Freddie Slater from pole to victory in Race 1 at the Red Bull Ring
Prema Racing trio on the podium with Tomass Stolcermanis in P2 and Kean Nakamura-Berta third
Red Bull Ring, Spielberg, Austria - The first race of the second round of the Euro 4 Championship, held at the prestigious Formula 1 circuit in Spielberg bei Knittelfeld, was won by poleman Freddie Slater. The performance of the driver from Stratford-upon-Avon was impeccable, in a race marked by challenging weather conditions. At the Red Bull Ring, a few drops of rain started falling during the formation lap and intensified over the course of the 30 minutes + 1 lap race. Despite this, all the drivers opted for Pirelli slick tires at the start, with the only exception being Enzo Yeh of R-ace GP, who chose Pirelli rain tires on the grid. However, this operation was carried out after the 3-minute board, resulting in a 25-second penalty for the driver. Starting from P1, Slater held onto his position, despite repeated attacks from his teammate Tomass Stolcermanis and the restarts after race neutralizations. These added difficulty in keeping the tires in the right temperature window, with track temperatures at 11°C and air at 8.1°C. Extremely focused on the goal, Slater made no mistakes, crossing the finish line first with more than a second and a half of a gap from the nearest chasing driver.
Tomass Stolcermanis finished Race 1 in second place. The Latvian driver started third and gained a position at the expense of Maxim Rehm in the first corners, after the German had fended off his attacks in the initial phases of the race. Once Stolcermanis secured the position, he held onto it until the end, displaying convincing pace and great defensive skill, especially in the final stages after the race restarted following a safety car triggered by Hiyu Yamakoshi’s (Van Amersfoort Racing) car going off-track after an incident with Gianmarco Pradel (US Racing). On the final lap, Stolcermanis came under heavy pressure from his teammate Nakamura-Berta, resulting in a tough battle with a slight contact between the two. However, Nakamura-Berta couldn’t make the pass and finished third, giving Prema Racing a podium sweep. The Anglo-Japanese Alpine Academy driver put in a stellar performance, celebrating on the third step of the podium after starting from the ninth spot of the grid. He made excellent progress on the opening lap, and his battle with Hiyu Yamakoshi was particularly thrilling. The Japanese driver from Van Amersfoort Racing was also a key figure in the top-10 battles until his stop due to the incident. For the contact, the Stewards Panel penalized Gianmarco Pradel post-race, with 25-second penalty.
The leader of the Euro 4 Championship standings, Akshay Bohra, finished the weekend's first race in fourth position. The Indian-American driver from US Racing started from 13th on the grid and executed a series of overtakes to put himself in the mix for the podium, which became even more exciting in the final laps. Fifth position went to his German teammate Maxim Rehm. After an excellent qualifying performance this morning, Rehm started from the front row but was overtaken by Stolcermanis in the early stages. He managed to hold onto third place for a long time before being passed by both Japanese drivers (Nakamura-Berta and Yamakoshi), later regaining fourth position as the race progressed. However, Rehm struggled to maintain tire performance in the challenging conditions, especially with two safety cars coming out in quick succession (the first due to an incident between Jack Beeton of US Racing and Dion Gowda of Prema Racing, for which the Australian driver Beeton was penalized with 2 grid position lost for the next race, and then the one involving Yamakoshi and Pradel).
Finishing sixth was the Tuscan driver Davide Larini. The PHM AIX Racing driver achieved an excellent result starting from P12 and demonstrated his driving skill multiple times throughout the race. He was one of the main contenders in the points battles, first with Pradel and Bohra, and later standing out in the final duel with Gustav Jonsson. The extremely fast Swedish driver from Van Amersfoort finished seventh behind Larini.
Prema Racing's Mercedes Junior driver Alex Powell crossed the finish line in eighth, ahead of teammate Rashid Al Dhaheri. The Emirati driver had been battling for a podium spot in Race 1 before slipping back. Mid-race, he passed Rehm for fifth in a spectacular duel that also involved Australian Pradel, bringing him close to the leading pack.
Rounding out the top 10 and securing the final point was Romanian driver Luca Viisoreanu of Real Racing. Viisoreanu accomplished an extraordinary feat, recovering 17 positions in the first race of the Austrian weekend, having started from the back of the grid.
Freddie Slater: “I didn’t expect it to go green on the last lap, because there wasn’t much time left. Being the leader in these conditions isn’t the easiest thing. I was trying every different line to find the best way. I saw people catching up, but I stayed calm, just kept doing the same thing: no lockups, no mistakes, and keeping the car on the track, that was the main thing. Overall, it was a good day. We bounced back well from Mugello, and now we just need to keep building on that. We’ll see what the weather does for the rest of the weekend, but it doesn’t matter to me, bring any condition.”
Tomass Stolcermanis: “The conditions were tricky because the rain was falling all the time, but the track wasn’t fully wet. We had to manage it, some laps were dry and others wetter, so the lap times kept changing. I had the car to win, but I didn’t put it all together, but I had the pace. I’ll learn from my mistakes and be ready for the next races. I did pretty well in wet practice, and I got pole in dry qualifying, so it’s all about how I’ll manage it. How much I’ll stress and how many mistakes I’ll make. Of course [I’ll feel the pressure starting from P1], if you don’t feel the pressure, you’ve got nothing to lose.”
Kean Nakamura-Berta: “Starting from P9, I didn’t expect much. I like these conditions; we had similar ones at Paul Ricard, so I felt confident. I got a really good start, and from there, I made a few overtakes on the first lap, which helped. On the second lap, I picked them off one by one. Yamakoshi and I had a bit of a battle, then I slowly caught up to the leaders. I couldn’t make much progress when the first safety car came out, but after the second one, I knew it was a one-lap shootout. I gave it everything to try and take second place. I had a bit of contact with my teammate in front, but it was tough, fair racing, and neither of us lost position. The result was much better than I expected. Overall, I’m quite happy. We’ll see how tomorrow goes.”
Maxim Rehm: “I finished fifth overall, but I expected a lot more starting from the front row, obviously. It wasn’t my first race in these conditions. I think in the first five laps, I just wasn’t getting comfortable, didn’t get the tires heated, and the others were faster than me. I couldn’t hold second position, so I ended up in P5, sadly. When it starts raining more, you have to anticipate the grip level. I tried my best to do that, but it didn’t work out for me. Here, you just had to keep it on track and go as fast as possible.”
The second round of the Euro 4 Championship at the Red Bull Ring returns to the track tomorrow. Race 2 (30’ + 1 lap) will take place on Sunday, September 15th, at 10:10, followed by Race 3 (30’ + 1 lap) at 16:05.
All the action will be broadcast live on the Euro 4 Championship 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 extend to a wide international network, including the DAZN platform, ensuring global visibility for a championship that continues to grow in prominence among feeder series.