Double win for Maciej Gladysz at Motorland while Keanu Al Azhari extends his lead
The 2024 season of the Spanish F4 Championship has reached its midpoint with the fourth round of the year held at Motorland Aragón. There, Maciej Gladysz (KCL by MP Motorsport), with two poles and two victories, has thrust himself into the title fight, while the leader, Keanu Al Azhari (MP Motorsport), secured his third win of the year and heads into the summer break with a lead of over 30 points.
The first race of the weekend at Motorland was marked by the Safety Car making two long appearances. Poleman Maciej Gladysz managed to defend his position throughout, which was enough to secure his second consecutive win in the championship.
Behind him, an excellent second place went to Mattia Colnaghi (MP Motorsport), who cemented his podium finish with a perfect start that allowed him to overtake James Egozi (Campos Racing) and defend his prestigious position from there. The podium was completed by an exceptional Keanu Al Azhari, who climbed from 12th position to finish with a great overtaking move on Nathan Tye (Campos Racing).
A post-race penalty for a collision dropped the leader to 11th place with a 10-second penalty, and Enzo Tarnvanichkul (Campos Racing) secured his first podium of the season in a race where Adam Al Azhari (Tecnicar) scored his first points in F4.
Gladysz has arrived to stay
Another victory in Alcañiz for a streaking Maciej Gladysz marked his third consecutive win, finishing ahead of Nathan Tye, who achieved his second podium of the year, and René Lammers (MP Motorsport), who made his first podium appearance in single-seaters after a great defense against Mikkel Pedersen (Drivex) and Enzo Tarnvanichkul. The Polish driver is a safe bet from pole position. When he starts in first place, he translates it into victory and took advantage of Keanu Al Azhari's second point-less race in 2024 to close the gap in the overall standings.
Another strong contender for the title, Mattia Colnaghi, scored important points in a race where he started 10th on the grid and advanced to 7th, while the leader, who started 17th, made a good recovery to 11th, although insufficient to score points (ultimately 16th after a penalty for track limits). Lucas Fluxá (KCL by MP Motorsport), the first leader of the year, returned to the front positions after four races without scoring, finishing fifth at the line (ultimately fourth after a post-race penalty to Pedersen).
Leader Al Azhari strikes again
The weekend in terms of points was not going well for Keanu Al Azhari, who came into Sunday with only two points. The leader secured his fourth pole of the year in the morning and converted it into his third win of the year, unchallenged, in the afternoon race, capping off the weekend.
In contrast, Maciej Gładysz’s best weekend ended in the worst way after a collision with Juan Cota (Drivex). This was seized upon by a very consistent Mattia Colnaghi with his second podium of the event (3rd), thereby regaining second place in the overall standings. The Italian-Argentinian driver overtook Jan Przyrowski (Campos Racing) in the battle for the last podium step. Griffin Peebles (MP Motorsport), on the other hand, achieved his best result of the season after being crowned in the Winter Series but had yet to take off.
Lucas Fluxá, with good overtakes in the race, ended the weekend with a fifth place, which puts him fourth in the overall standings and in good spirits for the second part of the year. Meanwhile, Francisco Macedo (DXR by Drivex) and Yevan David, back in F4 after his good performance in Eurocup-3 with Sainteloc Racing at Zandvoort, returned to the points.
Thus, at the conclusion of the fourth round of the Spanish F4 Championship at Motorland, Keanu Al Azhari leads with 164 points, followed by Mattia Colnaghi with 130, who despite closing the gap, now has one fewer event. Maciej Gladysz (128), Lucas Fluxá (94), and Ernesto Rivera (94) complete the top-5, from which Thomas Strauven (80) drops out after a weekend with only 4 points.
In the team battle, KCL by MP Motorsport remains on top with 244 points, followed by MP Motorsport with 208, Griffin Core by Campos with 148, and Campos Racing with 134. The next event, after the summer break, will take place from September 13 to 15 at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo in Valencia.