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Elia Weiss claimed victory in Group A+B Race 1 of the F4 Central European Zone Championship at the Salzburgring. The Jenzer Motorsport driver made a winning move on race leader David Walther from Maffi Racing and then pulled away to secure his second win of the season.
Walther started from pole position alongside Weiss, with Teo Borenstein and Dean Pedersen lining up on the second row. The third row belonged to Markas Silkunas and Aleksandar Bogunovic, while Francesco Pio Coppola and Georgiy Zasov started from the fourth row. On the fifth row were F1 Academy race winner Mathilda Paatz and Knud Eske Nielsen.
Walther made a clean start and led the field through the first chicane, with Weiss holding second place. Weiss was already looking for an opportunity to attack in the final sector, but before the field could complete the opening lap, the safety car was deployed after Jorge Luis Bruno of Drivex became stranded in the gravel trap.
The top 10 order behind the safety car was Walther, Weiss, Borenstein, Silkunas, Pedersen, Bogunovic, Coppola, Zasov, Paatz and Nielsen.
After four laps under caution, racing resumed. Walther managed to create a small gap at the restart and retained the lead.
Weiss did not wait long before launching an attack. Using the slipstream on the long back straight, he challenged Walther for the lead, but the Maffi Racing driver defended successfully and remained in front. Walther led from the trio of Jenzer Motorsport drivers Weiss, Borenstein and Silkunas, and the leading four gradually pulled away from the rest of the field. Fifth-placed Pedersen headed a second group consisting of six cars.
Slipstreaming proved extremely powerful at the Salzburgring, particularly on the long back straight. On lap eight, Weiss finally managed to overtake Walther in the final sector. Walther immediately fought back on the start-finish straight, and the pair went side by side into the first chicane. They made slight contact, losing valuable time and allowing the chasing pack to close in. Suddenly, the leading group had grown to eleven cars covered by less than four seconds.
Despite the pressure, Weiss was able to break clear at the front. Behind him, Walther found himself defending second place from Borenstein.
Drama struck when Georgiy Zasov suffered a left rear puncture. A piece of tyre debris remained on the racing line and was later struck by Walther, damaging the front wing of his car. The loose wing significantly affected the handling, but Walther continued to fight hard to keep Borenstein behind.
In the final lap Borenstein found a way past and moved into second place. Weiss crossed the finish line 4.4 seconds clear of his teammate to take victory.
Borenstein completed a Jenzer Motorsport one-two, while Walther finished third despite his damaged car. Francesco Pio Coppola came home fourth, followed by Markas Silkunas in fifth place.
Dean Pedersen finished sixth ahead of Aleksandar Bogunovic. Mathilda Paatz was eighth, Nemec took ninth and Andreas Lo Bue rounded out the top ten in the 27-car field.
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