PREMA Racing delivered another triple win at Spa-Francorchamps in the third round of the 2023 Italian Formula 4 Championship. The legendary Belgian venue welcomed many of the drivers for their maiden races there, and the inevitable attrition led to incidents and disruptions.

James Wharton made the most out of his speed and experience. The Ferrari Driver Academy-supported Australian went from pole to win in the opening two races, which were both called early by red flags. Wharton kept steady control of the proceedings after shining in qualifying, and capped the weekend off with another podium in Race 3, moving up to P3 in points.

Ugo Ugochukwu surged from P6 on the grid to win Race 3 and eventually prevailed in a brilliant battle for his second win of the season. The American, a McLaren development driver, claimed positive points in races 1 and 2. He is now second in the standings behind Arvid Lindblad.

The Red Bull Junior posted a fifth and a third place in the two races, which featured little changes in the order compared to the starting positions. Early contact put him out of contention after starting from the front row in Race 3.

Finnish racer Tuukka Taponen maximised his weekend after some challenging qualifying sessions. A rookie podium in Race 1 led to a powerful recovery in Race 2 from P29 on the grid to P18 at the end. Another overall points finish wrapped up his trip to Spa in Race 3.

Nicola Lacorte also had a tricky qualifying, but the Italian impressed with a steady progression, ending up in the points zone on Sunday’s Race 3.

Emirati Rashid Al Dhaheri, driving at Spa for the first time, posted two points finishes in P9 and P8 after a strong run in qualifying. In Race 3, he then fell victim to contact, which resulted in a DNF.

Making her first start in the world’s most competitive Formula 4 championship, Bianca Bustamante worked hard throughout the weekend to make gains, and further prepare for her future F1 Academy endeavours. The driver from the Philippines made no mistakes despite the many eventful situations at Spa and completed all three races.

3 UGO UGOCHUKWU

“We managed to end off the weekend in Spa with a great win from P6 after a tough qualy. Two solid positions in race 1 and race 2 mean we go away from spa with more decent points. It will be important to stay consistent and keep this positive momentum going into the next race weekend in Monza. Thank you to everyone in the team for all the hard work this weekend.”

Qualifying 1: P6
Qualifying 2: P7
Starting position Race 1: P6
Starting position Race 2: P7
Starting position Race 3: P6
Fastest lap: 1’21.750
Fastest lap: 1’21.864
Race 1: P4
Race 2: P7
Race 3: P1

8 TUUKKA TAPONEN

“We had some really tough first three rounds and I am a bit speechless for that. It’s feeling really difficult, and luck hasn’t been on my side as well. We need to analyse what’s the problem at the moment because, I know that we can be fast!”

Qualifying 1: P9
Qualifying 2: P31
Starting position Race 1: P9
Starting position Race 2: P29
Starting position Race 3: P11
Fastest lap: 1’21.973
Fastest lap: 1’24.777.
Race 1: P7
Race 2: P18
Race 3: P7

13 JAMES WHARTON

“It has been a solid weekend at Spa-Francorchamps with my first pole pole position and first wins in the Italian F4 Championship. Overall we got good points for the championship and now we look forward to Monza!”

Qualifying 1: P1
Qualifying 2: P1
Starting position Race 1: P1
Starting position Race 2: P1
Starting position Race 3: P3
Fastest lap: 1’21.053
Fastest lap: 1’21.292
Race 1: P1
Race 2: P1
Race 3: P3

14 RASHID AL DHAHERI

“It has been an exciting weekend, my first time at this track, which allowed for a lot of learning. There are some very special corners and a lot of battles which we learned from a lot.”

Qualifying 1: P9
Qualifying 2: P9
Starting position Race 1: P9
Starting position Race 2: DNS
Starting position Race 3: P8
Fastest lap: 1’35.230
Fastest lap: 1’34.698
Race 1: P9
Race 2: DNS
Race 3: P6

23 ARVID LINDBLAD

“Overall, difficult weekend in Spa. Qualifying was messy and not as good as I wanted, but still P5, P3 and P2 for the 3 races respectively was positive and put me in a good position for strong points. Race 1 and 2 were both super messy with red flags and safety cars, which resulted in only a couple racing laps in each, therefore very few opportunities to move forward. I finished in my starting position both times. In Race 3, I started P2 and got a good start. Got into the lead by the end of sector 1 but an unfortunate incident forced me to retire. It was unfortunate because a win was possible, but it’s racing. We have to stay positive and motivated and look now towards Monza with full focus.”

Qualifying 1: P5
Qualifying 2: P3
Starting position Race 1: P5
Starting position Race 2: P3
Starting position Race 3: P2
Fastest lap: 1’21.541
Fastest lap: 1’21.349
Race 1: P5
Race 2: P3
Race 3: DNF

47 NICOLA LACORTE

“Due to a few issues, we only completed a few laps in practice and so qualifying became a bit of a practice session for me. Despite the red flag, I managed to gain a few positions in Race 1, and after a difficult opening lap, I started a good recovery in Race 2 before the red flag. I had great expectations for Race 3 considering our progression over the weekend. I had a positive start and always kept a good pace. I steadily recovered to P8 despite a technical issue in the final laps.”

Qualifying 1: P17
Qualifying 2: P13
Starting position Race 1: P17
Starting position Race 2: P13
Starting position Race 3: P14
Fastest lap: 1’22.525
Fastest lap: 1’22.267
Race 1: P16
Race 2: P13
Race 3: P8

51 BIANCA BUSTAMANTE

“A decent weekend for us. We knew that it would be a difficult debut coming into a new championship, new spec of cars, new track, and straight to FP and Quali. We struggled, we made mistakes, but we learned and we improved massively. Race pace was mega, setting the 15th fastest lap in Race 3 and gaining 5 positions with few racing laps. Closing down the margin, but still a big chunk to find driving wise!”

Qualifying 1: P28
Qualifying 2: P24
Starting position Race 1: P28
Starting position Race 2: P24
Starting position Race 3: P22
Fastest lap: 1’23.222
Fastest lap: 1’23.104
Race 1: P25
Race 2: P19
Race 3: P19

Source | Photo: PREMA Racing