Race Report

FORMULA 4
EURO4 CHAMPIONSHIP, Rounds 1/2/3

Circuit: Mugello (I), Length 5.245 km, 23^rd-25^th August 2024
www.mugellocircuit.it

JENZER MOTORSPORT 2024:
Ethan Ischer (CH), Enea Frey (CH)

Ischer on podium and Frey on Rookie podium in Mugello

The first of the three races of the Euro4 Championship took place at the fast GP circuit of Mugello. After the summer break 27 drivers were eager to start. Hot summer weather accompanied the event.

Qualifying

Saturday, 24/08/24, 08.30 – 08.45 Q1, Weather: Sunny, 23°C
Saturday, 24/08/24, 08.55 – 09.10 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 2^nd best lap time of each driver in either of the two qualifying sessions.

Euro4 Championship

Race One (30 minutes + 1 lap)

Saturday, 24/08/24, 16.30, Weather: Sunny, 33°C

The first race of the weekend started late on Saturday afternoon in the midsummer heat. Our drivers immediately managed to move up a few places. At the end of the second lap, Ethan was in 10^th place, with Enea following closely behind in 11^th place. The Mugello track is very fast and flowing, so overtaking is very difficult if you don't want to take too many risks. Ethan kept the gap to Powell in front of him evenly until Ethan went off the track at the chicane, losing contact with Powell. Despite the loss of time, he had kept his place, and Enea was now following closely behind him again. Enea came under pressure from his pursuer Popov at times, but Enea managed to hold on to his position until the end. After a demanding race, Ethan reached the finish in an excellent 10^th place, securing the last point. Enea finished in a very good 11^th place.

Euro4 Championship

Race Two (30 minutes + 1 lap)

Sunday, 25/08/24, 08.50, Weather: Sunny, 23°C

At the start of the second race early on Sunday morning, the temperature was still pleasant. The large field got off to a good start, but soon there were several changes. The choice of tires has a big influence on the handling of the vehicles, and the drivers choose the better and the slightly worse tires from the two sets available to them for qualifying and the race. So it was easy to imagine that Yamakoshi had chosen his best set for this race, because he drove away easily from the competition. Ethan and Enea fought in this race with the slightly worse set. Ethan kept up well at first and was in 15^th place at half-time. Then he went off the track in a corner, bumping over the gravel but was able to rejoin the field in 20^th place. He brought this place home safely. After a third of the race, Enea began to feel a strong deterioration in his tires and fell steadily back. Finally, he had to abandon the race in the pits with completely worn tires. He was still listed in 26^th place in the results.

Euro4 Championship

Race Three (30 minutes + 1 lap)

Sunday, 25/08/24, 16.00, Weather: Sunny, 32°C

The third race of the weekend started in the heat of the day. Al Dhaheri didn’t get away from second place, but the whole field managed to get past him without damage. Ethan got underway well, was on the better line and moved up from 6^th place on the grid to 4^th place. Soon he attacked Slater and pushed past him in a super maneuver. At the end of the first lap, Ethan was in 3^rd place behind Bohra and Beeton. Enea had also lost no time and had moved up from 13^th place on the grid to 9^th place. There was an incident involving two cars and the safety car had to take over the field. At the restart everything went well, Ethan stayed with Beeton and kept up the pace well in 3^rd place. Enea came under pressure from Popov and fell back from 9^th to 10^th place. At the same time Enea kept Yamakoshi, the winner of the second race, well behind him and started to attack Popov again. There was another accident involving two drivers and the safety car was deployed again. There was not much time left until the end of the race now. Ethan managed also the second restart very well and remained unchallenged in 3^rd place. He continued his great drive and made no mistakes. He deservedly crossed the finish line in an excellent 3^rd place and proudly stepped onto the podium for the first time in this category. Enea was on a mission after the restart. First he took 9^th place back from Popov, but shortly afterwards he managed to overtake Slater as well. Enea finished in an excellent 8^th place. This also put him 3^rd in the rookie classification and he also proudly climbed onto the podium. We were very pleased with the team performance with two cars in the top ten, and a podium in the overall ranking with Ethan and a podium in the rookie ranking with Enea.

Ethan Ischer (CH)

Enea Frey (CH)

Jenzer Motorsport

© Photo Pellegrini

Championship Standings

Euro4 Championship 2024 after 3 races:
1^st Akshay Bohra (IND), 54 points; 2^nd Hiyu Yamakoshi (JPN), 43 points; 3^rd Gustav Jonsson (S), 30 points; 4^th Jack Beeton (AUS), 30 points; 5^th Freddie Slater (GBR), 29 points; 6^th Kean Nakamura Berta (JPN), 24 points; 9^th Ethan Ischer (CH), 16 points; 13^th Enea Frey (CH), 4 points

Rookie Ranking:
1^st Kean Nakamura-Berta (JPN), 65 points; 2^nd Maxim Rehm (D), 43 points; 3^rd Tomass Stolcermanis (LVA), 36 points; 4^th Enea Frey (CH), 27 points

2024 Euro4 Championship

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• www.italiaracing.net