On August 3, during the fifth round of the Italian Formula-4 in Imola, the third race took place, and it was won by Prema Racing driver Oleksandr Bondarev, reports Baltimore Chronicle.
The 16-year-old Ukrainian claimed his first-ever pole position in his career during the qualification on August 1. Despite a rocky start, when his teammate Khin Nakamura-Berta, starting from second, managed to get ahead, Bondarev kept a fast pace throughout the race. Although the Japanese driver overtook him early on the first lap, Bondarev never gave up and continued to fight for the lead. Thanks to numerous yellow flags and a safety car, Bondarev found a perfect opportunity to attack.
With just three minutes left in the race, Bondarev used a slipstream on the start-finish straight, caught up to Nakamura-Berta, and passed him on the outside line in the first corner. Bondarev then held his ground, not giving his opponent a chance to fight back, ultimately winning the race and claiming his first victory in Formula-4.
The podium was completely dominated by Prema Racing drivers: after Bondarev, Nakamura-Berta and Newman Chi finished in second and third, while among the rookies, alongside Bondarev and Chi, Salim Hanna made it onto the podium. This victory earned Bondarev 25 points, giving him a significant advantage in both the general driver standings and the rookie classification.
This weekend marked the best performance of Bondarev’s Formula-4 career. He finished fourth in the first race of the round, earning 12 points. Imola could have been even better for the Ukrainian had the second race, which he started from second place, not been canceled due to a crash involving 15 drivers at the start. The Imola round became the final one for Formula-4 this summer, as the series takes a break and will return in September with the weekend in Barcelona (September 19-21). One week before that, the second E4 (former Euro 4) round will take place in Mugello.
Earlier we wrote that ukrainians win historic gold at European Beach Volleyball Championship.