At the end of a weekend marked by bad weather, a glimpse of sunshine finally appeared for the last race of the second round of the Euro 4 Championship at the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg bei Knittelfeld. For the first time this weekend, the race was run on a dry track. Freddie Slater, the British ace from Prema Racing, crossed the finish line first, but a post-race 5-second penalty following a tough battle with Gustav Jonsson dropped him to third position. Jonsson, starting from second, was pushing hard to take the lead, but in one of the most exciting moments of the battle, he was forced into the gravel at Turn 4, losing several positions. The victory in the final Austrian race went to Hiyu Yamakoshi, Van Amersfoort Racing’s driver.
The Japanese ended with a victory the weekend which had started with a retirement in Race 1, due to an incident where he was blameless, and continued with a third-place finish in Race 2. Yamakoshi reaffirmed his place among the top contenders in the Euro 4 Championship, following an excellent performance in the first round at Mugello. He is now second in the drivers’ standings with 83 points.
Rashid Al Dhaheri, the Emirati driver from Prema Racing, achieved his first podium in the Euro 4 Championship. Al Dhaheri had a steadily improving weekend, culminating in a brilliant race where he fought through multiple battles and finished on the second step of the podium. Stratford-upon-Avon’s Freddie Slater had to settle for a nearly perfect weekend with two wins and a third-place finish, collecting a total of 65 points from the round and leading the Euro 4 Championship with 94 points.
Akshay Bohra, who led the standings after the first round of the season with two wins at Mugello, faced some challenges in Austria due to the cold and heavy rain but still managed to finish fourth in Race 3, matching his result in Saturday’s first race of the weekend.
With fifth place, Alex Powell secured the Rookie win. The American-Jamaican driver from Prema Racing achieved his best result so far in the Euro 4 Championship. The Mercedes junior driver started from ninth on the grid and steadily moved up during Race 3. His battle with Tuscany’s Davide Larini was particularly thrilling. Larini, driving for PHM AIX Racing, deserves an honorable mention. The Italian started from 12th on the grid and drove exceptionally well, climbing to sixth.
However, he was hit with a 25-second penalty for a starting procedure infraction by his team. Despite this, Larini showcased his talent on track, just as he did in Race 1, where he also finished sixth.
Sixth place in Race 3 went to Tomass Stolcermanis. The Latvian driver from Prema Racing started from the third row and immediately entered the fight for victory. When Gustav Jonsson from Van Amersfoort Racing, who was in second place and challenging Slater, ended up in the gravel and lost positions, Stolcermanis moved ahead and made Slater’s job more difficult. The Latvian then pulled off a spectacular overtake after a long battle but eventually slipped back at Jochen Rindt corner. Although he didn’t win, his weekend was still positive, with a second-place finish in Race 1 and a fifth in Race 2, after being a top contender in all three races.
Seventh place went to Edward Robinson, the Anglo-Spanish driver making his debut with US Racing. Robinson showed excellent speed throughout the difficult weekend, highlighting great improvement in his performance. Behind him at the checkered flag was British driver Reza Seewooruthun. In Race 3, Seewooruthun, driving for Hitech GP, started from 17th and impressed with numerous battles, even setting the fastest lap and gaining nine positions. Prema Racing’s Indian driver, Dion Gowda, crossed the finish line after him and finished ninth, collecting his first points of the weekend in this second round.
There were retirements in Race 3 for US Racing’s Australian duo Gianmarco Pradel and Jack Beeton, who were involved in a crash at Turn 4 on the first lap, damaging the car of Prema Racing’s Alpine Academy driver Kean Nakamura-Berta, forcing him to retire early. US Racing’s German driver Maxim Rehm received a 25-second penalty for his role in the incident. Later, CRAM Motorsport’s Kai Daryanani also retired after suffering suspension damage following a collision with Real Racing’s Romanian driver Luca Viisoreanu. In both cases, the race was neutralized with a brief safety car period. Viisoreanu closed the top 10, earning the last available point after Rehm’s penalty, who had originally crossed the line in 10th but dropped to the back of the Race 3 final standings.
Hiyu Yamakoshi: "it was a good day. I showed good pace, both in dry and wet conditions. Yes, overall, it was very nice."
Rashid Al Dhaheri: "it was an emotional race. There was contact on the first lap, and from then on, it seemed like I had a puncture. We were lucky the car held up. It was an interesting race, with many battles. Here at the Red Bull Ring, there are a lot of straights, and there was a lot of wind, so there were many things you could do. The safety cars also provided many opportunities, definitely a good race to come back from seventh and make it to the podium."
Alex Powell: "another tough weekend. It’s been a tough two rounds, so it’s really positive to finish the weekend on a good note. Race 3 was the warmest it’s been the whole weekend, it played a bit back into my hands, but it was still a very tough race. I’m happy, or semi-happy with the result, to come away with P5 and a Rookie win after such a tough weekend and period. We need to take a good look at things and come back stronger in Barcelona [next round of the Italian F.4 Championship]. A big thanks to the team for all their hard work and effort to keep fighting to get back to where I think we should be."