Coming from an amazing start in the opening round of the season at Misano, PREMA Racing is leaping back into action with Round 2 of the Italian Formula 4 Championship at Vallelunga. The team will be looking to keep its outstanding momentum going and aims to deliver another successful weekend.
The standout performer of Round 1, Kean Nakamura-Berta, already has three poles and three wins under his belt, which unavoidably makes him the favorite. However, the Japanese-Slovakian will have pressure to deal with, starting with his team-mate Sebastian Wheldon. The American posted a win and a second place in the Riviera and has generally been looking fast in his first Italian outing.
Salim Hanna, who stands fourth in points with two podiums already to his name, claimed one pole and appears to be a threat as the team moves to the Roman countryside. Standing not far away, Tomass Stolcermanis and Newman Chi have both secured points on all occasions and are eyeing further steps, while despite some tough luck, Oleksandr Bondarev has proved equally competitive and is eager to move forward with a solid run.
Vallelunga is a classic destination for Italian F4 racing and winter testing. In addition, a four-hour collective session will go underway on Thursday to allow for a more complete preparation on a very technical course. Weather is expected to come into play to affect the weekend, which will make for some unpredictable variables, while with 40 cars on the entry list, Misano's heat format will be retained. The pack will be split in two series for practice and qualifying, and three heats will be held leading into Sunday's final.
Angelo Rosin - Team Founder
"For sure we had an outstanding start in Misano, but with such a competitive group of drivers, we need to continue pushing forward especially this into the season. We expect the pack to be extremely tight at Vallelunga, so we need to focus in using our full potential and avoid mistakes to maximize it."