PREMA Racing continued to show dominant form in the second round of the Italian Formula 4 Championship at Misano. The popular Adriatic venue saw the team win all three races and lock out two out of three overall podiums, in an even more impressive display compared to round 1 at Imola. Performance has been outstanding across the board, with more silverware coming from the class standings.
With two wins, Arvid Lindblad secured his grip on the overall championship lead. The Red Bull Junior driver completed the weekend with two poles and a second place in race 1.
The opening race of the week was won by Ferrari Driver Academy member Tuukka Taponen. The young Finn, who was coming from a tough weekend at Imola, managed to finally showcase his speed skills at Misano, flying from pole to victory. He then proceeded to gain more points with P4 and P5 overall, and two more rookie podiums.
Speaking of points finishes, Ugo Ugochukwu made the most of the weekend with a double podium and a smooth run. The American was third in race 1, before running P6 in race 2 and trailing Lindblad to the finish of race 3. James Wharton also secured two podiums with P3 and P2 in the first two races, although an off forced him to pit in race 3.
Rashid Al Dhaheri continued to impress despite being only at his second start in single-seater racing. The young Emirati had an eventful weekend. After claiming P7 in race 1, he could not start race 2 due to pit-lane contact. However, he rebounded to take his best career finish with P6 in race 3, with a highly promising display of speed and racecraft.
Unfortunately, Aurelia Nobels could not complete the weekend. The Brazilian driver was involved in the pit-lane contact before race 2 and suffered a right wrist fracture that prevented her from competing further. PREMA Racing wishes her a very speedy recovery and looks forward to welcoming her back soon.
#3 UGO UGOCHUKWU
“It was a solid weekend in Misano, picking up two podiums and staying consistent throughout the event. Overall, we missed some pace to go for the win, but we still managed to get some decent points. I’m already looking forward to the next round in Spa where we will fight for more wins. Big thanks to everyone in PREMA for the hard work throughout these previous weeks.”
#8 TUUKKA TAPONEN
“This weekend was much better than the first one of the year, but still not as much as we expected. Speed was good in practice, but in the second qualifying session, it was too difficult to put together a good lap. Misano is one of the hardest tracks to overtake as well, so in the races, it is difficult to come back even if you have speed.”
#13 JAMES WHARTON
“Overall it has been a good step from Imola but still not where we want to be. There is a lot of work to do in the 2 weeks of break before we come back to Spa-Francorchamps. Thank you to the team for all the help and support.”
#14 RASHID AL DHAHERI
“It was a very eventful race weekend featuring a lot of ups and downs. Generally, we were able to do a great job by working hard with the team. Now we look forward to using the experience that we are gaining to keep moving forward.”
#16 AURLEIA NOBELS
“Overall we were happy with the speed we had, we did a really good job in qualifying, impressing everyone around. Unfortunately, we weren’t lucky on the races but we will come back stronger for my home track in Spa.”
#47 NICOLA LACORTE
“We put up a good progression throughout the whole weekend. I tried to close the gap as much as possible since practice, and in the end, I was really close to the top. Considering the number of points we achieved, we can say it has been a really valuable weekend for the championship”
#51 ARVID LINDBLAD
“Very good weekend in Misano for Round 2 of the Italian F4 Championship. The pace was strong immediately from Free Practice and I felt really comfortable in the car. This filled me with confidence going into Qualifying. We finished P2 in Q1 and P1 in Q2, with also fastest second lap so pole position for Race 3 too. I was really happy after the Qualifying sessions because on this track overtaking is difficult, so starting at the front was vital. That put me in a good position for good points in all 3 races. Race 1 was good, and I started P2. I wasn’t able to pass at the start and then didn’t quite have the pace to make the overtake and had to settle for P2. Race 2 and 3, I started from pole, got a good start and had a really strong pace and was able to pull a gap and win both races. Really happy with the weekend, very good points. Now full focus on Spa for round 3. Huge thank you to everyone from the team for the phenomenal job and car they gave me. Especially thankful to my engineer, Vincent and mechanics, Mauro and Laura.”