Four Aussies to take on Italian Formula 4 in 37-car grid
Four Aussies will take to the grid when the Italian Formula 4 season begins in Imola this weekend.
A massive 37-car grid will begin the Italian Formula 4 season this weekend in Imola. (ACI Sport)
James Wharton, Jack Beeton, Gianmarco Pradel, and Griffin Peebles will represent Australia in the massive 37-car grid.
Reigning champions PREMA Racing will field seven cars including Formula 4 UAE champion Wharton. It is Wharton’s second year in cars and second tilt at the Italian series, completely focused on proving his form in Europe as a member of the Ferrari Driver Academy.
The Australian will be joined at the Italian powerhouse by Ferrari stablemates Tuukka Taponen and Aurelia Nobels, as well as McLaren junior Ugo Ugochukwu. Also at the team, two drivers who have had success in the ACI Sport development programs, Rashid Al Dhaheri and Nicola Lacorte.
Dutch team Van Amersfoort Racing (VAR) will enter five drivers, including Australian Jack Beeton, who also gained experience over summer in the F4 UAE category. The Australian karting champion will make his debut in European racing this weekend, joined at VAR by Matheus Ferreira, Brando Badoer, Akhmed Ismail, and Ivan Domingues.
Gianmarco Pradel is the second Australian to enter with a championship under his belt for 2023 after he took out the inaugural Formula Winter Series in Spain earlier this year
Pradel will contest the Italian F4 season for German team US Racing, led in part by Ralf Schumacher. The team will also enter five cars, with Kacper Sztuka, Zachary David, Akshay Bohra, and Ruiqi Liu completing their line-up.
Griffin Peebles will drive for AKM Motorsport as part of their line-up of four rookies, alongside Davide Larini, Tina Hausmann, and Enzo Deligny.
The Europe-based Australian won the Italian National Trophy in Mini karting before moving up to the junior karting world series for 2022.
There’s no guarantee the four will come up against each other until the finale, with the massive field split into three groups across the weekend.
The first three races will be run as qualifying races, with each group contesting two of the three before the top ranked drivers head into the weekend finale.
Making up the rest of the field, four PHM Racing cars, three drivers for R-ace GP, Jenzer Motorsport and BVM Racing, two cars for AS Motorsport, and one entry for Airflow Racing.
PHM Racing: Valentin Kluss, Nandavhud Bhirombhakdi, Victoria Blokhina, James Egozi
R-ace GP: Raphael Narac, Matteo Quintarelli, Matteo De Palo
Jenzer Motorsport: Kim Hwarang, Ethan Ischer, Ariel Elkin
BVM Racing: Alfio Spina, Andrea Frassineti, Jesse Carrasquedo
AS Motorsport: Finn Wiebelhaus, Manuel Quondamcarlo
Airflow Racing: Guido Luchetti
James Wharton and Griffin Peebles will race in group A, with Gianmarco Pradel in group B, and Jack Beeton in Group C.
Free Practice is already underway, with qualifying on Friday before race one at 7.55pm on Saturday (AEST) for drivers in groups B and C. Race two is 2.20am on Sunday, for groups A and B, with race three at 6.00pm for groups A and C.
The weekend wraps up at 2.00am Monday (AEST), with all races streamed on the Italian Formula 4 YouTube channel.
