Not even a Safety Car restart disrupted Aksoy’s rhythm, as he managed the race confidently throughout. “That didn’t help us, because our pace was really strong,” he said after the race. “At the end we just pulled away. It was a good race, P1 from the lights to the chequered flag.” Aksoy also thanked his team for the work done on the car and the fans for their continued support.
Second place went to Andy Consani, who gained one position during a demanding race. The French R-ace GP driver overtook teammate Kenzo Craigie after the latter had already lost the lead to Aksoy. It marked another strong result for both R-ace GP and the Mercedes junior driver. “Hopefully I can win tomorrow in front of the home crowd,” said Consani.
“It was a difficult race for the tyres, but I managed to get a good start and stay out of trouble on the opening lap. I didn’t quite have the pace to challenge for P1, but overall these are very good points for the championship.” Consani is set to start from the front row in both Race 2 and Race 3.
Completing the podium was Kenzo Craigie. The R-ace GP Mercedes junior struggled in the opening stages, finding himself under pressure from the drivers around him and briefly dropping to fourth place. He fought back to reclaim a podium finish by overtaking Luka Sammalisto (US Racing), securing valuable points in the championship battle against the Finn. “The start was a bit frustrating and I struggled early on,” Craigie explained. “But in the end we were really quick and the pace was definitely there. We just need to work a bit on the starts and we will be good for tomorrow.”
Sammalisto finished fourth as the leading US Racing driver, ahead of teammates Oleksandr Savinkov and Noah Killion. Seventh and eighth places went to R-ace GP drivers Jean-Paul Karras and Philippe-Armand Karras.
Ninth place went to Alex Ruta of Van Amersfoort Racing, ahead of Prema Racing’s Niccolò Maccagnani. Ary Bansal (US Racing) and Christian Costoya (Prema Racing) finished eleventh and twelfth respectively after an entertaining battle for position. Costoya was also third on the Rookie podium, behind Aksoy and Craigie. Sicilian driver Ludovico Busso (US Racing) took thirteenth, followed by Jenzer Motorsport’s Bader Al Sulaiti. Completing the points-paying positions was Arjen Kraling of US Racing.
Race 1 delivered plenty of action throughout the field, starting with the fight between Craigie and Aksoy for the lead. Another intense battle involved Oleksandr Bondarev (Prema Racing) and Edward Robinson (US Racing), who made contact at Signes Corner while battling for fifth place, sending both cars into a spin.
There were also problems for Vittorio Orsini (AKM Motorsport), who spun after contact in the pack. Prema Racing drivers Roman Kamyab and Ho Kingsley Zheng were also forced to retire. On the opening lap, contact between Ella Hakkinen (Jenzer Motorsport) and Knud Nielsen (Real Racing) resulted in both cars retiring and brought out the Safety Car.
The action will resume tomorrow, Sunday, July 19, with Race 2 scheduled for 11:00 and Race 3 at 17:25. All races are run over 30 minutes plus one lap and will be broadcast live on ACI Sport TV, streamed on the championship’s official social media channels, and carried by the international network broadcasting both the E4 Championship and the Italian F4 worldwide.