2018 Italian F4 Championship - Leonetti Champion!

[Pinkd56]

Updating my entry now. Due to the collapse of the Indy mess, Josephine Leifeld will spend 2018 in this series prior to her AR2.0 test at the end of 2018.

Team Name: Abiadura Euskara
Team Base: Eibar, Basque Country
Car Numbers: 79 & 97
Livery: Red and Green

Driver 1 Name: Asier Urbieta
Driver 1 Nationality: Spain
Real or Fictional: Fictional
DEC Holder: Pinkd56

Driver 2 Name: Josephine Leifeld
Driver 2 Nationality: Germany
Real or Fictional: Fictional
DEC Holder: Pinkd56

Team Mentor: Guillaume Gauthier
Real or Fictional: Fictional
(If Fictional) DEC Holder: Pinkd56

[DemocalypseNow]

Right, entries for Round 1 are closed, but there can still be part-time cars entered from R2 onwards.

Vantini Racing must nominate a driver by Tuesday at 1800GMT, or else they will run only the one car in the opening weekend.

More importantly though, it's RNG TIEM!

Drivers
[bLeonardo Lorani[/b]
Only one driver was pursued by multiple teams. Italian karting sensation Leonardo Lorandi has offers from both Prema and RP Motorsport. Prema have a bigger rep, but RP approached him first, so it's even odds.
1-50 RP
51-100 Prema
14. First come, first served, it appears.

Prema Powerteam has until Tue at 1800GMT to nominate a replacement, or their third car will not enter the first round.


Team Mentors
The team's ambitions have been....not nearly as lofty as perhaps expected. Only one individual was pursued by multiple outfits.

Jarno Trulli
His own team is in the series. But does he want to get hands on with driver mentoring, or prefer to take a back seat. let someone else run the show, and focus on his other projects?
1-90 Hands-on
91-100 Stays in the vineyards
86. He's tempted to leave his subordinates to do all the work, but eventually accepts the best chance of success is to help out where he can.

Mikhail Aleshin
One of SMP's biggest stars, Aleshin has forged himself a stateside career. While it makes sense to have their biggest star mentor their up-and-comers, it's a long trek from the States to Italy just to give a bunch of kids some pointers. SMP may be tempted to leave him be and get one of their European-based senior drivers to help out instead.
1-90 SMP golden boy gets some extra responsibility
91-100 Told to focus on his US exploits
85. SMP weren't sure, but in the end, it's not too much workload for Aleshin to show up in Europe a couple of times during the year.

Vincenzo Sospiri
A man in the same boat as Trulli, does he get his hands grubby with the youngsters, or control things at arm's length?
1-90 Gets involved
91-100 Hands-off owner
6. Sospiri wants to lead by example.

Pedro De La Rosa
A man with a long career as one of the most respected development drivers of all time. Will he really want to be spending time tutoring snot-nosed teenagers in Formula 4?
1-50 Enjoys passing his knowledge onto the next generation
51-100 Will focus on higher-profile, better paying offers
50. Willing to squeeze some tutoring into his schedule...just.

Luca Badoer
Despite being a Formula One Reject, he is still respected as a development driver, given his many years as a Ferrari workhorse. So much so, he's the only person to have multiple F4 teams asking for his services. Which will win the battle?
1-40 Scuderia Guastalla
41-80 Leonetti Racing Team
81-100 No interest in such a position with any team
59. From prancing horses to roaring lions.

Scuderia Guastalla, along with any other team that has yet to sign a Team Mentor, has until Tue at 1800GMT to nominate an alternative, or they will not participate in the first mid-season test after Round 2. They can still participate in the second mid-season test if they nominate an alternative after that deadline but before Round 3 of the season is complete.

[Normal32]

Saara Seppänen (fictional) will occupy the unfilled seat. She has sponsorship from Hartwall.

[Dexter249]

To Keep test drivers in F1. Guastalla Will Jump to Scotland for help With Allan McNish

[DemocalypseNow]

Allan McNish
1-50 Extends his consultancy role to F4
51-100 Audi does not allow him to work in a series which has such heavy involvement from a rival automotive group
95. McNish is an Audi ambassador through-and-through, so isn't going to suddenly start jobbing it for something involving Fiat.

[TomWazzleshaw]

Team Lazarus would like to enter a third car as follows:

Car Number: 62
Driver 3 Name: Christophe Hurni
Driver 3 Nationality: Swiss
Real or Fictional: Real

[SuperAguri]

Sammarinese rookie Manuel Monetta would be eager to take this opportunity!

We would be very 'appy to sign him for Vantini.

