The very long weekend of the Italian Formula 4 at the Red Bull Ring ended with the success of Alexander Dunne, the second of this weekend, in front of a monstrous Andrea Kimi Antonelli in the comeback and increasingly leader of the championship.
Dunne, who started from pole, managed to maintain command of operations ahead of team mate Kacper Sztuka, while behind the US Racing duo were positioned the three single-seaters of the PREMA team with Ugo Ugochukwu third ahead of James Wharton and Andrea Kimi Antonelli.
Immediately, however, the hostilities on the track were neutralized with the entry of the safety car on the track following the contact that put Valerio Rinicella out of action.
When the cars passed in single file on the straight there was a twist. Rafael Camara, Antonelli’s direct rival in the championship, returned to the pits to replace the damaged front wing and thus lost ground and the possibility of earning valuable points after retiring in Race 1.
The restart took place 16 minutes from the end and Wurz, Stenshorne and Bedrin immediately took care of the show, fighting for positions from seventh to ninth, as well as Antonelli and Wharton committed to fourth place.
The Bolognese driver of the Mercedes nursery took little time to get the better of his teammate managed by the Ferrari Driver Academy and once he got to fourth position he set out on the hunt for a really convincing Ugo Ugochukwu in this debut weekend in the Italian F4.
Kimi passed the Italian-American with 4 minutes from the end with a clean maneuver in turn 3 and then threw himself in pursuit of Sztuka.
Arriving in the exhausts of the Polish’s US Racing car, Antonelli made a masterpiece overtaking always in turn 3, feinting the maneuver on the outside and then crossing at the last one and throwing himself inside.
Sztuka was surprised and tried to replicate once he made the turn by going on the grass, but in doing so he lost traction and was mocked by Ugochukwu and Wharton who managed to easily overtake him.
Under the checkered flag, Dunne was thus able to celebrate the second success of the weekend, while Antonelli conquered a very precious placement from the point of view of the championship and once again showed all his immense talent.
The third step of the podium won by Ugochukwu is really noteworthy. The McLaren nursery driver has shown great confidence with the PREMA team car and will be one of the names to keep an eye on for next season.
Sztuka chewed bitterly, seeing a podium that seemed certain to escape in the final. The Pole finished fifth behind a Wharton that is growing well, while further away from the Top 5 they finished the final race.
Conrard Laursen, sixth, was about 8 tenths ahead of a fierce trio made up of Charlie Wurz, Nikita Bedrin and Martinus Stenshorne.
The three put on a show by not sparing themselves in the fights and in the end their hostilities allowed Taylor Barnad to get closer and complete the Top 10.
Special mention for Maya Weug who once again confirmed that she is absolutely on the level of her male colleagues. The pilot of the FDA nursery has matured a lot this season and the twelfth place today is the confirmation.
At the end of the Spielberg round, the drivers’ classification sees Antonelli always firmly in command with 262 points followed by Rafael Camara at 201, while Alex Dunne has relaunched and now occupies third place with 197 points.
The next round of the Italian Formula 4 will be on the Monza track over the weekend from 6 to 9 October.
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