Day two of the third round of the Italian F4 Championship at Monza came to a close with another US Racing victory. After Luka Sammalisto claimed Race 1 earlier today, it was Noah Killion who took the honours in the evening race. The Sydney-born driver, already Australian Formula 4 Champion, secured his maiden victory in the Italian championship.
Killion took the lead from pole-sitting teammate Edward Robinson with a superb launch off the line. In the opening laps, Prema Racing's Romanian driver David Cosma-Cristofor also capitalised on the start to move into second place.
The battle for third was one of the highlights of the race and was only settled on the final lap, with Alp Aksoy eventually securing the final podium position. The Turkish Prema Racing driver also claimed victory in the Rookie class. Ludovico Busso was another key protagonist in the closing stages, briefly running third before crossing the finish line in fourth after an intense fight.
Pole-sitter Edward Robinson ultimately finished fifth. Mercedes Junior driver Kenzo Craigie (R-ace GP) came home sixth and secured second place in the Rookie classification. Seventh was Germany's Arjen Kraling (US Racing), while Denmark's Knud Nielsen (Real Racing) completed the Rookie podium by finishing eighth overall.
Rounding out the overall top ten were Trident Motorsport's Bernardo "Beco" Bernoldi and McLaren Driver Development Programme member Christian Costoya (Prema Racing). The pair entertained throughout Race 2 with a fierce battle that also involved Trident teammates Florentin Hattmer and Augustus Toniolo, who finished eleventh and twelfth respectively.
Bader Al Sulaiti (Jenzer Motorsport) crossed the line in thirteenth, ahead of Chinese Prema Racing driver Kwan Zheng. Alexander Chartier (PHM Racing) claimed the final points-paying position in fifteenth.
The Women's Trophy was won by PHM Racing's Emma Felbermayr. The Austrian finished eighteenth overall after spending much of the race battling for points.
Rafaela Ferreira, racing for Cram Motorsport under the Visa Cash App Racing Bulls Academy colours, finished second among the women, with R-ace GP's British driver Emily Cotty completing the podium.
Pedro Lima and Arn Levi were both forced to retire, while Maffi Racing's Danish driver David Walther served a drive-through penalty for an incident involving Prema Racing's Roman Kamyab.
Among the standout performers was Williams Driver Academy member Oleksandr Bondarev (Prema Racing). The Ukrainian had climbed to third place in the closing stages after a long pursuit from fourth, but his podium challenge came to an end on the penultimate lap when he ran into the gravel while battling with Busso.
The results remain provisional pending completion of the Stewards' post-race technical and sporting checks.
Noah Killion: "My first win since Australian Formula 4. It feels very good. It was probably the most stressful race of my career, having Cosma-Cristofor behind me the whole time and having to break the slipstream every lap. It was pretty stressful and I'm proud of myself. For tomorrow the objective into Turn 1 is not to dive in; it really depends on where I start. I'll have to find my way through and hopefully get another win."
David Cosma-Cristofor: "It was a hard race. I couldn't really manage to make a move for P1. I'm happy that I gained a position at the start. The goal for me is to stay consistent. I'm on the podium in almost every race and that's the target. I scored as many points as I could, which is important for the championship because that's my main focus. We still have to work a bit on the car, but I'm happy. It was a good job."
Alp Aksoy: "It was a good race. We got pushed off, but that's okay, and we came back from P10 to P4 and then to P3, which is really good. I don't feel the Race 1 penalty was deserved, but it is what it is. We have one more race tomorrow and I'm sure it's going to be a positive one."
Emma Felbermayr: "The pace was strong. We had the second-fastest lap overall, so the speed is definitely there. The last corner compromised our race a bit because we were running in P15 and fighting for points. I'm not happy about that, but the pace looks good and I'm feeling confident for tomorrow. Monza is a great track. It's difficult to overtake, but it's always special to drive on a circuit where Formula 1 races."
On Sunday, June 21, Race 3 (Groups A-C) will get underway at 9:30 AM. At the conclusion of the first three races, the top 36 classified drivers will qualify for the Final, which will start at 2:00 PM. All races are contested over 25 minutes plus one lap and award championship points towards all classifications.
All races will be broadcast live on ACI Sport TV, the official social media channels of ACI Sport and the Italian F4 Championship, as well as through the extensive international network of broadcasters covering the Italian Formula 4 series.