[Dexter249]

Our third attempt at a mentor will be Eddie Irvine Due to his ties with Fiat (Ferrari)

[DemocalypseNow]

Our third attempt at a mentor will be Eddie Irvine Due to his ties with Fiat (Ferrari)

Eddie Irvine
Irv the Swerve has not raced in anything since 2002. He retired from motorsport at the end of said season and has never looked back in any way shape or form, preferring to chill in the Med and keep his bank account topped up by investing in the housing market. There's not much here to make him consider changing his mind. He prefers managing money and property to managing people. Italian F4 consultancy roles pay a fraction of a single property sale.
1-99 Continues to kick back
100 The tiniest spark reignites in his mind, and makes a first step back into the world of professional motorsport.
85. Predictably, Eddie couldn't give a s*** about motorsport any more, and is happy to count his money and relax on his yacht instead.

[Pinkd56]

Former F1RWRS driver Brucie Kibbutz is interested in the driver mentorship role at Scuderia Guastalla.

[Normal32]

Shad Griffith, former F1 driver and CWS champion, is available for driver coaching.

[Dexter249]

Former F1RWRS driver Brucie Kibbutz is interested in the driver mentorship role at Scuderia Guastalla.

We'll Try and see if the RNG doesn't screw us up

[DemocalypseNow]

Former F1RWRS driver Brucie Kibbutz is interested in the driver mentorship role at Scuderia Guastalla.

We'll Try and see if the RNG doesn't screw us up

As a fictional driver, no RNG is required. I'll take it you'd like to hire Kibbutz, and as Pinkd56 offered him up on that basis, I'll put him in as your Driver Mentor.

[DemocalypseNow]

Above are the liveries of the 2018 season. Imgur somehow managed to find a way to sort them out of order, despite their filenames being numbered in order, so just flick through them all I suppose.

With all the liveries done, and the last prepwork being done for files, expect the first round of the season at Monza pretty soon!

[CaptainGetz12]

The liveries look awesome, thanks again you two!

[Pinkd56]

Just a quick heads up (not sure if it makes a difference) but the livery says Hilko Leifeld rather than Josephine Leifeld!

Looks great though!

[DemocalypseNow]

Just a quick heads up (not sure if it makes a difference) but the livery says Hilko Leifeld rather than Josephine Leifeld!

Looks great though!

I was typing names from memory into Imgur. It's Josephine in all the rFactor files at least!

And so, without further ado, here are the randomly drawn groups for Round 1, at Autodromo di Monza;

HEAT A
Francesco Pepitto , Michaelangela Dioli , Vito Lorusso , Leonardo Lorandi , David Luis Chavarria , Gunter Masakan , Massimo Torelli , Leonard Hoogenboom , Ivan Shvetsov , Paolo Leonetti , Pavel Bulantsev , Magda Szervanszky , Saara Seppanen , Luca Bandini
Gentlemen's Class; Philippe Haezebrouck, Christophe Hurni , Giuseppe Cipriani

HEAT B
Dennis Hauger , Ione Wilkerson , Alessandro Giardelli , Josephine Leifeld , Alexandr Smolyar , Vilppu Vantini , Asier Urbieta , Samuel Monetta , Marco Scotti , Alexandra Marinescu , Iva Jankovic , Lucas Legeret, Francesca Scaramanga , Lorenzo Travisanutto , Francesco De Crescenzo
Gentlemen's Class; Jaropolk Petrovich , Salvatore De Plano , Francesco Dracone

[DemocalypseNow]

R1 // Autodromo di Monza // Heat A

Qualifying | Race Results | Video Highlights | Championship Standings

Dioli overhauls polesitter Szervanszky to win Heat A in Monza

A calm, measured drive from Michaelangela Dioli saw her win the opening heat of the season in Italian F4, taking the race lead on the opening back and not looking back.

Szervanszky meanwhile had to concern herself with a concerted effort from Massimo Torelli to nab second place, but he could not find a way past the Hungarian driver and settled for the final podium place.

Further back, David Luis Chavarria was blowing hot and cold, initially rocketing up from 14th to 8th in the opening three laps, only to capitulate one position per lap in the closing stages, finishing one place off points and a place in the Round Final with 11th place - and a huge swathe of agitated cars behind the rapidly deteriorating Spaniard. Saara Seppanen similarly burnt out her tyres and went from the P10 bubble down to 14th by the finish.

For every bad news story, there is a positive to balance it out. This was mainly Vito Lorusso, who went off the road on Lap 3 and dropped to 13th, but over the remaining 8 laps managed to slowly and surely climb up to 9th, and a place in the Final. Gunter Masakan managed to grab the spolight at the finish, with a last corner pass at Parabolica to snatch 7th place away from Luca Bandini.

