F4 - Mattia Drudi wins Race 2 of round 2 ahead of Stroll and Valente

"Finally!" – This is how Mattia Drudi (F & M) commented his result at the end of the race. And he has a point: after a troubled season start, this is a “liberating” victory. Since the start of the Italian F4 Championship powered by Abarth, the Italian had proved more than once that he could go fast, especially during the races, but until now he hadn’t been able to translate speed into a significant result. Today, he finally got his due in Race 2 of this second round.

After a heated start, Mattia Drudi is up there behind Andrea Russo (Diegi Motorsport) ahead of everyone.

The F & M driver studies his rival’s moves carefully for several laps and, looking at the time charts, he actually goes around faster than Russo as he tries to keep up. Al on lap 5 Drudi overtakes, grabs the lead, and takes off on a spree that ends with his first win of the season and in the series.

Russo faces a different destiny. His lap times are slower than Drudi’s and he eventually falls behind, while the Prema Power Team duo of Brandon Maisano and Lance Stroll catches up to him.

The two rise from their starting position (they were 10th and 9th on the inverted grid) like a couple of speed devils, going one second faster per lap compared to Russo. Stroll even runs the best lap of the race (1'46.394).

At the beginning of the final lap, Maisano hooks up with Russo and tries to take off at the modified Tamburello, as his rival is already headed for the curb. Russo loses control, blows his rear left tire and clashes into Maisano, who is left with a broken front wing.

In the havoc, Stroll passes undisturbed and settles into second place behind Drudi. Russo continues to race with a blown tire and loses ground (and points): he is tenth at the finish. Maisano is third across the finish-line, even with a broken wing.

Alain Valente (Jenzer Motorsport) follows right behind him and rises onto the Race 2 podium, since Maisano’s rank only counts for the "18 and over" F4 Trophy and not the F4 Championship.

The race ends with a sour taste also for Leonardo Pulcini (Euronova Racing by Fortec): he is the fastest on track after Drudi and the Prema duo, but botches up his start off grid and has to run “uphill” the whole time. He is fifth across the finish, fourth in the race ranking.


Click here for complete results.

The action resumes with Race 3 at 5:50 pm – Follow it in live streaming on
www.f4championship.com