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Max Karhan from Jenzer Motorsport took his first F4 Central European Zone victory of the 2025 season. He made a winning overtake on the second lap and never looked back, securing the succes in Race 1 at Salzburgring.
Gino Trappa started from pole position alongside Karhan, with fellow Jenzer Motorsport drivers Nicolas Cortes and Javier Herrera lining up right behind them. Unfortunately, sixth-placed qualifier Mathilda Paatz was unable to start the formation lap and had to be pushed into the pit lane.
When the red lights went out, the start was clean across the field. Trappa held the lead initially, followed closely by Karhan. The two slowly pulled away from the rest of the field, which included Cortes, Herrera, Benett Gáspár, David Walther, Andreas Lo Bue, Hady Mimassi, David Gorčica and Simon Schranz.
Karhan launched his attack at the end of the second lap, passing Trappa on the outside of Turn 10 to take the lead. Trappa stayed close behind, with Cortes and Herrera just a few car lengths back.
Behind the leading quartet, Walther and Gáspár battled for fifth. However, Gáspár looked like he had an issue with the car, went off track and headed straight into the pit lane.
The field soon split into two main groups: the four Jenzer drivers up front, and a chasing trio of Walther, Lo Bue and Gorčica battling for positions five through seven. Unfortunately, contact occurred between Walther and Gorčica at the entry to the final sequence of corners. Gorčica went off the track and crashed into the barriers, damaging his car’s right-front suspension.
A safety car was deployed, with the running order: Karhan, Trappa, Cortes, Herrera, Lo Bue, Walther, Schranz, Mimassi, Borenstein and Sabaj completing the top ten.
The race was restarted with just four minutes remaining. Karhan maintained his lead under pressure from Trappa, who mounted several attacks. However, Karhan held firm, driving consistently to deny his teammate any real chance of overtaking.
Max Karhan claimed his first victory of the 2025 season, with Trappa finishing just 0.482 seconds behind. Cortes completed the podium in third, with Herrera in fourth, giving Jenzer Motorsport a clean sweep of the top four positions.
Andreas Lo Bue of Maffi Racing achieved his best F4 CEZ result so far with fifth place, while local driver Simon Schranz brought home an impressive sixth for Renauer Motorsport. His teammate Hady Mimassi followed closely in seventh. Walther crossed the line in eighth, though his collision with Gorčica remained under investigation and later received 5 seconds penalty, that dropped him to 12th position. After starting from the pit lane, Mathilda Paatz fought her way back to finish eight, Theodor Borenstein was ninth and top ten was rounded by Michalina Sabaj.