Giuseppe Cipriani won the Gentlemen's Class with relative ease, but got a little too carried away when fighting Seppanen for the final points paying position, running wide and into the clutches of Haezebrouck and Hurni instead. While he got maximum points in his class, he will be disappointed to have come so near to making the Final overall.

[novitopoli]

HEAT B
Dennis Hauger , Ione Wilkerson , Alessandro Giardelli , Josephine Leifeld , Alexandr Smolyar , Vilppu Vantini , Asier Urbieta , Samuel Monetta , Marco Scotti , Alexandra Marinescu , Iva Jankovic , Luca Bandini, Francesca Scaramanga , Lorenzo Travisanutto , Francesco De Crescenzo
Gentlemen's Class; Jaropolk Petrovich , Salvatore De Plano , Francesco Dracone

His name is Manuel (just like Sammarinese hero Manuel Poggiali). But I guess I can change his name to Samuel if you already wrote it this way in the rFactor files

That was a good race to begin with and I'm glad I made the final. I'm sure I can do even better if I can just avoid the errors I made during the first laps - but the car is quick and feels wonderful to drive.

[DemocalypseNow]

His name is Manuel (just like Sammarinese hero Manuel Poggiali). But I guess I can change his name to Samuel if you already wrote it this way in the rFactor files

It's been corrected.

[DemocalypseNow]

Video highlights are just too time consuming, and 2018 is rapidly drawing to a close, so I'm just going to crack on without them. Expect Heat B from Monza shortly.

[DemocalypseNow]

R1 // Autodromo di Monza // Heat B

Qualifying & Race Result | Championship Standings

Legeret holds off triple threat for lights-to-flag win

Lucas Legeret got his season off to a perfect start by snatching pole for Heat B at Monza, and following it up with a race win, despite sustained pressure from Francesca Scaramanga, and the Prema duo of Ione Wilkerson and Dennis Hauger.

Wilkerson immediately dispatched the poor starting Josephine Leifeld for 4th, and made an impressive move a few laps in, divebombing her team-mate Hauger at Retiffilio just as Hauger had given up trying to pass Scaramanga at the same turn.

The other VS Euronova of Alessandro Giardelli had a good race, starting off on the bubble in 10th, and kept his head down to finish in a very secure and solitary 6th place.

The midfield was chaos however, with drivers taking turns at the head of the pack, but none able to establish themselves at the head of the queue and escape, instead finding themselves roped into battles for the last few points places time and time again.

Iva Jankovic had started 8th, but fell like a stone through the field in the first half the race, and was not really heard from again. Conversely, Asier Urbeita pulled himself up by the bootstraps after a poor qualifying, climbing from 14th to the final point and transfer spot in 10th. Similarly impressive was Gentleman's Class winner Salvatore De Plano, who started on the back row, but had climbed to 12th by the race's end.

It was an absolute shocker for Vantini Racing though, as their duo of Manuel Monetta and Vilppu Vantini propped up the rear of the field by the finish. It was an embarrassing result for the team, and they will need to regroup quickly for something more positive in Pergusa.

In other news, I have elected to make a small rule change, and award 1pt to the fastest lap in Gentleman's Class only. This is to try and avoid any tie-break situations further down the line, given the small spread of points available due to the class size. This means Cipriani gets a class point for Heat A, and Petrovich one for Heat B.

[DemocalypseNow]

R1 // Autodromo di Monza // Finale

Qualifying & Race Result | Championship Standings

Dioli dominates, Scaramanga suffers

Michaelanglea Dioli was crowned the queen of Monza this weekend, after an imperative lights-to-flag win in the Italian Formula 4 final, in which she was never troubled.

Dioli burst away from the very start, and after 5 laps had amassed a 5 second lead. From there, she cruised home, managing the gap to Lucas Legeret behind, ceding a couple of seconds to conserve her car to the finish. The top 3 in qualifying was also the top 3 at the finish, with Szervanszky rounding out the rostrum.

Things were dicier behind, as Massimo Torelli, Dennis Hauger and Ivan Shvetsov squabbled all race over foruth place. Hauger was punished for his conservative approach, finishing behind the opportunistic Torelli and the authoritative Shvetsov down in 6th place. Hauger's Prema team-mate Wilkerson spent most of the race battling Paolo Leonetti for 7th, and secured her position there despite tyre degradation sending her backwards into Leonetti in the closing moments.

There were other notable events up and down the field. It was a dreadful finale for VS Euronova, especially for Francesca Scaramanga. The Spaniard had finished on the podium in the heats, but could only muster a mere 16th in qualifying. She only made it as far as 14th, before slipping back down the order and finishing 17th. Her team-mate Alessandro Giardelli suffered an even more extreme rollercoaster, who rose from 15th to 9th in the early stages, only to end up right back where he started by the finish.

