PREMA Powerteam takes podium and points at Hockenheim

PREMA Powerteam scored one podium and several points finishes this weekend at Hockenheim, which hosted the third round of the 2020 ADAC Formel 4 Championship. The highly-competitive German F4 series welcomed the drivers at one of the most famed venues of the nation, and the Italian squad was competitive since the beginning. Gabriele Minì secured one second place and one pole in the two qualifying sessions. The 15-year-old Italian faced bad luck in race 1, when contact sidelined him early, but rebounded with a third place in race 2, also recovering from a scary airborne moment off the last corner. He then went on to take valuable points again with a fourth place in a red-flagged race 3. 

Dino Beganovic took two points finished in the two opening races in P7 and P9 respectively, as he focused on honing his skills at the start and in the action-pack opening stages. The 16-year-old Swede then ended a tough run with P13 in race 3.

Sebastian Montoya had an improving weekend and moved forward through the pack as his experience progressed. The Colombian-American racer (15) eventually wrapped up a P9 in race 3.

#15   Sebastian Montoya

“I’m very happy with the weekend. Not the results we wanted but we improved the speed a lot. In  Spielberg we were closer and closer and this weekend it happened the same, we kept getting faster as we are working very hard with the team to make improvements here and there. I’ve been working on myself too to improve every aspect I can to start fighting for the top-3 positions in each race and especially in qualifying. This weekend we got a little of bad luck but overall it was really good.”

Qualifying 1: P9                      Fastest lap: 1'41"768

Qualifying 2: P6                      Fastest lap: 1'41"348

Starting Grid Race 1: P9          Race 1: P13

Starting Grid Race 2: P6          Race 2: DNF

Starting Grid Race 3: P17        Race 3: P9

#16   Dino Beganovic

“The weekend was a bit up-and-down. We came here with one mission, to get better at the start which we had problems with at Spielberg, both in terms of the actual start and the first-lap battles. We made a massive step in that regard, and the starts are looking very good now. We will keep working for Mugello and we will be back much stronger there.”

Qualifying 1: P11                    Fastest lap: 1'41"485

Qualifying 2: P9                      Fastest lap: 1'41"411

Starting Grid Race 1: P11        Race 1: P7

Starting Grid Race 2: P9          Race 2: P9

Starting Grid Race 3: P9          Race 3: P16

#46   Gabriele Minì

“The weekend started well since practice where we tried to find the right set-up and we managed it quite well taking P1 and P2 in the two qualifying sessions. In race 1, I kept my position with a decent start. While going for the lead we had contact which forced me to retire with a bent suspension. I was starting from pole in race 2 but I struggled to stay at the front due to a lot of rubber pick-up and I made a mistake that cost me. The car caught air and the front lifted, but I still managed to take the third position. In race 3 I started from P6 and went back to P4 straight away. By lap 2 I was in second place and managed to catch up with the leader. Towards the end, tire wear was high and my pace slowed down. I could only focus on staying on the track. Due to a contact, I jumped to second, but since the race was red-flagged, the final results were reverted to two laps prior.”

Qualifying 1: P2                     Fastest lap: 1'41"462

Qualifying 2: P1                     Fastest lap: 1'41"128

Starting Grid Race 1: P2         Race 1: DNF

Starting Grid Race 2: P1         Race 2: P3

Starting Grid Race 3: P6         Race 3: P4