At Paul Ricard Circuit, the fifth round of the Italian F.4 Championship, the reference single-seater Championship in the international F4 series landscape, has come to life with a morning dedicated to qualifying. The drivers hit the track for two 15-minute sessions with a 10-minute pitlane stop in between. Akshay Bohra's performance was masterful, as he secured pole position for the first two races of the weekend and second place for the third. After facing some issues in Qualifying 1, finishing with the 24th time, championship leader Freddie Slater made a comeback in Qualifying 2. The Prema Racing driver obtained P4 for Race 2 and will start from pole in the last race of the weekend.

The first session was slow to get underway, with a red flag shown by the marshals before the drivers could set useful times. A technical issue stopped Kai Daryanani, who was forced to stop during the first lap. The session resumed with Jack Beeton, the Australian from US Racing, among the first drivers to set a fast lap. Following him were Van Amersfoort Racing's Japanese driver Hiyu Yamakoshi, Prema Racing's Jamaican-American junior Mercedes Alex Powell, and his teammate Rashid Al Dhaheri. Then Bohra made his move, taking P1 with a 2’04.590. The positions behind him were highly contested. At the end of the session, Beeton was second with a gap of 0.147, followed by Yamakoshi at 0.222. Powell was fourth with 0.433. Fifth was US Racing's Brazilian driver Matheus Ferreira with 0.438, followed by Prema Racing's Japanese Alpine Academy driver Kean Nakamura-Berta with 0.510. Seventh was Al Dhaheri with 0.529, followed by his Indian teammate Dion Gowda with 0.532. Ninth was Van Amersfoort Racing's Swedish driver Gustav Jonsson with 0.551, and rounding out the top 10 was another Prema driver, Latvian Tomass Stolcermanis, with 0.669. Championship leader Freddie Slater struggled with traffic and finished 24th on the last lap.

In the second session, Jack Beeton again registered the first fast laps, with Slater this time immediately getting involved in the fight for the top positions. Al Dhaheri was again very fast, briefly taking first. Then the two US Racing drivers, Beeton and Bohra, alternated at the top, with Bohra, in fantastic form on the French track, proving unstoppable and securing the second pole with a 2’04.401. Beeton was second with a gap of 0.182. Yamakoshi was third with 0.203, followed by Slater with 0.233. Al Dhaheri was fifth with a gap of 0.406. Stolcermanis finished fifth with a gap of 0.449, significantly improving his already excellent result from the previous session. Powell was seventh with his best lap 0.497 behind Bohra. Jonsson was eighth with 0.532, with US Racing's Australian Gianmarco Pradel and Brazilian Ferreira closing out the top 10 with gaps of 0.540 and 0.665, respectively, from the leader.

 

The grid for Race 3, decided by the second-best time from the two sessions, crowned Freddie Slater as pole man with a 2’04.641. Bohra was second with a gap of 0.127. The second row of the final race will feature Beeton with 0.189 and Powell with 0.301. Al Dhaheri was fifth with a gap of 0.384, followed by Yamakoshi with 0.395. Stolcermanis was seventh with a margin of 0.526, followed by Gowda with 0.547. Jonsson was ninth with 0.563, followed by Nakamura-Berta with 0.590. 

Everything is set at the historic Paul Ricard circuit in Le Castellet for the three weekend races, with the first starting today, Saturday, July 20, at 16:35. Races 2 and 3 will be tomorrow, Sunday, July 21, at 11:10 and 17:25. All races will run for 30 minutes plus one lap. After a qualifying session that shuffled the championship standings, the spectacle promises to be exciting and thrilling, in a round not to be missed. Motorsport enthusiasts can follow the event live on the Italian F.4 Championship's YouTube and Facebook channels, on ACI Sport TV (Sky channel 228, Tivù Sat channel 52, and streaming on www.acisport.it), as well as on the extensive network of international TV channels broadcasting the 2024 Italian F4 Championship races, including the DAZN platform.

 

Akshay Bohra: "I couldn’t have asked for more. Really good qualifying. I’m so thankful, to be honest. Thanks to the team for everything they have done. Getting a 1-2 is not easy, we have shown that we have the fastest car. I’m thankful that I was able to deliver my best performance, this is where we belong. Obviously, I want to win every race, but I just have to focus on my process. I have to believe in myself, I have to do my best and not doubt. A few months ago I wouldn’t have been able to do what I have done today. Not only are the results getting better, but I’m also improving as a driver."

Freddie Slater: "I found traffic, and also the tow means so much for a Formula 4 car, you have to get a tow to be in the front. Difficult qualifying session, but I managed to bounce back."