PREMA Racing achieved another triple win in the third round of the Italian Formula 4 Championship at Vallelunga. Freddie Slater secured three victories to increase his championship, and for the 15-year-old Brit it was a remarkable performance, which included one pole and three fastest laps. Slater took the reins of the races and sailed away early on all occasions.

Alex Powell delivered two podiums and his first series pole position. The Jamaican-American rookie was hampered by contact in race 1, but bounced back to a couple of valuable second places and rookie wins on Sunday to back up his third place in the overall standings.

Tomass Stolcermanis also packed a rookie win, posting two points finishes overall. Currently holding the lead of the rookie trophy, the young Latvian achieved a brilliant fourth place in race 2. Rashid Al Dhaheri showed good potential and posted P4 and P9, while contact damaged his front wing in the second race.

Dion Gowda and Kean Nakamura-Berta collected one points finish each. The Indian was involved in contact with teammate Powell in race 1, and then got swallowed in the pack in race 3. The Japanese-Slovakian was pushed out in race 1 but delivered positive recoveries in the two remaining heats.

The Italian Formula 4 Championship will be back in about one month at Mugello Circuit.

14 RASHID AL DHAHERI

“Interesting weekend. We were able to do quite a good job and recoveries as qualy is really tough here. We did a decent job even though I think we could do quite a lot better for the next one at Mugello, which is going to be completely different from this track, with a lot of high-speed corners. It’s important to adapt to them and see what we can bring.”

Qualifying 1: P6
Qualifying 2: P9
Starting position Race 1: P6
Starting position Race 2: P9
Starting position Race 3: P9
Fastest lap: 1:33.829
Fastest lap: 1:33.782
Race 1: P4
Race 2: DNF
Race 3: P9

27 FREDDIE SLATER

“Another mega weekend here in Vallelunga. I couldn’t have done it without PREMA. They gave me a phenomenal car all weekend and the pace has been amazing. Just a massive thank you to them. We bounced back from Imola, which was the main thing, and now I can’t wait to go to Mugello.”

Qualifying 1: P2
Qualifying 2: P1
Starting position Race 1: P2
Starting position Race 2: P1
Starting position Race 3: P2
Fastest lap: 1:33.627
Fastest lap: 1:33.488
Race 1: P1
Race 2: P1
Race 3: P1

33 TOMASS STOLCERMANIS

“The weekend started with practice, where we tested some detailed aspects regarding the setup. Qualifying 1 was not perfect on my side, I finished 11th. The second one was better, but not perfect, and I definitely have to work on that. In Race 1 I didn’t do my warmup well, slept maybe a little at the beginning, and got overtaken by other cars. With many incidents on track, I stayed out of trouble and finished the race, getting in the points somehow and P1 rookies. In Race 2 I started fourth and the only options for overtaking were in the first two laps. I didn’t maximize that and then all the race I had dirty air and couldn’t pass. I started well from P8 in Race 3, and got into the points somehow taking another win.”

Qualifying 1: P11
Qualifying 2: P4
Starting position Race 1: P11
Starting position Race 2: P4
Starting position Race 3: P8
Fastest lap: 1:33.926
Fastest lap: 1:33.609
Race 1: P8
Race 2: P4
Race 3: P12

50 DION GOWDA

“It was a difficult weekend for us. We struggled with pace from the start, and then a couple of mistakes on my behalf in qualifying made us P7 and P10. Not where we really want to be but it’s racing, and we know what we have to improve for the next time. We reset and go again.”

Qualifying 1: P7
Qualifying 2: P10
Starting position Race 1: P7
Starting position Race 2: P10
Starting position Race 3: P10
Fastest lap: 1:33.832
Fastest lap: 1:33.782
Race 1: DNF
Race 2: P8
Race 3: P14

51 KEAN NAKAMURA-BERTA

“Overall, the weekend wasn’t great, but we were on the back foot for missing free practice due to school exams. Then, I didn’t have the best qualy and ended up in the midfield for all three racers. In the first race got a DNF due to some other driver crashing into me. In the other two, we managed to move forward. I’m happy that at least in the races, I could maneuver my way through.”

Qualifying 1: P10
Qualifying 2: P15
Starting position Race 1: P10
Starting position Race 2: P15
Starting position Race 3: P14
Fastest lap: 1:33.911
Fastest lap: 1:33.857
Race 1: DNF
Race 2: P11
Race 3: P8

80 ALEX POWELL

“Generally quite a good weekend here in Vallelunga with one poor race and two positive ones. Definitely good points to take and a few learning experiences as well. For myself, I feel I have improved in areas where I was really focused on improving. Happy with that side of things. Still need to make progress here and there, but that was expected. We will work on it, we have one month until the next round at Mugello and more than enough time to prepare.”

Qualifying 1: P5
Qualifying 2: P2
Starting position Race 1: P5
Starting position Race 2: P2
Starting position Race 3: P1
Fastest lap: 1:33.828
Fastest lap: 1:33.556
Race 1: DNF
Race 2: P2
Race 3: P2

Source | Photo: PREMA Racing