This weekend, Formula 4 Spanish Championship got back underway after a lengthy summer break. Circuito de Jerez – Ángel Nieto hosted the fourth round of the season. For GRS Team, this was a positive weekend as we lined up three drivers on the grid, even if the results were not ideal.
For the first time this season, the team entered three drivers. Carl Bennett, present in every meeting in the championship so far, was joined by Isaac Barashi, who will race in all remaining rounds, and Eloi González, who made his Formula 4 debut as a prize given by the Spanish Federation to the Spanish Karting Champion in Senior class.
Pre-event collective test was held on Friday, as usual. Our drivers had 3 hours of track time to improve his adaptation on the track and come into the weekend better prepared. Free Practice sessions were held on Saturday morning. These sessions, along with Qualifying 1, proved that it was going to be a difficult weekend.
Race 1 arrived and we faced it aiming to make comebacks. Unfortunately, Eloy was involved in a crash with another driver and had to retire. Both Isaac and Carl gained spots and fought for the Top 20. However, late penalties made him drop places and the British Israeli driver finished in P25 while the Thai was 26th.
On Sunday, there was a sign of improvement in Qualifying 2, but it was minimal, so it was going to be a new battle to gain positions. On Race 2, the shortest of the weekend, Carl had a great recovery drive to reach the Top 20 while Eloi finished the race in P27 earning important experience. Isaac was 30th after having to pit with damage on his car. The Spaniard was 27th again in Race 3 with Barashi in P29, and Bennett retired after an incident.
This weekend’s results did not reach our goals. However, we face the rest of the season determined and aware that, having at least two cars on track at all times, we can pick more data and feedback to improve our performances. The tea mis hugely thankful to all drivers and team members for an admirable job as always.
We will be back on track tomorrow, looking forward to fight and to improve at Estoril Circuit.
