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The second round of this year’s F4 Central European Zone championship returned to the iconic Red Bull Ring – and once again, there was no shortage of drama across the three races. The standout performer of the weekend was Gino Trappa from Jenzer Motorsport, who took home two winners’ trophies. David Walther of Maffi Racing also claimed a victory of his own.
The drivers returned to the circuit where they had kicked off the season just a month earlier. However, while the venue remained the same, the weather had taken a turn – gone were the mild April conditions, replaced by significantly colder temperatures. One thing that hadn’t changed was the pace of Jenzer Motorsport’s Gino Trappa. The Argentine had finished second in all three races at the opening round, and he arrived in Spielberg again with a clear mission: to finally climb to the top step of the podium.
Trappa snatched pole position in qualifying from his teammate Max Karhan at the very last moment – by just 0.041 seconds – securing a Jenzer front-row lockout. But it was Trappa who nailed the start, and as he glanced in his small F4 mirrors, he saw passing chaos unfolding behind him. That gave him the opportunity to pull away and build a lead. A late charge from David Walther threatened to make things interesting, but before he could mount a serious challenge, red flags brought the race to a premature end. The stoppage came after Javier Herrera ended up upside down in Turn 1 following a clash with his teammate Nicolas Cortes. Thankfully, the Mexican driver emerged unscathed – although both drivers were penalised for the incident.
Trappa then converted his maiden pole into a maiden victory. While he admitted the red flag had robbed him of a proper on-track showdown with Walther, his second win of the weekend – in Sunday’s final race – left no doubts. Starting from sixth on the grid, he sliced through the field with a string of impressive overtakes, ending the weekend in style.
David Walther, denied a chance to fight for the win in Race 1 and demoted to third due to a post-race penalty (behind William Karlsson), made amends in Race 2. He fought his way into the lead while another passing chaos unfolded behind him. Although a safety car bunched up the field and gave his rivals a glimmer of hope, Walther kept his cool at the restart and never looked back. He successfully held off both Renauer Motorsport drivers – William Karlsson and Hady Mimassi – to seal the win.
For the Austrian-based Renauer Motorsport, a double podium was a major cause for celebration. In contrast, for the first time this season, neither of the Jenzer Motorsport cars finished in the top three.
But in Race 3, Jenzer was back on top. Trappa took his second win of the weekend, and teammate Max Karhan joined him on the podium in third. Splitting the two Jenzer cars was Mathilda Paatz. Starting from pole position, the young German led for much of the race before eventually being overtaken by the charging Trappa. Determined not to let another position slip away, she drove flawlessly to fend off Karhan’s repeated attacks – becoming the first woman in F4 CEZ history to stand on an overall race podium.
The second round of the championship delivered racing of the highest calibre – from thrilling overtakes to hard-fought battles and even dramatic crashes, all fortunately without injury. The determination and hunger of this new generation of drivers was evident in every corner, and the Red Bull Ring once again proved to be the perfect playground for it all.
RESULTS