Josephine Leifeld and Gunter Masakan also spent the entire 11 laps facing off against each other, swapping places repeatedly. A last lap pass at Rettifilo secured 12th for the German pilot, ahead of Masakan.

[DemocalypseNow]

R2 // Autodromo di Pergusa // Heat Draws

On this occasion, Heat A has been randomly selected as the side of the draw with the extra competitor. The two early frontrunners Dioli and Legeret have been drawn together in Heat B, and by the strangest luck, all three Team Lazarus cars have ended up together in Heat A once again.

Heat A

Luca Bandini , Vilppu Vantini , Gunter Masakan , Saara Seppänen , Francesco De Crescenzo , Alexandra Marinescu , Pavel Bulantsev , Asier Urbieta , Ione Wilkerson , Massimo Torelli , Ivan Shvetsov , Lorenzo Travisanutto , Magda Szervanszky , Sabrina Mann , Samuel Monetta

Class G: Francesco Dracone , Christophe Hurni , Salvatore De Plano

Heat B

Francesco Pepitto , Dennis Hauger , Vito Lorusso , Iva Jankovic , Paolo Leonetti , Josephine Leifeld , Alexandr Smolyar , Francesca Scaramanga , Leonardo Lorandi , Lucas Légeret , Michelangela Dioli , Alessandro Giardelli , David Luis Chavarria , Marco Scotti

Class G: Philippe Haezebrouck, Giuseppe Cipriani , Jaropolk Petrovich

[DemocalypseNow]

R2 // Autodromo di Pergusa // Heat A

Qualifying & Race Result | Championship Standings

Shvetsov nabs tightly contested Heat A win on final lap

In what was a great race for the fans to watch, Ivan Shvetsov took the spoils with a last lap dive on Luca Bandini, with the duo joined on the podium by Massimo Torelli.

Bandini and Torelli, along with polesitter Magda Szervanszky, spent the whole 12 laps dicing for the lead, with all three taking turns at the head of the field. Bandini had looked the fastest driver all day, and looked set for victory in the closing stages.

His day was spoiled though by a masterful drive by Shvetsov, who started in 6th and methodically picked his way past rivals one by one, sneaking past Torelli for 2nd with two laps left, and then Bandini for the lead on the last lap.

Further down the field, there was acrimony between Pavel Bulantsev and Lorenzo Travisanutto. Bulantsev had been somewhat forceful in his pass on Lap 5 at the final chicane, and one trip round the circuit later, Travisanutto exacted revenge, ploughing into the SMP driver instead of attempting to overtake. This bone-headed move damaged the Italian's Trulli car, and left him unable to keep pace with the Top 10. His short temper had cost him any chance of a transfer spot into the final.

In the Gentleman's Class, Francesco Dracone took a comfortable win, spending much of the time duelling with the two Vantini Racing cars. There was a brief moment where the unfancied Christophe Hurni led, but this was short lived, and having spent almost the whole race in second, dropped to last on the final lap.

[SuperAguri]

Vilppu Vantini benched for Vallelunga GP
After a poor start, a furious Giancarlo Vantini has told Rosco Vantini to make improvements or he will cease funding the team after Monaco and after sources tell us of a huge argument with bottles of wine being thrown around, Vilppu Vantini has been told he will not race in the Vallelunga GP being replaced by his cousin (Roscos sister) Ginevra Vantini and has been given one event to make her mark. None of the Vantini family wanted to comment.

[DemocalypseNow]

Also, I need as soon as possible notification from Wizzie regarding whether it will be Sabrina Mann or Leonard Hoogenboom at the Franciacorta test after Round 2 in the #39 Lazarus.

Vilppu Vantini, despite being benched, is the only driver eligible to test car #3, as Ginevra is not a registered driver until Round 3. SuperAguri, either you can have her test, or withdraw that car from testing.

[SuperAguri]

Vilppu will do the test and will be shouted at to not come last.

[DemocalypseNow]

R2 // Autodromo di Pergusa // Heat B

Qualifying & Race Result | Championship Standings

Lorandi powers through field to seize win from Legeret

In a race rather reminiscent of the earlier Heat A, Leonardo Lorandi took his first victory in Formula 4, with a similarly incisive drive to that of Ivan Shvetsov in the previous race.

Before the green flag even dropped there was controversy however, as Vito Lorusso found himself excluded from qualifying and starting at the back of the grid. The Scuderia Adriatica pilot was called to the weighbridge for a random check during the qualifying session, and his car was found to be underweight, and so his times were stripped and he was not allowed to return to the track.

