 0.52s behind as she qualified third again. Beeton was 3.063s off the pace in 14th, with Asia Racing Team’s Enzo Yeah fourth fastest and 0.903s off pole.

It all went wrong for Nakamura at the start of race one as he stalled, as did AGI’s Peter Bouzinelos from seventh on the grid, and Al Dhaheri swept sharply to the inside to cover off Pin and Beeton.

The top two pulled away while Beeton battled Kai Daryanani for a few corners. Al Dhaheri weaved down the back straight at the end of lap one. Nakamura had fallen to ninth by lap two.

On lap three Beeton passed Pin for second at turn four. Nakamura got into seventh by lap five, and gained another spot on lap six due to Kaishun Liu spinning into retirement.

The safety car came out, eradicating Al Dhaheri’s two-second lead. Racing resumed on lap nine of 12 and Nakamura immediately slipstreamed into fifth. Daryanani locked up at the end of the lap and Nakamura passed him too, but Daryanani took fourth back at turn one next time by and then got defensive.

Nakamura finally passed him at turn four on lap 11 after several near-misses, and in the queue forming behind Bouzinelos overtook three cars. Al Dhaheri won by 3.697s, Beeton resisted Pin’s last-lap attack and Bouzinelos’s recovered from 15th to 10th to earn reversed-grid pole for race two.

Bouzinelos bogged down on the grid the next morning and Kunpeng Xiao squeezed past on his inside to take the lead. He weaved down every straight to try to prevent Bouzinelos from getting back ahead, but exiting turn four on lap the positions changed. A few corners later Daryanani and Nakamura collided, with Al Dhaheri crashing out too.

The safety car led the field until lap five, and Bouzinelos weaved his way down the pit straight. Xaio tried passing him at turn two but made race-ending contact instead. Nicolas Stati inherited the lead over Pin and the safety car returned.

On the next restart, Beeton tried going around the outside of Pin at turn one then she tried getting on the inside of Stati at turn two. They maintained positions, and Stati secured victory when the safety car came out on the penultimate lap due to Yu Zhang crashing out. Beeton became champion in third.

Race three started behind the safety car, and on a dramatic lap two Nakamura dropped behind both of his team-mates and Yuhao Fu rolled out.

The safety car returned and green flags waved again on lap five. Daryanani passed Nakamura for third, then Al Dhaheri and Nakamura fell to the back of the field. It left Pin with a huge lead which she converted into victory over Daryanani and Bouzinelos.

Sepang should have also hosted the Formula Regional Asian Championship finale. FRAC ran from 2018 to 2022, and had a provisional three-round 2023 calendar with a Chinese round in October, followed by visits to Sepang on back-to-back weekends a month later. But only one driver was announced as racing in FRAC, and no events went ahead.

Results round-up
Race 1 (12 laps)
1 Rashid Al Dhaheri Prema 28m54.508s
2 Jack Beeton AGI Sport +3.697s
3 Doriane Pin Prema +4.040s
4 Kean Nakamura Berta +4.652s
5 Kai Daryanani Pinnacle Motorsport +7.923s
6 Enzo Yeh Asia Racing Team +8.633s
7 Nicolas Stati AGI Sport +9.615s
8 Kunpeng Xiao Asia Racing Team +10.155s
9 Yuhao Fu Pinnacle Motorsport +12.305s
10 Peter Bouzinelos AGI Sport +12.395s
Pole: Nakamura, 2m07.764s
Fastest lap: Nakamura, 2m08.912s

Race 2 (10 laps)
1 Stati 28m51.546s
2 Pin +0.548s
3 Beeton +1.058s
4 Lincoln Taylor BlackArts Racing +1.597s
5 Anton Inigo BlackArts Racing +2.177s
6 Fu +2.953s
7 Zhongwei Wang R&B Racing +4.098s
8 Kaishun Liu Pinnacle Motorsport +6.472s
9 Bouzinelos +6.090s
10 “Dragon” B-MAX Racing +7.491s
FL: Bouzinelos, 2m10.960s

Race 3 (10 laps)
1 Pin 27m10.398s
2 Daryanani +5.300s
3 Bouzinelos+7.027s
4 Taylor +7.589s
5 Beeton +9.878s
6 Stati +11.851s
7 Liu +13.268s
8 Inigo +14.704s
9 Yeh +15.647s
10 “Dragon” +23.748s
P: Nakamura, 2m07.293s
FL: Al Dhaheri, 2m08.301s

Championship standings
1 Beeton 130   2 Pin 81   3 Hadrien David 75   4 Xiao 51   5 Tiago Rodrigues 51   6 Nakamura Berta 48   7 Yeh 46   8 Fukang Jiang 41   9 Stati 39   10 Daryanani 36

The post Beeton takes F4 SEA title as Al Dhaheri, Stati and Pin share Sepang wins appeared first on Formula Scout.