Race Report
FIA FORMULA 4
ITALIAN CHAMPIONSHIP, Rounds 13/14/15
Circuit: Paul Ricard (F), Length 5,822 km, 19th – 21st July 2024
www.circuitpaulricard.com
JENZER MOTORSPORT 2024:
Ethan Ischer (CH), Enea Frey (CH), Reno Francot (NL)
Francot and Frey in the top five in Paul Ricard, Frey with two rookie podiums
The fifth of seven races of the Italian FIA F4 Championship took place on the fast GP circuit of Paul Ricard (F). A large field of 35 cars were registered.
Qualifying
Saturday, 19/07/24, 10.45 – 11.00 Q1, Weather: Sunny, 31°C
Saturday, 19/07/24, 11.10 – 11.25 Q2
The rules allow for two qualifying sessions of 15 minutes, with a 10-minute break in between. The Qualifying 1 times determine the grid for Race 1 and the times from Qualifying 2 determine the grid for Race 2. The starting order for Race 3 is based on the 2nd best lap time of each driver in either of the two qualifying sessions.
During the qualifying sessions, the sun beat down hotly on Paul Ricard. Our drivers managed a good first qualifying session, but in the second session they got lost in traffic and did not improve enough.
| Results Qualifying 1 & Grid for Race One | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Akshay Bohra (IND) | US | 2:04.590 |
| 2nd | Jack Beeton (AUS) | US | 2:04.737 |
| 3rd | Hiyu Yamakoshi (JPN) | Van Amersfoort | 2:04.812 |
| 13th | Reno Francot (NL) | Jenzer Motorsport | 2:05.449 |
| 15th | Enea Frey (CH) | Jenzer Motorsport | 2:05.525 |
| 18th | Ethan Ischer (CH) | Jenzer Motorsport | 2:05.772 |
| Results Qualifying 2 & Grid for Race Two | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Akshay Bohra (IND) | US | 2:04.401 |
| 2nd | Jack Beeton (AUS) | US | 2:04.583 |
| 3rd | Hiyu Yamakoshi (JPN) | Van Amersfoort | 2:04.604 |
| 15th | Reno Francot (NL) | Jenzer Motorsport | 2:05.388 |
| 16th | Ethan Ischer (CH) | Jenzer Motorsport | 2:05.566 |
| 18th | Enea Frey (CH) | Jenzer Motorsport | 2:05.720 |
| Grid for Race Three | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Freddie Slater (GBR) | Prema | 2:04.641 |
| 2nd | Akshay Bohra (IND) | US | 2:04.768 |
| 3rd | Alex Powell (USA) | Prema | 2:04.942 |
| 15th | Reno Francot (NL) | Jenzer Motorsport | 2:05.554 |
| 16th | Ethan Ischer (CH) | Jenzer Motorsport | 2:05.823 |
| 27th | Enea Frey (CH) | Jenzer Motorsport | 2:06.963 |
FIA Formula 4 Italian Championship
Race One (30 minutes + 1 lap)
Saturday, 20/07/24, 16.35, Weather: Sunny, 31°C
The first race of the weekend was started in the heat of the afternoon. Reno kept his position well and was racing with great pace. He overtook Anurag for 12th position, and this was the position which he brought home safely. The race was very tight and it was very difficult to overtake on the flowing circuit. Enea had a difficult start and made contact soon. He was then hit by another driver and had to retire in the pitlane with a damaged rear tyre. Ethan had a difficult first lap as well, and had to go off track to avoid an accident. He lost several places. During the race he was able to recover these positions one after the other, lap after lap. He finished in 17th place in the end.
After the race several penalties were handed out. This changed the result a bit.
| Race One Results | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Akshay Bohra (IND) | US | 33:41.017 | |
| 2nd | Jack Beeton (AUS) | US | Gap | 1.427 |
| 3rd | Matheus Ferreira (BRA) | US | Gap | 4.636 |
| 11th | Reno Francot (NL) | Jenzer Motorsport | ||
| 20th | Ethan Ischer (CH) | Jenzer Motorsport | ||
| DNF: | Enea Frey (CH) | Jenzer Motorsport | ||
| Fastest lap: Jack Beeton (AUS) in 2:05.794 | ||||
FIA Formula 4 Italian Championship
Race Two (30 minutes + 1 lap)
Sunday 21/07/24, 11.10, Weather: Wolkig, 26°C
On Sunday morning it was cloudy and a few drops of rain fell. But the track stayed dry for the F4 race. After the start, Reno came into contact with another car, damaged his front wing and had to retire in the pit lane. Ethan had moved up to 14th place and Enea was 16th. Then there was an accident and the safety car had to be deployed. After the restart, Ethan was pushed, went far to the outside and lost a few places. Enea was now in 12th place and was already within sight of the top ten. Ethan managed to make up some positions and finally finished in 15th place. Enea made no mistakes, overtaking first Yeh and then Gowda in beautiful maneuvers and thus made it to 10th place. This also meant that he was the third-placed rookie behind Nakamura and Powell. Enea managed to bring this position safely across the finish line, scoring points for the first time in this championship and also earning his first well deserved podium finish in the rookie classification. Some penalties were handed out after the race and with that Ethan moved up one place.
