Sunday at Mugello Circuit is already heated from early morning, with the second race of the Italian F.4 Championship certified by FIA starting at 9:55. Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Junior Mercedes of PREMA Racing, makes the most of his second pole position of the weekend and brings home another victory, his first as Champion. After already being crowned in the Italian F.4 2022 with his victory in race 1, today he makes an encore and brings the total of the year to 12 wins. A flawless success again, despite the two restarts after the Safety Car, which, with 40 drivers behind, could have threatened the Bolognese driver. Instead, the battle for second place in race 2 was heated, reflecting the current rankings situation. Rafael Camara, PREMA Racing's Ferrari Driver Academy driver, maintained second place from the start, however, finishing third on the podium, then beated only on the last restart by US Racing's Irishman Alexander Dunne. Dunne, thus strengthens his position in the standings, goingo into the last race of the year, on track at 16:55.

P4 For US Racing Pole driver Kacper Sztuka, also in the thick of the fight for the podium, before being overtaken by his teammate. Fifth, and third on the Rookie, podium is PREMA Racing's Italian-American McLaren Young Driver Ugo Ugochukwu, in his second event in the Italian series after his Red Bull Ring debut. Ugochukwu won the position after an intense battle that saw him triumph passing teammate Charlie Wurz, who then finished sixth. In P7 again a Prema home driver, Australian Anthony James Wharton. Eighth place for Martinius Stenshorne, increasingly solid in the race and consistent in results, the Norwegian of Van Amersfoort Racing climbs several positions and closes into the points starting from P14 on the grid. Ninth place goes to Maya Weug, Ferrari Driver Academy driver from Iron Dames, who takes advantage of the tussles to gain a position, after being very skillful in maintaining the tenth place gained with a flawless qualifying session. The last point up for grabs in race 2 goes to Emerson Fittipaldi Jr, Brazilian of Van Amersfoort Racing, who moves up six positions in the race.

 

Eleventh to pass under the checkered flag is Conrad Laursen, Dane of PREMA Racing, then penalized with 10 seconds for a heated duel with Barnard. Eleventh place goes to US Racing driver Nikhil Bohra. Good performance also for Nicola Lacorte, Iron Lynx driver at his home Tuscany track, who gains P12 over Brando Badoer, Van Amersfoort Racing, with an overtaking move on the inside.

Troubles again at the start for Junior Red Bull Arvid Lindblad, Van Amersfoort Racing, who stalls on the grid for the second time this weekend, then start his race but loses the front wing in the duel with Andrea Frassineti, Cars Racing (for the Italian driver comes the post-race penalty that causes him to lose 5 grid positions). Contact also between Frassineti and Liu Qi Rui, costing the Chinese of AKM Motorsport the loss of 5 grid positions for race 3. The stop also comes for Akshay Bohra, US Racing. Ethan Ischer, Jenzer Motorsport, is forced to re-enter the pitlane after ending up into the gravel following an accident with teammate Nandhavud Bhirombhakdi. Also forced to the stop after a contact is Giovanni Maschio, R-ace GP, involved in an accident with Jef Machiels, Monlau Motorsport (who then received 10’’ penalty post race). The race of his teammate Niels Koolen instead ended with a retirement,

finishing on the side barriers after a contact with Taylor Barnard, PHM Racing. In the finale, problems also for US Racing's driver Marcus Amand, who makes a pitlane re-entry after again being among the main contenders in the race. 10’’ penalty also for Georgis Markogiannis for having caused a collision with Qi Rui in turn 1.

 

Now all that remains is race 3, on track at 16:55, will mark the end of the Italian F.4 Championship 2022, bringing down the curtain on a season of unprecedented success. The last race of the season will be broadcast live on ACI Sport TV, Motorsport.tv and on the Italian F.4 Championship Youtube and Facebook channels.

 

Andrea Kimi Antonelli: "It was a difficult race, especially after the Safety Car, I had to defend the position. I had a good fight with my teammate, after that I managed to get away and win the race and I am very happy about that. It is never easy, when you have multiple Safety Cars in a race, you always have to try to change the starting point to surprise your opponent. This race was also difficult because of that, however, I must say that we managed it very well. I would really like to end the season on a high note, let's see what we do in race 3."   

Alexander Dunne: “I think that was a really good race for me. At this point is really important to be beating Rafa [Camara] and I think the move in turn 2 really helped with that. I extended the gap between me and him which is always good going into race 3."           

Rafael Camara: “now I’m not thinking much about the Championship, just trying to do my best on track, and we’ll see what is going to happen then. Now I just focus on drive and try to do my best. Unfortunately after Safety Car I didn’t get there a good start and Dunne passed me, but for sure we are going to fight.”

Ugo Ugochukwu: "yesterday I finished sixth, today I started in fifth position, however, I did not start very well. I lost a position in the first turn, managed to get back to fifth, but I didn't have the pace of the first four to go for them. I will try to do better in the next race by starting third."