The weekend of the second round of the Italian F.4 Championship officially got underway today at the Autodromo Piero Taruffi in Vallelunga. This afternoon, from 14:00 to 18:00, the drivers took part in a long collective test session, an important opportunity to fine-tune the setup of their Tatuus cars ahead of the challenges that await in the coming days.
Setting the fastest time of the day was Brazilian driver Gabriel Gomez with US Racing, who posted a 1:34.556. Just 141 thousandths behind him was Ukrainian Oleksandr Bondarev, representing Prema Racing and the Williams Driver Academy. Italian driver Emanuele Olivieri, racing with R-ace GP and reigning F4 Middle East champion, was third quickest, just 0.146 seconds off Gomez, and already a standout performer in the opening round at Misano.
Rounding out the top five were two more Prema Racing drivers: Tomass Stolcermanis from Latvia, who finished 0.219 seconds behind the leader, and American Sebastian Wheldon, just 0.
240 seconds adrift. Sixth fastest was the current championship leader Kean Nakamura-Berta, also with Prema Racing and fresh off three victories at Misano. He was 0.278 seconds off Gomez’s pace, narrowly ahead of American Kabir Anurag, who drives for US Racing and is part of the Alpine Academy, separated by just one thousandth of a second.
At the end of the session, all drivers took part in a race start simulation with full grid formation an important step in refining procedures for the races ahead.
Weekend schedule
The action will resume in full on Friday, 23 May, with two free practice sessions in the morning and two more in the afternoon. Series 1 drivers will be on track from 8:30 to 9:00 and again from 13:10 to 13:40. Series 2 drivers will run from 9:10 to 9:40 and 13:50 to 14:20.
In the evening, the qualifying sessions will take place: Series 1 from 18:10 to 18:30, and Series 2 from 18:40 to 19:00.
On Saturday, 24 May, the first two races are scheduled:
Race 1 (Groups B and C) will start at 12:10, and Race 2 (Groups A and B) at 18:00.
Sunday, 25 May will feature Race 3 (Groups A and C) at 9:00, followed by the Final at 15:30. All races will be 25 minutes plus one lap in duration.
How to follow the event
All races will be broadcast live on ACI Sport TV (channel 228 Sky and 52 Tivůsat), streamed on www.acisport.tv, and available on the official ACI Sport TV Facebook and YouTube pages.
Live English commentary will be provided on the Italian F4 Championship social media channels and through the series' international television partners.
For those wishing to attend in person, access to the paddock and grandstands is free upon registration at the following link: https://ticket.vallelunga.it/it/racing/arwmaggio25