Lorandi started strongly, picking off three cars in the opening three laps, and moving into the final podium position. Conversely, Iva Jankovic, who started alongside Lorandi on the third row, sank faster than the Titanic. Her Top 5 grid slot had given her the perfect opportunity to score a decent haul of points, and progress to the all important final, but instead she was completely devoid of pace, and fell out of the points altogether by the halfway point of the race.

Lorandi was being calm and collected about his overtaking, purposefully choosing a time and place to move past Leifeld for second. This left him three laps to catch the escaping Lucas Legeret, who was two and a half seconds up the road at this point. Rope him in he did, and just as Shvetsov had done in Heat A, Lorandi dived to the inside at the first turn of the final lap, to lead a Formula 4 race for the first time. He held his nerve as Legeret tried to retaliate, and the spoils went to the RP Motorsport rookie.

Another driver who had a similarly good day was David Luis Chavarria. The Mediterranean Motorsport pilot didn't make the Final at Monza, and again he looked in trouble after qualifying in only 13th place. He turned in a solid drive during the race however, picking his way past ailing rivals to secure 3 points and a place in the Pergusa Final with 8th position.

Lastly, in the Gentleman's Class, Phillippe Haezebrouck turned in an outstanding performance, dispatching of title favourite and class leader Giuseppe Cipriani on Lap 4, and then never looking back. He found himself stuck behind rolling roadblock Iva Jankovic in 12th at the halfway point, and try as he might, could not find a way past, perhaps mindful that a mistake would open the door for Cipriani. In the end, he seemed content to stay where he was, rather than make the same mistake as Cipriani had at Monza by gunning for a Top 10, only to drop the class lead from a mistake, and so a class win for the Frenchman was the result. Cipriani was not even remotely troubled by the last placed driver Jaropolk Petrovich, who aside from the occasional skirmish with Francesco Pepitto, did not trouble any of the other backmarkers.

[TomWazzleshaw]

If possible, Lazarus would like to bring all three cars to the first test. Masakan will run in the #38, Mann in the #39 and Hoogenboom in the #62. If not, Lazarus will run with just Masakan and Mann.

[DemocalypseNow]

If possible, Lazarus would like to bring all three cars to the first test. Masakan will run in the #38, Mann in the #39 and Hoogenboom in the #62. If not, Lazarus will run with just Masakan and Mann.

This is not permitted, so Masakan & Mann it will be.

[DemocalypseNow]

R2 // Autodromo di Pergusa // Finale

Qualifying & Race Result | Championship Standings

Mann takes maiden Formula 4 victory

Sabrina Mann turned in a dominant performance to take her first ever win at the Formula 4 level, making her way up from 4th, and making quick work of her rivals to beat Lucas Legeret to the top step.

Legeret had taken yet another pole, but only a lap in found himself behind fellow front row starter Dennis Hauger. He found himself having to fend off Mann, who had overtaken Magda Szervanszky at the first turn of the race, and eventually ceded second on Lap 5.

Mann then made quick work of catching and passing Hauger for the lead, and despite Hauger then retaking the lead one lap later, his lead was on its last legs, and for the third time in three laps, an overtake down the inside at Vivaio settled the lead for good.

Legeret made his way past Hauger a few corners later, but by now Mann had amassed a 2.5 second lead. He was able to reduce the gap to 0.3s by the time the last lap began, but could not get close enough to make a move, and was happy instead to settle for second, especially given Mann is only doing a half schedule in Italian F4.

Reject of the Race was undoubtedly Paolo Leonetti. Having finished 5th in Heat B, he also qualified there for the Final, but went backwards in a hurry, losing four places in the space of just two laps. He had dropped to 10th by the half-way point, and went into damage limitation mode, driving defensively to keep Josephine Leifeld, and then Francesca Scaramanaga late on, at arms length. He scraped a point, but he should have done much more.

Leonardi Lorandi will be similarly disappointed to follow up his Heat B win with a 13th place finish in the Finale. He had set the tone for this race before the flag dropped however - he had only qualified 12th, and was unable to wrestle his way out of the midfield pack.

Alexandr Smolyar came last, having started there due to a similar weighbridge infringement to that of Lorusso in Heat B. Alessandro Giardelli had suffered a poor start and dropped to 19th, and Smolyar spent the entire 12 laps stuck behind the VS Euronova driver.

[DemocalypseNow]

T1 // Autodromo Internazionale del Mugello // Mid-Season Test 1

Test Results

James James Davies - Prema Powerteam

Idiots. They don't listen to a word I say. Here I am, imparting the wisdom of a world champion, and it just goes in one ear and out the other!

