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Maffi Racing’s David Walther became the third different winner of the third round of the F4 Central European Zone Championship at Slovakia Ring. The Danish driver took the lead on the opening lap and never relinquished it, even after a full course yellow period which paradoxically worked in his favour.

Teo Borenstein and Walther once again shared the front row of the grid, with Simon Rechenmacher and Elia Weiss lining up on the second row. Max Karhan and Markas Silkunas occupied the third row, while Dean Pedersen and Erik Poulsen started from the fourth. Antonio Errigo and Aleksandar Bogunovic completed the top ten on the grid.

Borenstein held the lead into Turn 1, but came under pressure from Walther through Turns 2 and 3. The Czech driver successfully defended for several corners, but Walther eventually found a way through and moved into the lead before the end of the opening lap.

Once in front, Walther quickly began to pull away, while Borenstein focused on defending second place from Rechenmacher. Despite his efforts, the Race 2 winner eventually found a way past and moved into second position behind the race leader.

Further back, the battle for points remained intense. Bogunovic made slight contact with Weiss at Turn 13 and was forced into the gravel trap. Although he was able to continue, he dropped to the back of the field.

The situation at the front settled, with Walther, Rechenmacher, Borenstein and Karhan separated by gaps of only a few tenths of a second. However, the race was neutralised when David Gorcica made a contact with Mathilda Paatz, putting both drivers out of the race and bringing out the safety car.

Racing resumed with 10 minutes remaining, but the restart effectively decided the outcome of the race. Rechenmacher, running second, suffered a technical issue just as Walther accelerated away. The German’s problem created hesitation among the drivers behind, as overtaking before the start-finish line is prohibited. By the time Borenstein and the others realised Rechenmacher was struggling and accelerated, Walther had already a sizeable advantage.

During the restart, Karhan was involved with in contact with Pedersen and damaged his front wing, while later on Ella Hakkinen made contact with Andreas Lo Bue and dropped down the order.

The order at the front remained largely unchanged for the remainder of the race. Walther crossed the finish line to secure victory in the final race of the weekend at Slovakia Ring, ahead of Borenstein and Pedersen, to whom was handed a 10-second penalty for overtaking other cars before crossing the safety car control line, dropping him to tenth place.

Weiss, who originally finished fourth, also received a five-second penalty for a collision with Bogunovic and was demoted to sixth. As a result, Silkunas inherited third place, while Zasov was promoted to fourth. Erik Poulsen scored points for fifth place, with Weiss classified sixth and Errigo seventh. Viktor Poulsen finished eighth, Bruno ninth and Pedersen completed the top ten.

The results remain provisional, as eleven cars are under investigation for technical infringements.

FIA F4 CEZ – Race 4 – Ammended Provisional

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