Akshay Bohra’s qualifying performance in the Euro 4 Championship was exceptional. The Indian driver, born in New York and representing US Racing, took a clean sweep of pole positions at the Mugello Circuit in the first of the three rounds of the season. The double qualifying session took place this morning on a still cool track (21°C track temperature, 22°C air temperature) that allowed for faster lap times.
In the first session, the Indian driver immediately established himself among the top leaders, battling in a head-to-head of fast laps with his Australian teammate Jack Beeton. In the end, Bohra emerged victorious with a time of 1’47.641. Right behind him, with a tiny margin of just 0.031 obtained on the final lap, was Japan’s Hiyu Yamakoshi, representing Van Amersfoort Racing, securing the front row. Third place in Qualifying 1 went to Gustav Jonsson, the Swedish driver of Van Amersfoort Racing, with a margin of 0.273. Fourth was the talented Alpine Academy driver of Prema Racing, Kean Nakamura Berta, with a gap of 0.329 to Bohra. Finishing in P5 was Emirati driver Rashid Al Dhaheri, Prema Racing, with 0.384. Freddie Slater, the British driver from Stratford-upon-Avon, also representing Prema Racing, finished behind his teammate in sixth with 0.423. After competing for the session lead, Jack Beeton eventually ended up in P7 right at the checkered flag in a highly contested session where everything was decided on the very last lap. For the Australian driver, the gap was 0.640. Finishing eighth was Indian driver Dion Gowda of Prema Racing, with a gap of 0.652, followed in P9 by US Racing’s German driver Maxim Rehm, at 0.656. Rounding out the top 10 in Qualifying 1 was Gianmarco Pradel. The Australian driver of US Racing clocked a gap of 0.753 from the best lap.
After a brief pit-lane stop, the drivers returned to the track for the second session. This time, it was Kean Nakamura Berta and Rashid Al Dhaheri who set the pace in the early stages. Larini also performed well, being among the first drivers to lower the leading lap time. In the end, it was again Bohra who secured pole with a 1’47.233.
The driver completed one last lap before taking the checkered flag, also securing pole for Race 3 with a 1’47.267. Once again, Hiyu Yamakoshi followed on the stopwatch in the second qualifying, this time with a gap of 0.214. Third place went to Al Dhaheri, finishing 0.262 behind the Indian rival. P4 went to Freddie Slater with a gap of 0.333, followed by Jack Beeton at 0.546. The sixth spot on the grid for Race 2 will be taken by Kean Nakamura Berta, with a gap of 0.557. In P7, Prema Racing’s Latvian driver Tomass Stolcermanis registered 0.596. Eighth was Swedish driver Jonsson, followed by German driver Rehm; both drivers recorded the same gap from the leader, 0.681. Rounding out the top 10 was Davide Larini. The Tuscan driver representing PHM AIX Racing, on his home track, lapped at 0.703.
Race 3, whose grid is determined by the second-best time recorded by the drivers across the two sessions, will see Bohra on the front row alongside Al Dhaheri, with a gap of 0.313. Following them are Slater at 0.397 and Nakamura Berta at 0.578, forming the second row. P5 on the grid will go to Beeton with 0.751, followed by Jenzer Motorsport’s Swiss driver Ethan Ischer at 0.772. Stolcermanis will start from P7 with a gap of 0.801, followed by Prema Racing’s Mercedes junior driver, Alex Powell, in eighth with a margin of 0.813. Rounding out the top 10 are Gowda and Pradel, with time gaps from Bohra of 0.821 and 0.844, respectively.
After the sessions, 2-position grid penalties were assigned by the Stewards' Panel to Enzo Yeh (R-ace GP) and Emanuele Olivieri (AKM Motorsport) for impeding cars on a fast lap, respectively in Qualifying 1 and Qualifying 2.
Now begins the wait for the first race of the weekend, starting today, Saturday, August 24 at 16:30. Sunday, August 25 will be the day for the remaining two races: Race 2 will take place at 8:50, while Race 3, the grand finale of the weekend, will start at 16:00. Each race will last 30 minutes plus one lap.
Fans can follow the action live on the Euro 4 Championship’s YouTube and Facebook channels, as well as on ACI Sport TV (Sky channel 228, Tivù Sat channel 52, and streaming on www.acisport.it). Additionally, coverage will be extended to a wide network of international television stations, including the DAZN platform, ensuring global visibility for a championship that continues to grow in prominence in the world of feeder series.
Akshay Bohra: “qualifying has gone perfect. Triple pole position, new championship, it’s a fresh start. We delivered when it mattered. I have to give a massive thanks to the team, the car has been so fast. It shows on paper, we’ve shown how hard we have worked to get to this point. I’m really thankful for the progression we have made this year. This morning was a pretty early start, so it wasn’t actually that hot. When the track is colder is going to be faster overall. Definitely for the race today and Race 3, which is tomorrow evening, is going to be really hot, and it’s going to be crucial how you manage the tires. With the heat you need to make sure you don’t over use them, and you need to make sure you don’t under use them. For me, I know what I need to do: I just need to get a good get away, just trust myself, switch off, be instinctive, and then we’ll see how the race goes. Traffic this morning was pretty heavy. In the first qualifying everyone was more spread out, so it was a bit easier to navigate, but then definitely in Q2 it was pretty tough. I think I got pretty close to the wire in the last one. I went out, tried to go for a lap, and then I ended up running into a lot of traffic. I managed to get the perfect position for those last two laps, which is what matters in the end. I’m really thankful that I was able to make the right decision with me and my team. My approach has always been to not focus on the Championship, just focus on the races themselves, focus on the process.”