After a challenging race, the US Racing driver turned his first pole into a season's first win in the series. Wharton and Taponen penalized
At Barcelona Akshay Bohra converted his first pole position into his first win of the season in the Euro 4 Championship. The American-Singaporean driver displayed remarkable skill, maintaining focus despite a difficult start that reshuffled the dynamics of Race 1 right at the entrance of the first chicane. Several drivers found themselves side by side in the first corner. While Bohra perfectly navigated the tricky Catalan first turns, James Wharton and Tuukka Taponen, unable to find space, cut to the outside, rejoining the race in P1 and P3, respectively. Post-race, both Ferrari Driver Academy drivers from Prema Racing received a 5-second penalty. Consequently, Wharton was demoted to third place, while the Finn dropped to fifth. With the confirmed victory, Bohra has now moved up to second place in the standings, just one point behind the leader, making the possibility of bringing the second seasonal title to US Racing increasingly tangible, as he still can count on one more pole position to capitalize on, in Race 2. Arvid Lindblad, Prema Racing's Red Bull junior driver, claimed the second position, maintaining his Championship lead with a total of 122 points. Lindblad gained positions in the race, overtaking his teammate Ugo Ugochukwu thanks to an excellent start that propelled him into the heart of the battle, later closing the gap on Taponen. American McLaren junior driver Ugochukwu finished fourth in the final standings of Race 1, behind Wharton. The sixth position went to Van Amersfoort Racing's Italian driver, Brando Badoer. Starting from the eighth row, Badoer passed Pradel and engaged in a lengthy battle with Freddie Slater. Closing the gap with excellent speed on the track, the Italian managed to finish ahead of the British driver. Prema Racing driver from Stratford-upon-Avon then finished seventh in Race 1. The eighth position was secured by US Racing's Maltese-Filipino driver, Zachary David. Australian teammate Gianmarco Pradel followed him, then Prema Racing's Emirati driver Rashid Al Dhaheri gaining the last 2 points available from the first of the weekend's three races. Technical issues forced Tuscan Prema Racing driver Nicola Lacorte to pit in on the first lap of Race 1.
In the women's race, Aurelia Nobels, Ferrari Driver Academy driver from Prema Racing, finished Race 1 in 12th place overall, defeating her direct rival Tina Hausmann. The Swiss driver from AKM Motorsport, however, maintains her lead in the standings.
Two more races, again with double points due to the coefficient 2x of the final round of the Championship, before concluding the inaugural season of the Euro 4 Championship.
The action resumes tomorrow, Sunday, October 22nd, with Race 2 starting at 11:20 (30 minutes + 1 lap), followed by the race that will decide the standings for the first edition of the Euro 4 Championship, Race 3 (30 minutes + 1 lap), starting at 16:30.
The three races of the weekend will be broadcast live with English commentary on the Euro 4 Championship's YouTube and Facebook pages and on Motorsport TV (https://eu.motorsport.tv/); with Italian commentary on ACI Sport TV (Sky channel 228 and 52 Tivùsat), on www.acisport.it, and on the Facebook page @acisporttv.
