Ex-karters Gabriele Minì, Dino Beganovic, Sebastian Montoya and Gabriel Bortoleto impressive in first races Formula 4
PREMA Powerteam had a brilliant start in round 1 of the Formula 4 Italian Championship at Misano. The Italian venue featured three spectacular races with the team delivering impressive results with four drivers at their first race in single-seaters.
The heat was on at Misano, with hot action and high temperatures, and it was Gabriele Minì to open the year with a win. The Italian racer made an outstanding breakthrough by scoring three pole positions in qualifying and then propelled himself to a stunning debut victory in race 1. Minì proceeded to take home a fourth and a second place in race 2 and 3 respectively, establishing his status as a top championship contender.
Dino Beganovic joined him on the podium for race 3, ending up in a third-place with great pace all around. The Ferrari Driver Academy supported Swede scored a points finish in race 1 before suffering from contact damage in race 2 but climbing up the rostrum in the end. Sebastian Montoya posted two extremely positive top-5 finishes, with the Colombian overcoming the lack of testing due to travel restrictions.
Last but not least, Brazilian Gabriel Bortoleto experienced a difficult qualifying but kept his head cool and made the most out of his chances, bringing home good points and honing his racecraft in action-packed traffic. PREMA Powerteam's four-strong line-up will now head towards the Nürburgring for round 2 of the German ADAC Championship.
#6 Sebastian Montoya
"Generally I think it was a good weekend, especially after testing where the speed wasn't that good. We just worked together with the team and got better and better in Monza before coming here. Since Practice 1 we have always been in the top-5. In qualifying 2 I made a little mistake and I couldn't put the lap together and that was maybe one of the problems. Besides that, it was really good. In race 1, I struggled a bit with the balance of the car but in race 2 and 3 we finished P5 which is really good especially because we had fewer days of testing. We worked well with the team and... on to Nürburgring!"
Qualifying 1: P4 Fastest lap: 1'35"121
Qualifying 2: P7 Fastest lap: 1'35"191
Starting Grid Race 1: P4 Race 1: P7
Starting Grid Race 2: P7 Race 2: P5
Starting Grid Race 3: P5 Race 3: P5
#7 Dino Beganovic
"We didn't many laps in testing, but overall we came back quite strong in practice. Qualifying 1 was not easy but we bounced back in the second one with P4, a very good result. Race 1 was my first and it was very special with a pretty good start. Then I went a bit in the dirt but recovered well in the end with a lot of very good overtakes. In race 2 I got a worse start and lost the front wing. We still recovered well even if I was a lap down. I gained a lot of experience there in terms of racecraft and overtaking. Then it was great to end on a high in P3 from P4 on the grid. I'm happy with that but still want more!"
Qualifying 1: P7 Fastest lap: 1'35"477
Qualifying 2: P4 Fastest lap: 1'34"866
Starting Grid Race 1: P7 Race 1: P5
Starting Grid Race 2: P4 Race 2: P19
Starting Grid Race 3: P4 Race 3: P3
#46 Gabriele Minì
"The first round was pretty positive we managed three poles out of three and we took home victory in race 1. A not-super start in race 2 didn't allow me to do the same, so the fourth place was the maximum we could achieve. In race 3, the start was better but I still lost one position and it stayed the same way for the whole time. Overall, great points, now we will work to get more results in the coming races."
Qualifying 1: P1 Fastest lap: 1'35"121
Qualifying 2: P1 Fastest lap: 1'34"537
Starting Grid Race 1: P1 Race 1: P1
Starting Grid Race 2: P1 Race 2: P4
Starting Grid Race 3: P1 Race 3: P2
#85 Gabriel Bortoleto
"This was my first weekend in single-seaters and I enjoyed it a lot. Unfortunately, we didn't have a good qualifying and we only managed to qualify in P8, P10 and P10 respectively. I was a bit nervous at the first start but I managed to make a good one gaining one position. I also enjoyed the second race. It was great, with three positions gained and a lot of overtaking which I really liked. Thank you very much to my sponsors for making this possible, and to Prema Powerteam."
Qualifying 1: P8 Fastest lap: 1'35"511
Qualifying 2: P10 Fastest lap: 1'35"385
Starting Grid Race 1: P8 Race 1: P8
Starting Grid Race 2: P10 Race 2: P7
Starting Grid Race 3: P10 Race 3: P11