Valuable lessons learned at Vallelunga

The third round of the Italian Formula 4 Championship Powered by Abarth, the racing series in which the legends are born, was full of battles and lessons learned for Georgis Markogiannis.

The Greek Driver is having his first full season at the highly competitive racing category and this was his second participation after Paul Ricard’s premiere. His school commitments resulted in him being absent from the Misano round.

Although he worked tirelessly at the simulator, this one month and a half away from CRAM Motorsport’s cockpit, probed to be a setback. During the official testing day, the 16-year-old tried to get to grips with the Pirelli tires and to find the optimum set up. But qualifying didn’t go as planned.

During qualifying 2 he had an off that damaged the car and sentenced him to start from the back of the grid. That meant that just like at Le Castellet, he would have to race in «full attack mode». This wasn’t easy because the 4085m track is very narrow at some places. So, when 31 drivers are battling for position, the chances are that there will be accidents. This proved to be the case, with many safety car periods during the races that prevented Georgis from climbing higher.

Italian Formula 4 Championship Powered by Abarth, Round 3, Autodromo Vallelunga Piero Taruffi
Race 1, Grid: 29, Finish: 26
Race 2, Grid: 31, Finish: 21
Race 3, Grid: 29, Finish: 21