Rosco Vantini - Vantini Racing

Ehhhh....what'a you expect from a woman, ah? My sister should be sticking to the kitchen, she's a terrible driver. There is no point to teach her anyway. As for Monetta....no talent. My time is better spent on him teaching him 'ow to pick up women, not pick up the throttle, eh?

Nathan Nurmester - Scuderia Del Prete

I managed to have a good discussion with Michelangela about her preparation, along with some other pointers about her driving. I noticed she was quite inconsistent so far this year and so focused on that, and I think he made a little improvement. On the other hand, the language barrier got in the way between myself and Iva - her English is not great, I struggled to get across what I needed to say.

Trulli GP - Jarno Trulli

I go to Lucas and say - good job, keep going. I don't want to say to him too much, because he clearly has the speed, I just mention a couple of small things. If he stays how he is, he will do good I think. Lorenzo though, he has struggled a lot, so I worked with him to help understand the car, how to set-up based on the feeling you have, what to do when maybe the power steering is not quite right. I think he'll be a little better from now.

Luca Badoer - Abarth Leonetti Racing Team

I am very 'appy with the job we did as a team toady. Both of the guys were very keen to learn, to get the feedback, to try new things. With Francesco, I will be honest, he is not one with natural talent, but he works hard and he picked up a few things today - I hope enough to get him more points.

But with Paolo, this is a boy with lots of natural talent. He can be so fast, the best in the field, but he just has to focus, be methodical in his preparation, and understand better the way to set-up his car. We made some enormous steps in these places, I think something maybe clicked in his head he didn't get before. I think now he can start aiming for wins.

Mediterranean Motorsport - Pedro de la Rosa

Massimo was a think a little bit stubborn. It's true, he has natural talent, but I don't think he is making the best use of it. I tried to make suggestions of how to improve, but he seemed to mostly ignore them. But David Luis, he knows he is struggling, and really wanted to find a way to do better. I taught him what I could, and I think maybe he'll make some improvements in the way he prepares for a race, but I fear maybe he just lacks that natural talent to go far in racing.

RP Motorsport - Nino Barlini

Magda is a bright young driver, I think perhaps the best ever from her country. She knows she is fast but still took notes, listened to what I had to say and showed her, and she made some changes which seemed to help her go a little faster. Leonardo though is trying to run before he can a walk a bit - there is talent there, there is no doubt, but he gets frustrated when things go awry and makes mistakes. Hopefully he can work on his himself, else what I try to teach him will not stick.

Vincenzo Sospiri Euronova Racing - Vincenzo Sospiri

Giardelli is a guy who I know for sure has potential, I don't doubt it, but he was struggling a lot to get with grips with F4 after doing so well in karts. I worked with him to help understand how to extract the most from the car - he struggled a lot with it at Pergusa - and we made some big steps there. Francesca on the other hand is still struggling a bit, and I couldn't convey what I needed to as well with her as I did with Alessandro.

SMP Racing - Mikhail Aleshin

Ivan is a very good driver, but I think becoming a little complacent. I managed to explain a few things to Alexandr, and I think these small changes will make a difference for him, but unfortunately with having three drivers and just one day, I didn't get the chance to help Pavel as much as I liked to. Next time, hopefully.

Jagonya Ayam Team Lazarus - Daniel Melrose

Crikey, it's amazing what laying off the sauce for a day does for you eh? I actually got through to these kids. Sabrina is a part-timer, but the whole field is gonna end up jobbing to her. All today was about was getting her more used to the car here - it's different than the UK one - and now I think she knows it well enough to set it up as she wants.

And Gunter is getting better too! BIAS 4.0 may be the greatest BIAS of them all, he is getting faster all the time. I thought he'd just be a pay-driver jobbing to his team-mates, but he's got real skill. I sobered up for long enough to teach him a few tricks.

Abiadura Euskara - Guillaume Gauthier

It was a bit of a tricky start. They told me Asier Urbieta was Spanish, but what he was speaking sure didn't sound like it. For both him and Josephine it was a bit of a struggle to get across what I wanted to. Hopefully we can do something more productive at the next test.

Scuderia Adriatica - Giovanni Roda

Neither of these lads are particularly good. Even a top driver like myself can't turn water into wine, but at least Vito was paying attention and did seem to get a little bit better. I'm not expecting miracles from either though.

Scuderia Guastalla - Brucie Kibbutz

Brucie baby! These two kids are genetically superior. Luca's looking so good he must be juicing! He's got roids to make Jose Braggia proud. And hey, Marco, Marco ain't bad, he's being genetically different. I showed him some stuff he can do, gave him some stuff to try out, he's becoming Alpha like me. And Luca too, that bro is seriously Alpha.

