PREMA Racing continued to show positive for in the fifth round of the Italian Formula 4 Championship, the last one before the summer break. The team posted solid results and was especially impressive in Race 3 where Oleksandr Bondarev achieved his maiden win in the series in an all-PREMA podium lockout.
In the opening race, Salim Hanna delivered an outstanding run, maximizing his pace with a brilliant start that propelled him to P2. The Colombian managed his pace and posted his fourth overall podium, trailed by teammate and championship leader Kean Nakamura-Berta. The Japanese-Slovakian wrapped up a consistent points weekend with a second place in Race 3.
Race 2 was first suspended and then cancelled after a fiery crash at the start, where Newman Chi stalled on the grid and was hit by multiple cars, forcing a lengthy red flag.
In Race 3, Chi had a stellar bounce-back, delivering third place behind his teammates and highlighting his positive growth. Hanna completed the race in the top 5 to retain the rookie championship lead.
Sebastian Wheldon had a challenging weekend, but finished it with a double points finish and improving pace, while lining up after his debut with the team, Andrea Dupé had a positive learning experience, getting closer to the points zone.
The Italian F4 Championship will be back in action at the end of September in Barcelona.
#5 ANDREA DUPÉ
"Friday went quite OK, as I got used to the track and the car. We had a positive last FP. I had a good pace coming up for the qualifying, but we couldn't put it together with traffic and a little mistake from my part. On Saturday, I had a solid Race 1. It's hard to pass on this track, but we had a good pace and came back to P14. There was a big crash at the start of Race 2, which prevented the race from happening, but I'm glad everyone is OK. Then in Race 3, I had to retire due to an issue, and I couldn't finish."
#27 OLEKSANDR BONDAREV
"It was a really good weekend here in Imola. Qualifying went extremely well, and we could have gotten a front row for all three races, but a grid penalty made me start from P4 in Race 1. Eventually, I converted it into a fourth place that was the best result of the season up until that point. After Race 2 was cancelled, we finally put it all together in Race 3. Quite a tough start, but then I managed to retake the lead and win the race. A big thank you to the team, they worked really, really hard, I'm super happy with the progress, and now we finally got the results that we wanted."
#28 ZHENRUI CHI
"Imola is always a strong track for me. In Qualifying 1, we had a bit of an issue at the start, which caused us to go out of the pit lane later, compromising the result, but in Qualifying 2, it went a lot better. It was a solid result as we got P4 and P4 for Race 2 and 3. In Race 1, we did everything we could; we gained one position on this track, where it's not very easy to overtake. In Race 2, I made a mistake at the start. I will not do that again. We managed to start thanks to the hard work of the mechanics. I was a bit more conservative at the start, then I pushed more and more to get the confidence back, eventually making a nice move for P3. I think we really maximized what we could for the weekend."
#51 KEAN NAKAMURA-BERTA
"Overall, a weekend where we struggled for straightline speed, and we can't quite figure out what's causing that. We had a tough time in Free Practice, but my engineer improved the car a lot for qualifying, where we were in the top three and could have fought for pole with just a bit more speed on the straight. I had a difficult start in Race 1, finishing third, which could have been a P2. In Race 3, I had a great start, managed to get into the lead from P2, and I defended as much as I could despite having less speed on the straight. Eventually, I was passed. It's quite disappointing, since the car beneath us was pretty good. We move forward, hopefully we can find a solution, and life will be a lot easier."
#88 SALIM HANNA
"We made a big step compared to the last two months, we got very good points, we had the pace. Just in qualifying, we didn't have the perfect gap for the lap, but I prefer to have these kinds of issues rather than not having the pace. Race 1 was pretty good. I made a good move in my first lap, and while I had pressure from behind, the car was really good. In Race 3, we did a decent job; it was more on me. My start was not the best, but we had a strong pace. I haven't been in Barcelona this year, so in the next race we are going to start from zero, but I have a good feeling for the rest of the season."
#98 SEBASTIAN WHELDON
"Overall, a really difficult weekend here in Imola. We struggled to find the right package for qualifying and in Q2 to put a good lap together. That put us on the back foot for the races. In Race 1, I made a little bit of a mistake and lost valuable points, while Race 3 was pretty good, I maximized what I could and I was happy with P8."