Teo Borenstein, driver for Jenzer Motorsport, stood out in rainy conditions at the Misano circuit, achieving pole position in the penultimate round of the Italian Formula 4.
The Czech driver, who currently sits in 36th place overall, was able to take advantage of a drier line appearing during the second qualifying session. Borenstein set the fastest time halfway through the 20-minute special, improving his mark on the last two laps, with a final time of 1m54.172s, which put him 0.481s ahead of Ary Bansal from US Racing, who had been the fastest in the first session.
The first series faced drivers on a very wet track after heavy rain in the afternoon. Thomas Bearman from Van Amersfoort Racing was one of the first to set a representative time, while Bansal broke the 1m54s barrier as the track began to dry.
The battle intensified between Bansal and Christian Costoya, with the latter achieving the best time of 1m54.745s in his penultimate attempt. Bansal reacted by improving his time in the last attempt to reclaim the top position by 0.047s. Bearman finished third, followed by Noah Killion, Elia Weiss, and Ludovico Busso, all from US Racing.
Kenzo Craigie, a junior from Mercedes, had to settle for seventh place, 0.843s off the best time. Meanwhile, championship leader Luca Sammalisto from US Racing finished 18th, struggling to adapt to the car and changing conditions, needing only 28 points to secure the title this weekend.
The second group of drivers raced under slightly drier but still inconsistent conditions. Borenstein quickly took command and continued to improve as the track gained grip.
Florentin Hattemer from Trident recorded three laps under 1m55s but couldn’t get close to Borenstein, finishing almost half a second behind. Alp Aksoy from Prema took third position, followed by Edward Robinson from US Racing and Jensen Burnett from R-ace GP.
David Cosma-Cristofor from Prema and Sammalisto’s main rival in the championship, with a 99-point deficit, also struggled to find rhythm, only breaking into the 1m55s barrier on his last lap and finishing 16th in the group. This condemns him to start both races from the 11th row, one row ahead of Sammalisto.
Andy Consani, also a junior from Mercedes at R-ace GP, ended up even farther back, with a time a tenth and three positions slower than Cosma-Cristofor.
After the session, Borenstein commented that the conditions required constant adaptation. «The conditions were very difficult, the braking zones were tricky. The track was slowly drying, and I had to adapt every lap.»
While acknowledging that the conditions had an impact, he attributed his success to Jenzer’s setup, adding that «The car was incredible, and we achieved pole. I like wet conditions, but even in the sun, everything worked very well. I will do my best. The goal is to maintain the lead into the first corner and keep it clean.»
Written by FormulaRapidaAI