| Race Two Results | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Freddie Slater (GBR) | Prema | 33:05.551 | |
| 2nd | Jack Beeton (AUS) | US | Gap | 3.366 |
| 3rd | Akshay Bohra (IND) | US | Gap | 6.024 |
| 10th | Enea Frey (CH) | Jenzer Motorsport | ||
| 14th | Ethan Ischer (CH) | Jenzer Motorsport | ||
| DNF: | Reno Francot (NL) | Jenzer Motorsport | ||
| Fastst lap: Freddie Slater (GB) in 2:05.863 | ||||
FIA Formula 4 Italian Championship
Race Three (30 minutes + 1 lap)
Sunday, 21/07/24, 17.25, Weather: Overcast, 19°C
It had been raining heavily until shortly before the race. It was not certain how the weather would develop. So in the end half of the field started on slick tires and the rest on rain tires. Our three drivers had chosen slick tires. First two laps were driven behind the safety car, then the race was given the green light. It became apparent that the track dried out very quickly and soon the cars with slicks had the advantage. Unfortunately Ethan skidded and collided with another car, which resulted in a damaged tire for Ethan. He slowly made it back to the pit lane, but lost a lot of time before he could get going again. He had to catch up with the field first before he could start making up places. Ethan drove the fastest lap of the race and worked his way up to 31st place. Reno and Enea had a great race. The two drove very fast after the first few laps and quickly overtook several cars. They were soon in the top ten and went on to drive one after the other into the top five. Reno drove ahead of Enea, and although Enea actually drove faster lap times, Enea did not risk an overtaking attempt because it was still slippery in many places off the ideal line. So Reno achieved his best result so far with 4th place. For Enea, 5th place was also his best overall result. For him it was also the second rookie podium in 3rd place, this time behind Nakamura Berta and Stolcermanis.
| Race Three Results | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Kean Nakamura Berta (JPN) | US | 32:35.597 | |
| 2nd | Gustav Jonsson (SWE) | Van Amersfoort | Gap | 0.870 |
| 3rd | Tomass Stolcermanis (LVA) | Prema | Gap | 5.419 |
| 4th | Reno Francot (NL) | Jenzer Motorsport | ||
| 5th | Enea Frey (CH) | Jenzer Motorsport | ||
| 31st | Ethan Ischer (CH) | Jenzer Motorsport | ||
| Fastest lap: Ethan Ischer (CH) in 2:06.656 | ||||
Ethan Ischer (CH)
Enea Frey (CH)
Reno Francot (NL)
Team
© Photo Pellegrini
Championship Standings
FIA F4 Italian Championship 2024 after 15 races:
1st Freddie Slater (GBR), 265 points; 2nd Hiyu Yamakoshi (JPN), 179 points; 3rd Akshay Bohra (USA), 174 points; 4th Jack Beeton (AUS), 140 points; 5th Alex Powell (USA), 138 points; 6th Kean Nakamura Berta (JPN), 98 points; 13th Reno Francot (NL), 26 points; 15th Ethan Ischer (CH), 22 points; 17th Enea Frey (CH), 11 points
Rookie-Ranking:
1st Alex Powell (USA), 260 points; 2nd Tomass Stolcermanis (LVA), 236 points; 3rd Kean Nakamura-Berta (JPN), 222 points; 8th Enea Frey (CH), 62 points; 11th Shimo Zhang (CHN), 32 points; 22nd Oscar Wurz (A), 1 point
2024 Italian FIA Formula 4 Championship
| 03/04/05 May | Misano (I) | |
| 31/01/02 June | Imola (I) | |
| 14/15/16 June | Vallelunga (I) | |
| 12/13/14 July | Mugello (I) | |
| 19/20/21 July | Paul Ricard (F) | |
| 27/28/29 September | Barcelona (E) | |
| 25/26/27 October | Monza (I) |
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