Race 2 of the E4 Championship at Vallelunga delivered plenty of action from the very start. The decisive moment came at lights out, when Kenzo Craigie made a superb launch and snatched the lead from polesitter Roman Kamyab into the opening corner.
The Mercedes Junior Team driver, racing for R-ace GP, started from second on the grid and immediately used Kamyab's slipstream to move into first place. From there, Craigie controlled the race confidently, maintaining his advantage even after the Safety Car restart, which followed contact between Noah Killion (US Racing) and Andy Consani (R-ace GP) while battling for sixth place. Craigie also set the fastest lap of the race to complete a flawless performance.
Kamyab remained within reach during the early stages but never managed to close the gap enough to launch an attack, settling for second place for Prema Racing. Third place went to Finnish driver Luka Sammalisto (US Racing), adding another podium to his Race 1 victory and retaining the championship lead on 52 points. Craigie's victory, combined with his sixth-place finish on Saturday, reduces the gap to the championship leader to just six points. Sammalisto, however, will have an immediate opportunity to respond, as he will start Race 3 from pole position.
Fourth place went to Arjen Kraling (US Racing), ahead of Alp Aksoy (Prema Racing), who also completed the Rookie podium behind Craigie and Kamyab. Sixth was Christian Costoya, representing Prema Racing and the McLaren Driver Development Programme, followed by teammate Oleksandr Bondarev, a member of the Williams Driver Academy.
Edward Robinson (US Racing) finished eighth, ahead of Niccolò Maccagnani, the Ferrari Driver Academy driver for Prema Racing, who had celebrated a podium finish on home soil in Saturday's opening race. Completing the top ten was Ary Bansal (US Racing), ahead of teammate Ludovico Busso.
Twelfth place went to Alex Ruta (Van Amersfoort Racing), followed by Oleksandr Savinkov (US Racing).
The final points-paying positions were secured by Knud Nielsen (Real Racing) and Brazilian driver Bernardo "Beco" Bernoldi (Trident Motorsport).
After an eventful opening phase, the race settled into a relatively straightforward rhythm. The only interruption came when Killion and Consani made contact while battling for sixth, their Tatuus cars becoming interlocked. The Australian retired with severe damage to his left-rear wheel, while the Frenchman limped back to the pits with a damaged front wing. Before the incident, Killion had been involved in an exciting three-way fight with Prema Racing teammates Alp Aksoy and Christian Costoya, with the Turkish driver ultimately coming out on top.
The closing stages also featured contact between Argentine driver Joaquin Rubino (Scuderia Buell) and Jacopo Martinese (PHM Racing, ACI Team Italia), forcing the latter into retirement after a promising race. Another highlight was the battle involving PHM Racing teammates Oscar Repetto and Alexander Chartier, together with Florentin Hattemer of Trident Motorsport.
The results remain provisional pending the completion of technical and sporting checks.
Kenzo Craigie: "I got a really good launch, managed to get into Roman's slipstream and made the move on the opening lap. From there I was just controlling the race and running my own pace. I'm really happy with how everything went. It's my first E4 Championship win at the very first round and I'm really happy with how we've started this campaign. Huge thanks to the team, Mercedes, my parents and my sister. It's a great way to begin the season."
Roman Kamyab: "I lost the position into Turn 1, but I knew I had to stay consistent and try to close the gap. It was quite difficult because Kenzo was really quick. We stayed consistent and in the end we finished P2. When you have a bit of a gap you can close it, but once you get into the dirty air you start to understeer and lose grip, which makes it much harder. You just have to avoid mistakes and keep putting the lap times together."
Luka Sammalisto: "I think the race went pretty well. It's really hard to overtake here because of the dirty air. The pace was good, just like in Race 1, but I couldn't get close enough to make a move. After about ten laps I realised overtaking was going to be very difficult, so I focused on staying in P3 and scoring good championship points. We still have one race to go today and we'll start from pole position. Hopefully we can win it because every point counts. I'm happy with this P3."
The final race of the weekend is scheduled to start today at 17:00.