Det ble Hat-Trick med tre seire av fire mulige for Dennis Hauger på Imola i helgen.
Det ble så godt som full uttelling for Dennis Hauger i helgens runde i det italienske F4-mesterskapet på Imola. Dennis kjørte inn til seier i tre av fire løp, og i det fjerde ble det tredjeplass. Ekte Hat Trick med andre ord, og fire ganger kunne han innta seierspallen på den ærverdige banen. Med helgens fantastiske resultat tok også over ledelsen i mesterskapet.
PRESSEMELDING FRA RED BULL JR TEAM
#62 Dennis Hauger (NOR – Van Amersfoort Racing Tatuus F.4 T014 Abarth)
Qualifying 1: 3rd – Race 1 Grid: 3rd – Race 1 Result: 1st
Qualifying 2: 6th – Race 2 Grid: 6th – Race 2 Result: 3rd
Qualifying 3 (2nd time): 4th – Race 3 Grid: 4th – Race 3 Result: 1st
Qualifying from Misano: Race 4 Grid: 2nd – Race 4 Result: 1st
Italian F4 Championship position: 1st – 255 points after 15 of 21 races
#17 Jonny Edgar (GBR – Jenzer Motorsport Tatuus F.4 T014 Abarth)
Qualifying 1: 2nd – Race 1 Grid: 2nd – Race 1 Result: 2nd
Qualifying 2: 2nd – Race 2 Grid: 2nd – Race 2 Result: 5th
Qualifying 3 (2nd time): 2nd – Race 3 Grid: 2nd – Race 3 Result: 5th
Qualifying from Misano: Race 4 Grid: 25th – Race 4 Result: 9th
Italian F4 Championship position: 10th – 71 points after 15 of 21 races
Brilliant driving from Red Bull Juniors Dennis Hauger and Jonny Edgar through three intense days at Imola gave Hauger the lead in the Italian F4 championship and produced Edgar’s first podium. Hauger was the class of the field with 3 wins in 4 races and Edgar leapt from good Rookie to fierce contender as both blended ability and aggression perfectly.
Edgar qualified superbly, second fastest in both sessions. Hauger and Edgar scored a perfect 1-2 in Race 1 and though Edgar’s inexperience saw him blow the start in Race 2 and get pushed off the track early in Race 3, he rebounded with a string of great overtaking moves to finish fifth both times.
Hauger dominated Race 4, running away from the pack in the second half of the race with fastest lap after fastest lap. He now stands 53 points clear at the top of the table.
Edgar was almost starting at the back of the grid as this was a running of the abandoned Race 3 in Misano and took the grid from there (plus a penalty from Race 3). He came from P25 and avoided the first lap madness, then scythed his way through the pack including passing 2 cars in one move on the brakes into Acque Minerali. He finally finished 9th, right on the tail of the 6th place battle.
Hauger simply faster than anyone
“It was especially good to get such good results for the team this weekend considering the tragedy is Spa. Anthoine (Hubert) raced for them and you could feel the effect the accident had on the team and the whole paddock actually,” stated the 16-year-old Norwegian.
“The weekend started well in free practice, we had decent pace which was encouraging as the Italian teams have more experience here. Q1 was OK as well but could have been a bit tighter, in Q2 I lost my fastest laps to red flags but that happens and we were learning all the time.”
“So we went into Race 1 quite happy that we had a good car and that proved to be true. I wasn’t going to take any risks as I knew that Petecof (points leader Gianluca Petecof ) was out early and I was happy with second but then Stanek (Roman Stanek) made a mistake so I went through and won from there.”
“In Race 2 I knew that Petecof would not let me through without a big fight and there were a lot of Safety Car periods so we did not have much clear racing so 3rd was OK.”
“In Race 3 I was comfortable in second and was not really planning a move but I got a great run on Stanek at the right time and took the lead. Once I had the lead it was OK and I just kept going without taking any chances.”
“For Race 4 we all had new tyres, I got a good start and everyone was pushing. Then there was a yellow flag, I eased off as I didn’t want too fast a sector time but I guess Rasmussen (Oliver Rasmussen) didn’t lift as much and got the run on me. I waited for the right time to get back past him and once I was ahead it was no problem.”
“I put my head down and did qualifying laps. I don’t know why the others were not as quick but I just had the rhythm going and set the fastest lap of the weekend I think,” concluded the Van Amersfoort Racing driver.
Edgar faster than most
“It was the best weekend by far for sure,” stated the 15-year-old Briton. “The team did a great job with the car, it was really quick. And of course I am learning all the time. It was fast through practice so I was really enjoying it.”
“It was great to get on the podium in Race 1, to be running at the front all the way and get the fastest lap.”
“In Race 2 I just released the clutch too fast, had to press it again as I almost stalled and dropped back to 10th. I passed 2 on the first lap and then kept working hard so 5th wasn’t too bad considering. I made one move past the start and finish, on the inside running on the kerb, I got squeezed onto the grass but kept going.”
“In Race 3 the start was better but not perfect and I got pushed off at Tosa and went back to about seventh and had to overtake again.”
“In the last race I started P25 and was 20th at the end of the first lap then just kept passing people wherever I could. It got harder and the gaps bigger until I got to P9 and there was a big gap to the next group. I caught them in the end but didn’t have enough time to try and pass.”
“It was a good weekend. I don’t know how it will go at Mugello and Monza as it is a long time since we tested there but I have learnt a lot so I hope we can have more good races,” concluded the Jenzer Motorsport driver.
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