Second round of Formula 4 UAE for GRS Team. The team raced at Dubai Autodrome for the first time in a weekend where our competitive qualifying pace could not be converted into proper race results.
On-track action began with two testing days on Thursday and Friday. Vladislav Ryabov shown, once again, the pace to be among the Top 10. He managed to lead of the sessions held on Day 1.
On qualifying, the Russian driver confirmed the positive expectations and completed two magnificent sessions. His lap times secured him fourth place on the grid for Race 1, and fifth position on races 2 and 3.
The first race did not go as planned. Vladislav had a thundering start, where he briefly took second position. A mistake while fighting with the leaders made him lose momentum on lap 1. The upcoming laps were difficult for him, and Ryabov dropped out of the scoring positions. While fighting to get back on the Top 10, a red flag brought the race to an early end, and the #26 finished in 12th.
Race 2 saw another great start by Ryabov. However, he lost some places as he had to avoid collisions with other drivers, who were overly aggressive on the opening lap. He eventually found stability on seventh place. ‘Slava’ got into the fight for fifth but did not find an overtaking opportunity and ended up in P7.
Sunday began with Race 3. It was one to forget, though. The pace was nowhere to be found, and Vladislav finished the race in 19th but was dropped to 24th due to a penalty. He had to start the final race from that position and finished 22nd.
We leave behind a very difficult weekend, where we did not score as many points as expected. Our confidence in our driver and our team members remains, however, intact. We are determined to keep working to revert the situation. The following Formula 4 UAE meeting will take place next weekend. We will be racing at Dubai Autodrome again.