[SuperAguri]

What sorta press release is misreporting what I say?

I said Vipllu, he drives worse then a woman and even worse then a dog. My sister who should be sticking to the kitchen will be no better, I am not going to waste my time trying to teach her, it will be easier to teach a dog how to double clutch. Monetta has shown he has no talent, my time would be better spent on them teaching him 'ow to pick up women, not pick up the throttle, eh? It isa shame as they were so good in da karts.

[DemocalypseNow]

R3 // Autodromo Vallelunga Piero Taruffi // Heat Draws

For the second race in a row, Heat A is randomly selected as the one with the extra competitor. The top two in the championship race, Legeret and Szervanszky, will meet each other at the opening phase of the weekend for the first time this year. It's also the first time all three Lazarus cars haven't been together, but strangely, all three Premas have been drawn together.

Heat A

Iva Jankovic , Michelangela Dioli , Saara Seppänen , Dennis Hauger , Lorenzo Travisanutto , Samuel Monetta , Josephine Leifeld , Lucas Legeret , Magda Szervanszky , Gunter Masakan , Vito Lorusso, Ione Wilkerson , Alexandr Smolyar , Marco Scotti , Alessandro Giardelli

Class G: Christophe Hurni , Philippe Haezebrouck , Francesco Dracone

Heat B

Massimo Torelli , Asier Urbieta , Francesco De Crescenzo , Luca Bandini , Leonardo Lorandi , Francesca Scaramanga , Ginevra Vantini , Ivan Shvetsov , David Luis Chavarria , Paolo Leonetti , Alexandra Marinescu , Pavel Bulantsev , Francesco Pepitto , Leonard Hoogenboom

Class G: Giuseppe Cipriani , Jaropolk Petrovich , Salvatore De Plano

[DemocalypseNow]

R3 // Autodromo Vallelunga Piero Taruffi // Heat A
Qualifying & Race Result | Championship Standings

Szervanszky takes overdue first win in Formula 4

After a number of near misses so far this season, Magda Szervanszky finally found herself on the top step of the podium at Vallelunga, fending off championship leader Lucas Legeret for a number of laps to clinch the victory.

Legeret was once again on pole, and spent the opening laps duelling with Szervanszky for the lead. After some early skirmishes, the Hungarian rookie finally imposed herself as the race leader, and Legeret found himself tumble behind Dennis Hauger as he overcooked his efforts to retake the lead.

Further back, Lorenzo Travisanutto had made a lightning start, catapulting himself from 11th to 8th on the opening lap, and then past Alexandr Smolyar for 7th on Lap 4.

It was at that particular juncture where things went awry for Legeret. Having dropped to third, the Swiss driver lost his cool and ploughed into the back of Hauger at Turn 8. Both continued on, but Legeret had lost precious time to Szervanszky and was still P3, with Hauger lucky not to lose far more time than he did.

Towards the end of the 15 lap race, there was a dramatic shift. Smolyar had found himself on the bubble in 10th place at the half way point, and rallied impressively to regain all the places he lost earlier on and secure seventh place. A little further up the road - just as Smolyar snatched that 7th place away from Michelangela Dioli - Gunter Masakan's hopes of a first podium were dashed. Having spent a fair few laps harassing Hauger, He was caught by surprise with a late Wilkerson dive at Turn 11, which in turn allowed Josephine Leifeld through a few corners later.

Legeret had eventually found a cleaner way past Hauger at the half-way point, and did catch Szervanszky, but the Hungarian's defensive skills were excellent, not affording Legeret a chance to pass.

There were passes aplenty on the last lap in amongst the backmarkers however, and the most important of those was executed by Francesco Dracone. He snatched the Gentleman's Class victory away from Phillipe Haezebrouck, who had led the trio of G Class drivers for the opening 14 laps with relative comfort.

[DemocalypseNow]

R3 // Autodromo Vallelunga Piero Taruffi // Heat B
Qualifying & Race Result | Championship Standings

Leonetti wins tense duel with Bandini for maiden F4 win

Monza's precedent of repeat winners has been well and truly shattered, with a fifth debut win in as many races in the series. This time, it was Paolo Leonetti who broke his duck, who took pole and then spent the entire race locked in an intense battle for victory with compatriot Luca Bandini.

Bandini had been in this situation before, leading for several laps in Pergusa's Heat A before losing the lead on the final lap to Ivan Shvetsov. He did not want to be the bridesmaid once more, but Leonetti gave him no choice.

In an early skirmish, Bandini got the jump on Leonetti at the start - down at the entry to Turn 8 - only to lose the lead at the same corner the following lap. Bandini then thought he'd made the decisive move with a forceful pass - once again at Turn 8 - but he could not escape the clutches of Leonetti. Il Leone pounced one final time on the eleventh lap, and never looked back, bringing home a first win not just for himself, but also his family team. It was a day to celebrate for the Leonetti team, as Francesco Pepitto came home in a career best 7th position, in a marked improvement from his disappointing outings in Monza and Pergusa.

Conversely, David Luis Chavarria had an awful race. He started positively, methodically working his way up towards the points from his 13th placed grid slot, but he got completely mugged on Lap 7, capitulating 5 places in the space of 8 corners. This seemed to break his confidence, as he dropped off the battle for the last point, also slipping behind debutant Ginevra Vantini to 15th place by the finish.

Winning the Gentleman's Class with one of the star performances of the day was Giuseppe Cipriani. The part-time racer started down in 15th, but at the half-way point got his skates on and started making a mockery of the full-time professionals by passing one after the other at the same Turn 15 hairpin. He made it up to 11th, but was simply too far off Hoogenboom to challenge for a point in the overall standings, and in his efforts to catch the Dutchman, pushed a tad too hard and dropped to 12th, behind Marinescu, by the finish.

[matisena]

Team Name: MASEN F4 Racing Team(URU/ITA)
Team Base: Torino
Car Numbers (1-99): 6, 32
Livery:

Driver 1 Name: Matias Sena
Driver 1 Nationality: Uruguay
Real or Fictional: Fictional
(If Fictional) DEC Holder: me(born 13th October 2000)

*Driver 2 Name: Marina Ivanovic
*Driver 2 Nationality: Croatia
*Real or Fictional: Fictional
*(If Fictional) DEC Holder: me(born 1st July 2002)


*Team Mentor: Kimi Raikkonen
*Real or Fictional: Real
*(If Fictional) DEC Holder:

[DemocalypseNow]

Team Name: MASEN F4 Racing Team(URU/ITA)
Team Base: Torino
Car Numbers (1-99): 15, 32, 46
Livery:

Driver 1 Name: Matias Sena
Driver 1 Nationality: Uruguay
Real or Fictional: Fictional
(If Fictional) DEC Holder: me(born 13th October 2000)

*Driver 2 Name: Marina Ivanovic
*Driver 2 Nationality: Croatia
*Real or Fictional: Fictional
*(If Fictional) DEC Holder: me(born 1st July 2002)

*Driver 3 Name: Martin O'Donell
*Driver 3 Nationality: United Kingdom
*Real or Fictional: Fictional
*(If Fictional) DEC Holder: me(born 16th November 2003)

*Team Mentor: Pedro de la Rosa
*Real or Fictional: Real
*(If Fictional) DEC Holder:

There was a condition on 3 car teams, that they would only be allowed for teams that have a long and consistent history of being large, well funded efforts, whether that be real life or fictional teams. As your team is brand new, this means you wouldn't get three cars, but you can have two.

Secondly, Mediterranean Motorsport are currently in possession of #15 and Pedro de la Rosa. #32 and #46 are both free, so you can keep those as your two racing numbers, but you'll need to find another Driver Mentor (though you were generally on the right track by picking De La Rosa).

[matisena]

Team Name: MASEN F4 Racing Team(URU/ITA)
Team Base: Torino
Car Numbers (1-99): 15, 32, 46
Livery:

Driver 1 Name: Matias Sena
Driver 1 Nationality: Uruguay
Real or Fictional: Fictional
(If Fictional) DEC Holder: me(born 13th October 2000)

*Driver 2 Name: Marina Ivanovic
*Driver 2 Nationality: Croatia
*Real or Fictional: Fictional
*(If Fictional) DEC Holder: me(born 1st July 2002)

*Driver 3 Name: Martin O'Donell
*Driver 3 Nationality: United Kingdom
*Real or Fictional: Fictional
*(If Fictional) DEC Holder: me(born 16th November 2003)

*Team Mentor: Pedro de la Rosa
*Real or Fictional: Real
*(If Fictional) DEC Holder:

There was a condition on 3 car teams, that they would only be allowed for teams that have a long and consistent history of being large, well funded efforts, whether that be real life or fictional teams. As your team is brand new, this means you wouldn't get three cars, but you can have two.

Secondly, Mediterranean Motorsport are currently in possession of #15 and Pedro de la Rosa. #32 and #46 are both free, so you can keep those as your two racing numbers, but you'll need to find another Driver Mentor (though you were generally on the right track by picking De La Rosa).

I'm edit the problems, sorry i don't read this part, thanks!